Plaintiffs, attorneys and a crowd of enthusiastic community members celebrated the filing of a class-action federal lawsuit challenging Georgia’s 2004 gay marriage ban Tuesday night at the Rush Center, hosted by Lambda Legal and Georgia Equality.
It was a whirlwind day for those involved in the suit, which started with an emotional morning press conference at Lambda Legal’s downtown offices covered by local and national media outlets. Each of the plaintiffs stepped in front of cameras publicly for the first time to tell their story, while Lambda Legal’s Beth Littrell and Georgia Equality’s Jeff Graham sounded off on why Georgia’s gay and lesbian citizens deserve the right to marry.
The Rush Center event was more casual and celebratory, and gave plaintiffs and attorneys time to raise a glass and take a breath before diving in to the start of the trial. View videos and a photo gallery from the event below.
Plaintiff Rayshawn Chandler: “We are ready.”
Plaintiff Michael Bishop: “We’re not going anywhere.”
psaunders@thegavoice.com | @patricksaunders