Weddings highlight of Rainbow Festival

With tear-filled eyes, Kristina Miller held her partner’s hands, gazed upon her face and vowed to love her forever.

“I, Kristina, take you, Twyla, in marriage as my life partner,” declared Miller, her voice filled with emotion. “… I affirm the unity of my head, heart and soul, in pledging my love to you, for as long as we both shall live.”

Despite the fact that their union has no legal standing, Miller and Twyla Clemens were among more than a dozen lesbian and gay couples who exchanged vows Saturday afternoon before hundreds of people at Riverfront Park.

“This is a ceremony of love,” said the Rev. Dr. Richard Erhardt of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane. “This is a ceremony of public witness to a shared love that we covenant here today and a ceremony of civil disobedience. … Jesus preached a doctrine of love while at the same time urging resistance to all that crushes the human spirit.”

Now a regular feature of the annual Pride Parade and Rainbow Festival, the wedding ceremony not only gave same-sex couples a chance to publicly declare their union; it also served as an open challenge to all the recent proposals attempting to limit gay rights and ban gay marriage.

Despite backing from President Bush and other conservative groups nationwide, a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was soundly defeated last week in the U.S. Senate.

In Washington state during the same week, supporters of Referendum 65 – an attempt to overturn a new state law that makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation – failed to gather enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

Same-sex marriages, however, remain illegitimate in most parts of the world and in every U.S. state except Massachusetts. In 2004, 19 gay and lesbian couples in Washington state – including longtime partners Marge Ballack and Diane Lantz of Spokane – filed two lawsuits that challenged the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. After more than 15 months, the state Supreme Court has yet to make a decision.

“It is unfortunate that our society and its laws have not matured to legitimate and acknowledge profound and loving relationships other than heterosexual ones,” said Erhardt, who officiated at the civil union ceremony Saturday afternoon.

Those who are quick to condemn same-sex marriages usually point to the Bible for justification, he told the crowd. While the Bible does indeed denounce homosexuality in four passages, it also deplores adultery in 40 different verses.

“Yet we don’t hear about constitutional amendments to remove or curb the rights of adulterers as second-class citizens, do we?” Erhardt asked. If people were really interested in protecting the institution of marriage, he said, perhaps they should focus on adultery or divorce.

OutSpokane, which organizes the annual parade and festival, plans to include a public wedding every year until gay marriage is legalized, said board member Bonnie Aspen.

Many who participated in the ceremony were just grateful for the opportunity to publicly declare their love for their partners – a right that many heterosexual couples often take for granted, they said.

“It’s really emotional for us,” said Miller, describing the experience of exchanging vows with Clemens during the wedding. The couple lives in Seattle but is considering moving to Spokane for a quieter, less hectic lifestyle. This weekend was their first visit to town. “We wanted to see what the gay community was like, and I’m personally very impressed,” said Clemens. “I didn’t think people here would be so accepting.”

Other visitors, as well as those new to the community, also spoke of the growing tolerance and welcoming atmosphere in Spokane. Some of the bigger cities, despite their larger and more elaborate gay pride parades, have forgotten what it means to be proud and celebrate the contributions of the gay and lesbian community, said this year’s grand marshal, nationally known author Patricia Nell Warren. “It renews my own faith and excitement to come to Spokane and feel all the energy, hard work and drive that’s here,” she said.

Crowds were smaller at this year’s event because of the rain, but hundreds still marched through the streets of downtown.

While the parade featured the usual drag queens attired in stunning evening gowns and precariously high heels, most of the participants were young people from area high schools and colleges, middle-age folks and families – moms and dads, moms and moms, dads and dads – pushing strollers or holding their children’s hands.