Some of the 99 percent celebrated love as Occupy Wall Street hosted the first same-sex wedding at Zuccotti Park on Saturday. Activists Jonathan Lopez, 19, and Ivan Cabrera, 18, pictured above, were married, the New York Daily News reported.
The reportedly “unofficial ceremony” took place at a nerve center of worldwide economic inequity protests. Despite gay marriage’s legalization in July, Zuccotti Park has only been a venue for one, according to the Gothamist.
“They say we have freedom of speech, but we don’t. We’re nonviolent, and we got kicked out and hit. We’re trying to make this cause for the whole world,” Cabrera said.
Cabrera says he’s participated in Occupy Wall Street since its genesis told the Daily News,
Nearly 200 people gathered at Zuccotti Park Saturday—the first time since the Nov. 15 raid. About 140 people were arrested.
Federal Domestic Partner Bill Introduced in U.S. Congress
The bill, which would provide federal workers domestic partners, has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. U.S. Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, like previous sessions, brought the bill forward in their chamber, according to the Advocate.
U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, D-Fla., introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The federal government must set an example as an equal opportunity employer,” a Baldwin press release said.
The proposed legislation allows federal employees and partners to benefit from retirement, life insurance, health, workers’ compensation, and family and medical leave. With that said, they must abide by same antinepotism and financial disclosure rules applied to straight workers and their spouses.
Photo: New York Daily News
