This Pride Fest had something big to celebrate

What may have been a record crowd turned out over the weekend for a Twin Cities Pride Fest that got underway the day after the U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

In Minnesota, gay marriage has been legal for nearly two years. But legal limbo still awaited gay and lesbian couples who moved to any of the 13 states where it remained illegal — until Friday.

Thousands turned out to celebrate the historic moment.

Newly married to Cassandra Lonnes-Spatola, her partner of seven years, 26-year-old Amelia Lonnes-Spatola watched Sunday's Pride parade wearing a tank top with the words "I love my wife" written in big rainbow letters. Amelia said she and Cassandra are thrilled that their union is now legal across the country.

"It's kind of exciting that we got married before it was legal in all 50 states," she said. "But now if we move, our marriage will be recognized everywhere, so that's great."

Weddings and commitment ceremonies were part of the festivities again this year. Hennepin County Judge Amy Dawson officiated at many of them, and included words from Justice Anthony Kennedy's Supreme Court majority opinion.

"Your commitment embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family," she said. "In forming this civil commitment, two people become something greater than they once were."

Two women who got married — Kaylie Cassity, 19, and Ali Johnson, 29 — said they are overjoyed at the ruling. Cassity, who is studying to be a paralegal, said she was in class Friday when she heard the news.

"Just after our test I went on Facebook and I saw it," she said. "And I was just kind of shocked that it finally went through, and just really happy for everyone involved."

Also celebrating the ruling at Twin Cities Pride was Barb Schroeder of Ogilvie, Minn.

A decade ago, Schroeder helped start the east central Minnesota chapter of PFLAG — Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays — when her son came out in middle school.

In 2012, the unsuccessful attempt to establish a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage got nearly two-thirds support in Kanabec County, where Ogilvie is located. Schroeder said things are getting better for gay people in rural Minnesota, though gradually.

"It's a conservative mindset," she said, "but we're seeing that, one heart at a time, minds are changing, so we're happy about that."

As he watched the Pride parade yesterday, Tony Morrison of Robbinsdale said it's important to remember that marriage is less about cake and flowers than about being there for one's spouse when there's a crisis.

"If somebody gets sick or somebody gets hurt, you can go to the hospital," he said. "You can be there with your loved one if there was a catastrophic event or something. You don't have to go through all the BS to be with someone if they're dying or they're injured or they're hurt."

Morrison, 54, came out at age 19. Like many gays and lesbians of his generation, he thought the idea that same-sex marriage would someday be legal in all 50 states was a pipe dream.

He never thought he'd see it happen, he said.