THE VERDICT

by Tim Brookover

photo by Todd Rainer

“This is a day of independence!” proclaimed Mitchell Katine from the steps of City Hall at the afternoon rally on June 26. Still giddy over the sweeping and positive 6–3 Supreme Court decision in the sodomy-law case announced that morning, the crowd was in a supercharged mood. There was Big Roy McCarthy, whose personal tales of the 1969 Stonewall Riots are a treasure. There was Marla Dukler, the Aldine student who sued her school district when it sanctioned a gay-straight alliance at her high school (after the ACLU weighed in, the administrators caved). There were also dozens of others who have long been part of our civil-rights struggle, side by side with enthusiastic young people who will carry on the fight.

As the rally began, Katine introduced his clients John Lawrence (pictured above, right) and Tyron Garner, the couple arrested in 1998 for intimacy at home. Katine turned and stretched out his right arm. The City Hall doors swung open. Lawrence and Garner walked into the sunlight. They strode to the podium, blinking and grinning. Old and young, the crowd erupted in cheers and whoops. Many wept.

If you have any comments about this article, please email them to letters@outsmartmagazine.com.