Gay Couple to Exchange Marriage Vows on Float During Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day
A float sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation appearing in the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses parade will feature two gay men who will exchange wedding vows during the live broadcast.
Danny Leclair, 45, and his partner Aubrey Loots, 42, submitted an application to the foundation for the chance to appear on the parade's float and were recently selected to appear in the parade.
The float the men will ride on celebrates same-sex marriage in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling that ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation's float, "Living the Dream: Love Is the Best Protection," also represents "the role marriage can play in reducing HIV infections among gay men."
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"Having my relationship recognized legally is already a dream come true," Loots told ABC. "To be able to declare my love to the world at large in hopes of inspiring others to live proudly and authentically is an enormous honor."
"It's awe inspiring to be committing your life to another person and to have millions of people bear witness," Loots added. "I didn't imagine this happening in my lifetime."
Others, however, feel that the float is not appropriate for the parade and question the motives of the parades organizers.
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses has received complaints from people opposing the wedding. Some took to the organization's Facebook page publicize their disapproval.
"I am a 79 year old Los Angeles native and have not missed a parade since I was about 4 years old. I have watched my LAST one due to your decision to allow this unbiblical, gay marriage to take place on one of your floats," one man wrote.
Others have characterized the float as propaganda and point to its inclusion in the 125 year old parade as representative of the nation's moral decline.
"This float is symbolic of proud homosexual sin on parade for the whole nation to see," Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) told Christian News Network. "This is what America has become."
"God is not mocked," LaBarbera added. "The more we celebrate sin, the more we are in danger of [further] declining in this society, because any society that leaves God behind and abandons the natural family and wholesome morality is a society headed for the dustbin of history. And that's where America is headed, unfortunately."
