UPDATE: And so they did! Photos below of the LGBTQ community and allies spreading the joy of the momentous day in the various foretold parties around town. Rainbow imagery was in no short supply, first at the Humboldt County Couthouse…

… then, later, over at the Arcata Plaza …

… and finally at Jambalaya where a regularly scheduled Club Triangle night just so happened to fall on this momentous calendar box. There were drag performances! There was dancing! There were shots poured in all the colors of the rainbow! Oh, what a time we had.

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Original Post:

Andrew Goff

This morning the United States Supreme Court declared that the right of consenting adults to marry the person they wish to marry is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution, even in Tennessee and other places. You can and should read Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion, and Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent, at this link.

Tonight Humboldt County celebrates this culminating, victorious moment in the 21st century’s greatest civil rights struggle. The Humboldt Equality Coalition is promising a “raucous” celebration at 5 p.m. on the courthouse steps in Eureka, and at 7 p.m. on the Arcata Plaza. Everyone is urged to bring “tambourines, horns, flags, signs, whistles and drums” and to whoop it up like they have never whooped it up before. 

In addition, the Outpost suggests that you bring your spouse, regardless of whose turn it is to do the dishes, because

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.

— Justice Anthony Kennedy

Press release from the Humboldt Equality Coalition:

Before July 1st, the Supreme Court of the United States will decide on whether to make marriage equality the law of the land. The Humboldt Equality Coalition (a loosely connected coalition of LGBTQ organizations in Humboldt County) has called for ALL people to come out and celebrate.

There will be a raucous celebration at 5 p.m. at the Humboldt County Courthouse, and one at 7 p.m. at the Arcata County Plaza. Organizers ask that participants bring tambourines, horns, flags, signs, whistles, and drums. (In between, the Coalition suggests that folks patronize locally owned businesses, in old town Eureka, or on the Arcata Plaza.)

It is not yet known what day the decision will be made. It could be Thursday, June 25th, Friday June 26th, Monday June 29th, or Tuesday, June 30th. The court announces its decision at 6 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Whatever day it is, that will be the day of the demonstration. Heterosexual folk are cordially invited and very welcome.

”As Harvey Milk would say, when you hear the news COME OUT!” said Karen March, one of the organizers.  Jim Niland, another member of the committee, said “Personally, I’m carrying a sign that says ‘Congratulations to Adam and Steve.’ or maybe ‘Albus Dumbledore – can he finally get married?’”

“We are seeing a seismic cultural transformation, a point in time that will resonate with our descendants as a shining moment where justice prevailed, and love and compassion triumphed.” said Susan McGee.