Five Questions for People at the Stonewall Inn After the DOMA Ruling: The New Yorker Wednesday afternoon, after the announcement that the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of eighty-four-year-old Edith Windsor and her challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a crowd gathered outside the Stonewall Inn, in New York City's West Village, the site of the 1969 police raid that became a spark for the American gay-rights movement. What follows is a series of conversations with some of the people who attended Wednesday's rally; the transcripts have been condensed and edited for clarity. I'm here because I'm really excited about the overruling of DOMA. I've been living in the U.S. for ten years and I've had a boyfriend for six years. Immigration laws would never have allowed for us to be able to get married until today, and now we can do that. With that, we now have all the same exact equal rights as an American heterosexual couple does, which is extremely exciting. I think we will probably get married now, maybe after I turn thirty. We're still young. I have a few things that I still want to get done and prepared for us before we can actually commit to that full partnership. We're living together already. We're definitely partners, we've been together for six years and I love him. What does it feel like to be here? It feels really special, I'm really honored. We're out here in front of the Stonewall Inn where all the protests began in New York back in the day. It's exciting to see a lot of people hit the street and be here, coming together. One of our friends here is heterosexual, and he's always been really close to us and our families. It's actually his flag that I'm holding. What's next for our country? We're there. I think the next step is getting all of the other remaining states that still don't allow for same-sex marriage to also allow for that to happen. I do know that some states are more conservative than others, it's a little bit more complex. There is a lot of lobbying and other things that we need to overcome from a political perspective, but it will happen. I think this will be motivating for a lot of the other states. If you could say one thing to the Supreme Court, what would it be? Thank you, thank you for believing in us and for supporting us. I am absolutely in love with the United States right now and I don't think I'd want to be anywhere else in the world. And I have questioned whether I'd want to continue being here or go back to my home country in Brazil, but now I am absolutely confident that I'm probably going to spend the rest of my life, this is now my home. Jennifer Macdonald (right), New York, and Angela Watts, originally from Utah, with their son, Sky Watts Why are you here? Jennifer: We are domestic partners and we have not gotten married. We have sort of taken vows with each other a long time ago, before there were any opportunities for vows, we made up our own. And when domestic partnership came along, we thought, O.K., great, we will go ahead and be sanctioned in that way. And when the marriage equality came along for New York State, we thought, Well, that's great, but we're tired of kind of signing on as the ladder progresses and each time having a ceremony. And we thought that the most important thing was when it becomes federal law and we have true marriage equality, that would be a time when we consider actually getting married. We're here to celebrate this moment. Angela: We're here, we're queer, we're going shopping. What does this ruling mean for you personally? Jennifer: It absolutely means we'll get married. Angela: Amazing. Jennifer: It feels amazing, and has felt amazing all day. I was on a call with a bunch of other people who, we were involved in writing an amicus brief for the Supreme Court for DOMA. And we were on a call at 10:01 today, waiting, as a group, to hear what the news was going to be. And we just couldn't believe it when we got the news. We have been on the edge of our seats and this is a pretty amazing moment for us. Jennifer: That's a huge question because we're seeing what's happened with Roe v. Wade, and this is an aggressive adaption of a law in the same way that Roe v. Wade was, and I have a lot of concerns that what we're going to see now is a big backlash. They were sort of ahead of their time when they did Roe v. Wade and it's been forty years, essentially, of a lot of erosion. I think it's an unbelievable juxtaposition to yesterday's news about the Voting Rights Act. You see that these gains are not necessarily permanent gains, and these gains have to continue to be fought for. I would expect that we're going to see a fairly negative response in a lot of the country towards this. So I will be interested to see how it develops over the next year. Jennifer: That's really a hard question because there were five people who voted in favor of this and there were four who didn't. And I guess I want to thank Justice Kennedy, who's a conservative. I would thank him for really trying to consider the merits of the case and voting on, I think, what the real basis of the Constitution was and making it so that this vote would go through today. Guillaume (left), thirty-five, New York, and Tom, thirty-nine, New York Tom: This is a big deal for us because we've been together for seven years. If we had gotten married in New York State before, there wouldn't be any immigration laws in place. So this is a really big deal, it means something. Guillaume: We just got engaged, tonight. Tom: You're the first people we've told. Tom: This is personal history, this is national history. All wrapped up into one. Guillaume: It seems surreal. We've been waiting for this moment for a while. I was in a program to get my green card and I got my green card by myself. At one point, we were wondering what would happen to me if I had to go back to France, if I couldn't stay here, and now it seems like it's going to be possible. It's very - it's just strange that it's now possible. Tom: We were in a situation for many years where if he had a problem with his job, he would have had to leave the country. We couldn't get married and stay together and it was scary. I think this is just a big, big relief. And surreal. Because we feel like we've been married but we haven't been married. It's a confusing moment. The champagne helps. Guillaume: I think every state is going to legislate on that. I think it's going to be a lot of pressure on [states where same-sex marriage is not legal]. Because, as a gay person, I don't want to live in the other states, especially now that you have all the benefits. I think it's going to be so much pressure that the states are going to have to, economically and socially, they're going to have to adjust to the other states that already passed gay marriage. Tom: When we go back for the Fourth of July to Ohio and to my conservative aunt and uncle, [they] are actually applying some of the most pressure to us to get married. So, it's a complicated country we live in. It's actually much more purple then people give it credit for. Tom: I would say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to five of them. And you look lovely in those dresses. Kate Adamick-Diaz (left), fifty-one, New York, pictured with her wife, Kay Adamick-Diaz Because this is the second happiest day of my life, after my wedding day. It means that in the eyes of federal law, I finally have the same rights as every other married person in America. Which is not to say I'm not disappointed about the Prop. 8 decision. It's exciting to live in Greenwich Village on such a historic day. There is no more appropriate place to be right now, in my opinion, than here. And I'm lucky that I'm able to be here. There will be another Supreme Court case in which, finally, every gay American will have the right to marry, just like every straight American has, regardless of their state of residence. Fourteenth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment. Equal protection, equal protection - for everyone. D. C. Cymbalista, fifty-four, originally from Italy, and Rick Christel, fifty-seven, New York D. C.: To celebrate something that's incredibly important for human rights. It's momentous. How could you not want to be here? It's historical, and we're part of the joy. Rick: It's a historic day but also, I don't always agree with the Supreme Court, but today, they did right. And also, I wanted to see Edie Windsor because she proves that at eighty-four, you can still make change. D. C.: I am straight, but even my niece did not want to get married until there was true equality. So what does it mean for me? It means fairness, it means possibilities for getting married without basically have to accept discrimination. I came to America because of equality, because of the gender equality and equality of possibility and this really confirms that. Today, you can be whoever you want to be. Rick: That people now do not have to go through what I went through. When my lover died, there was no official recognition, and just like with Edie, the taxes got to me. And now, if he had been alive now, that wouldn't happen. Plus, we could have been recognized for the couple we really were. Rick: Terrific. D. C.: I'm getting goose bumps. Rick: It will go down in history, it's a big day. Rick: For each individual state to go ahead. There are thirty-seven states that don't recognize it, and I think, one by one, those states have to realize it's the will of the people. Rick: I'm glad you were on the side of gay marriage but I'm really disappointed with your Voting Rights Act decision. D. C.: I would say to Judge Alito that he can keep his jaw dropping to the ground and not up again. Bryan Gregory (left), forty-three, New York, and Mike Humberstone, forty-five, New York Bryan: We have been together for fourteen years and we've been married since 2011. We received our marriage license on the first day that it was legal in New York City, so we were at City Hall that day. It's a huge thrill to be part of that moment. It's important as a member of a political minority to be present when you have a chance to show your face and to raise your voice to try to make things better for everybody. Bryan: It's a tremendous thing to have the Supreme Court dismantle a large portion of institutionalized, legalized discrimination against the remaining class of Americans that the federal government has discriminated against. That is a huge, huge thing for us and it's a great day for all Americans. Mike: It's an important stop along the way. It's hard to feel like it's a victory moment when there is still so much to happen. This is great if you're from New York, it's great that we have legal marriage in New York, it's great that it is now federally recognized. But there's a whole country out there with gay people in it. There's a whole country out there with gay members in their families, gay parents, children whose parents and families aren't protected by the law like their neighbors are, and until there's equality for everyone, everywhere, this is just one stop along the way. Bryan: It's extraordinarily frustrating that there are vulnerable people in our society that don't have the wealth and political wherewithal to make this moment happen where they live, and that the Supreme Court didn't do anything to protect them and extend the promise of equality that's in the Constitution to all Americans. So though we're very happy about this, we don't all just live in a bubble of privilege. We are in a bubble of privilege here, as New Yorkers, but the fact is that this is something that needs to be extended to all Americans. Bryan: I think there's going to be a torrent of litigation of people who marry in New York and they go to Wisconsin and Alabama and they inevitably come into legal conflicts... Mike: People who marry here are going to expect to be treated the same as people who are married in every place else. So, if we took our New York marriage and moved to another state, we would expect that state to treat us the same way as it treats all of its other citizens. Mike: There are five who we'd like to say thank you to. And there are four who we'd like to say, "Better luck next time." Jeffrey LeFrancois, twenty-eight, Harlem It was an extremely momentous day in the history of the United States, in large part. It's validating and it's gratifying, but it also furthers the idea that we have a lot more work to do because it wasn't a broad decision. The only states that marriage will now be recognized in federally are the states that already have marriage equality on the books. So, we have a lot more work to do. But obviously this brings us a lot more motivation, a lot more fire behind the pack to keep going and make sure that more and more states get marriage equality, so some day all fifty states have it. It's pretty tremendous because obviously this is, sort of, the American Mecca for the gay-rights movement. And as Edie Windsor, the brilliant, amazing woman that she is, pointed out this morning: "I want to go to Stonewall!" Right away. That was my first thought this morning, too. We're going to get states like Illinois, more states in the Northwest to approve marriage equality. Obviously California was a great victory, so I think we now have over ninety-three million people living in states with marriage equality. But, down the line, I think what will happen is cases will begin to work their way back to the court system and they will eventually come before the Supreme Court again. And under the "full faith and credit" clause, they will have to rule that marriages must be recognized in all fifty states, regardless of the gender of the persons. And that is how I think we will get every state with marriage equality. But we will continue to chip away and get it state by state in the meantime as well. I want to say thank you to the five who said yes. And to the four who said no, you have a lot of learning to do. Wilson Kidde (right), fifty-five, New York, and Louis Jordan, twenty-seven, New York Louis: We were here also when gay marriage was passed in New York. But it seems like this is an even bigger crowd. I guess it is the whole idea of not just being a symbolic marriage but being an actual marriage with all its rights and privileges. Wilson: This is a monument, this square, this area right here. And this is, in a way, marking it as a sort of touchstone. Wilson: It probably means we're going to get married. Because now it actually means something. And I wasn't actually interested in doing a half marriage, or whatever. Louis: We have been together for five years now with no real plans of getting married. But you know, now we're sort of thinking, "Well, maybe." The idea that what happened to Edie and all of that, with just being treated horribly because you aren't fully recognized under the law, it has made us go think. We were just talking about it this morning when the news got announced. Louis: It's wonderful. I came from a little town in Indiana where there is still a long, long fight for gay rights over there. And to see all of these people, to see these masses of people, coming out either in support or in celebration, it's wonderful. Wilson: There is still a long way to go. Louis: There's still many places where people can be fired for being gay. There's still many places where it's not completely safe to be out. I think once about a decade has passed and people see that the nuclear family has not collapsed, something like this will eventually bring gay people into - not the mainstream, I hate to say mainstream, but yeah, into mainstream society. Wilson: It is also possible that there will be some backlash, too. We are just a block away from where a man was just murdered, point blank. Louis: There's good news, but we were just saying this morning, "Oh, God, now there's probably going to be more hate crimes after this." Wilson: I think cautious optimism and a real reason for celebration. Don't forget, four of the justices dissented. Wilson: I would ask those judges that dissented to really look into their souls, if they had any. If they could find them. And ask them, really, what on earth did they have in mind by voting against this life-affirming, love-affirming, everything-affirming striking down of DOMA. It seems to me such a no-brainer. Jonathan, forty, Brooklyn I am here because on this spot, the N.Y.P.D., the police, beat people for being gay decades ago and now it's legal to marry someone even if you're gay. And I want to support my friends who are gay. My friends have put up with inequality. I feel that today is an important day because it values my marriage, which is to a woman, but it's a marriage based on love and now anyone who is in love can get married. It means that my step-sister who got married four days ago can now legally get married, not just a pretend civil union. And I'm very happy for that. This is a very happy moment, it really is - a truly happy and historical moment and I'm very glad to be here for that reason. I don't know, I'm happy with this today. I'm happy with the Texas Senate and the filibuster yesterday, that was an amazing thing, I watched a lot of that. For this ruling, thank you very much. As a heterosexual Brooklynite, thank you very much. Photographs by Thea Traff.