The City of West Hollywood plans to honor the marriages of gay and lesbian couples with a plaque inscribed with a quote from Nelson Mandela, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
The bronze marker will be installed in West Hollywood Park on September 8, a site where many gay weddings were held when it was legal in California, and will be inscribed with the words from the former president of South Africa:
“I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”
The state Supreme Court struck down a gay marriage ban in the spring of 2008 but in November 2008, voters reversed in the decision with Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to ban gay marriage. The high court ruled to uphold the constitutional ban this year.
During the six month window of legal gay marriage, the city of West Hollywood issued more than 1,000 marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Filed under: California
Where my husband and I were married on September 25, 2008. Beautiful setting; beautiful time.