Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, the city’s first openly gay mayor, raised a Rainbow Pride Flag over the Civic Plaza on Friday in response to the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
“Love won, freedom won and equality won,” Garcia said. “Millions of Americans, including myself and my longtime partner, will finally be treated equally under the law.”
During the midday ceremony, Garcia also plans to thank activists and others who took part and supported the struggle for marriage equality.
In hailing the Supreme Court ruling, he cited Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
A rally sponsored by the LGBTQ Center Long Beach is planned at the Civic Plaza at 5:30 p.m.
— City News Service