It is not that vacationers at the tip of Cape Cod were indifferent to news that a federal judge had struck down Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Far from it, but for many same-sex couples, the more pressing issues last week had to do with setting up play dates and getting sand out of diapers.
Provincetown is a Portuguese fishing village and 20th-century art colony best known today as a resort that draws many gay visitors and residents. Last week, it was overrun — that may not be too strong a word — with the children of gay, bisexual and transgender parents during the 15th annual gathering known as Family Week.
About 280 families (or 1,200 people — roughly equal to a third of the town’s year-round population) signed up for a week filled with pasta parties for youngsters and parenting workshops for grown-ups.
Add to that dozens of top-hatted Masons from around the state who landed there on Thursday, as did Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, to rededicate the towering Pilgrim Monument on the occasion of its centenary. The Mayflower landed in Provincetown Harbor before proceeding to Plymouth, a perennial sore point as each town lays claim to the Pilgrims.
Among all these distractions, a California couple, Tim Chisser, 48, and John Prosen, 52, painted a celebratory message on the rear window of their car: “RIP Prop 8.” They were wed in San Diego, California, on July 9, 2008, in the brief period when same-sex marriages were lawful in California, before voters approved Proposition 8.
Chisser and Prosen were on vacation here when the ruling was issued. Almost immediately, Chisser, an artist and graphic designer, headed out to buy acrylic paint for a political touch-up job on the BMW. He said he thought people might wonder how the owners of a car with California license plates felt about the decision.
Prosen said that he opposed the idea of “putting someone else’s rights up for a vote,” and that he was unmoved by the fact that 7 million Californians had voted for Proposition 8.
“Seven million isn’t a plurality or a majority or anything,” he said. “It’s 7 million people voting on something you shouldn’t be voting on.”
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