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Street's gay about-face
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Candidate
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Nov 19, 2007 10:26pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Philadelphia Inquirer |
| News Date | Tuesday, November 20, 2007 04:25:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Eight years ago, it would have been unimaginable.
But over brunch on a warm Sunday morning last fall, Micah Mahjoubian leaned over and asked his boss a question.
"I told him Ryan and I got engaged to be married, and I'd like him to consider whether he would officiate our ceremony."
John Street, once regarded as Public Enemy No. 1 of the gay community, did not flinch. Yes, he said.
So on Saturday, as the clock winds down on his time as mayor, Street will preside over his first same-sex commitment ceremony, in City Hall.
With 125 guests expected, it will resemble in every way a traditional wedding but will have no legal standing, since Pennsylvania prohibits gay marriage.
Mahjoubian, 33, and Ryan Bunch, 32, will wear matching black tuxedos with orange vests. There will be a 10-person wedding party; each groom's best man happens to be a woman. Mahjoubian and Bunch will say their vows, exchange wedding rings, then leave for a reception at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, New Jersey's gay civil-rights organization, said he was unaware of another mayor who performed a commitment ceremony in a state where civil unions and gay marriage are illegal.
"Every single time a public official like Mayor Street performs a ceremony," he said, "it strengthens the case for marriage equality."
For Mahjoubian and Bunch, it's as much a political statement as a show of their love before family and friends.
For Street, who has performed fewer than 10 weddings as mayor, it's anything but.
"Micah is my friend. He has been in my campaign and has been in my administration for eight years," Street said. Currently, Mahjoubian is his deputy secretary of external affairs. "I've come to respect him as a person, and if this is something he would like for me to do, then I'd like to do it for him."
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