Locals rally in support of marriage equality

Shani Robin stood before about 100 people gathered outside the Monroe County Courthouse Tuesday evening.

Bloomington resident Robin wants to marry her partner. She’s advocated for marriage equality for almost 10 years, a fight that requires faith, she said.

Faith is needed to prevent hatred from stealing the soul, she said, and to demand visibility in the public arena and embrace one’s identity.

Robin expounded her philosophy in a poem she read aloud to the audience titled “Faith.”

FairTalk, a grassroots activist group based in Bloomington, organized the rally. It joined the “Light the Way for Justice” campaign, a nationwide public demonstration that coincided with the United States Supreme Court hearing, deliberation and testimony Tuesday regarding Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage in California. The constitutional integrity, or lack thereof, of the Defense of Marriage Act will also be argued today before the Supreme Court.

A man passed Robin a microphone before she began to read the poem aloud. She pushed it away. She didn’t need it. Although many at the rally joined in shouting chants like “Gay or straight. Black or white. Marriage is a civil right,” Robin’s voice rose above most.

Faith is bricks stacked together, Robin said. And those bricks make a fortress, meant as a bulwark for proponents of equality during a coming revolution. She said the revolution is a battle fought for marriage quality and it begins with the Supreme Court’s hearings.

Robin said she chose the brick metaphor because there are different types of people who fight for marriage equality.

Faith in an American value that all people are equal is one reason why FairTalk Treasurer Phil Cooper said he didn’t hesitate to fight in the Vietnam War.

“I want to believe that’s true,” Cooper said as tears rolled down his face. “The Supreme Court has it in their hands right now.”

Cooper said his heart is broken because his lesbian daughter has fewer rights than others. But he has faith, he said, that the Supreme Court will declare Prop 8 and DOMA unconstitutional.

A minister who spoke to the crowd chose not to speculate.

Minister Caela Wood said although she won’t try to predict the Court’s decision, she has faith small movements like the rally will influence the Court to move in favor of marriage equality.

Wood has served at First United Church on East Third Street for six years and said faith can be used against marriage equality, too.

“I’m sick and tired of churches who use the Word to support close-minded agendas,” Wood said. “We need to stop talking about who’s having sex and start talking about who’s having healthy relationships.”

Wood said she is, however, undaunted by the opposition.

“I think I’ll see marriage equality in my lifetime,” Wood said. “I’m a young woman, so there’s plenty of time.”