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Making History: Gay Marriage and the NYC Pride Parade

06/29/2011 By 5 Comments

by Xeno Martinez

Its Friday, June 24 and as the rest of New York is laying in wait surrounding the decision regarding gay marriage, I find myself out for a night on the town with my friends in the West Village for pride weekend. As I look around at the crowded bar, I’m awakened from my daze by my best friend who yells in my ear, “they passed it.” I instinctively asked him what he was talking about and was then told that New York City passed gay marriage.

I’m not going to lie. I yelled at the top of my lungs and was extremely happy that so many gay and lesbian couples in New York City could finally get married. But at the same time, I found myself a little numb to the whole experience. As I walked along the West Village, I saw so many people cheering and in tears at the news, but found myself unmoved by it at the same time.

But that wasn’t until it sank in.

See, I personally never believed that I would one day be given the right to marry the man I love because society deemed it “unnatural” and “against GOD.” So subconsciously I gave up before I even attempted to fight for it, and welcomed the notion that it was never going to happen…until it did.

Until I found myself walking home at 2 o’clock in the morning from a night of celebration, and recollecting the phone call I got from my younger sister at midnight saying nothing more than “congratulations.”

I am not in a relationship nor am I dating anyone, but for my sister that wasn’t important. What was important was that her brother won the fight to marry.

As I continued walking, the thought of my sister’s call welcomed the image of my mother one day witnessing me marry the man I will eventually love and it brought me to tears. Forced me to recognize that I was finally a person with rights. That I was not some abomination but rather a human being who deserved the right to love and marry whoever he wished to, without prejudice or bigotry.

And it made me feel happy.

It made me walk with Being Latino on Sunday, June 26th with even greater pride as I marched with my friends, family, co-workers, and even strangers down the streets of New York City. I shared that moment with thousands of other New Yorkers as we celebrated all things queer and beautiful in the world.

We all walked, watched, and smiled in recognition that we were witnessed to, and active participants, in one of the most historic and memorable prides in New York City ever.

To learn more about Xeno, visit visit his fan page.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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Filed Under: Comunidad
About Joshua 'Xeno' Martinez

Joshua “Xeno” Martinez is simply an artist striving to find his artistic voice in a society that simultaneously promotes and limits self-expression. Previously active as a political activist for the fight against homophobia and racism, Xeno strives to create awareness about the importance of pride by focusing his artwork on blatant images of homosexuality and the queer community as a whole. By incorporating pop culture references into his artwork, Xeno desires to create a space where being “queer” is the norm; essentially taking ownership of a realm of society that is deemed for the straight community.

As a Latino man and a queer individual, Xeno Martinez understands the need to recognize our interconnected identities. People are not just simply one thing but rather a multitude of different identifications combined. Gay, male, brother, son, uncle, friend, artist, and entrepreneur, Xeno hopes that his art can shed light on the need for love and acceptance; not tolerance. Through his involvement in Being Latino, he hopes to further that while helping to foster dialogue about other issues surrounding the Latino community as a whole and the need for a unified front to combat prejudice.

You can check out Xeno’s art work at his facebook fan page, The Art Work of Xeno Martinez as well as his writings at Chronicles Of A Size Queen: The Expectations, Opinions, And Confessions Of One Gay Man.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

Comments

  1. Al Acevedo-Ramirez says:
    06/29/2011 at 1:07 pm

    Great read Xeno, what say if in 5 years we are not married, we marry eachother?!?!? Congrats to you & the rest of my brothers and sisters in NYC. I hope one day to feel what it’s like to have that right or be an equal.
    Until then my friend, hugz!

  2. ERIC says:
    06/30/2011 at 4:24 pm

    I can’t wait to read what the haters what to say. Loved the article Xeno!

  3. Nancy Sepulveda says:
    07/03/2011 at 10:58 am

    Excellent post. Its honest simplicity underscored the dramatic reality of the decision — and actually brought a tear to my eye. Well done!

Trackbacks

  1. Making History: Gay Marriage and the NYC Pride Parade « Chronicles Of A Size Queen says:
    06/30/2011 at 4:13 pm

    [...] But that wasn’t until it sank in. [Continue reading at Being Latino Online Magazine] [...]

  2. Hypocrisy is the new black | Being Latino Online Magazine says:
    07/10/2011 at 10:06 pm

    [...] by the handful of insensitive (and downright homophobic) remarks made in response to articles by Xeno Martinez and C. Adán Cabrera. It saddens me because such remarks, coming from Latinos, represent the [...]

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