 West Hollywood. My name is Dustin Lance Black, and I am here to recruit you and to celebrate with you because today, today, freedom and equality yet again ring in the great state of California, and this time, this time no one will ever, ever take it away from us again. Like so many of you here, I woke up this morning very, very early because I couldn't sleep and I had my coffee and I went online and I started checking and checking and checking and in that time I started thinking back. I started thinking back to the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who over the decades were brave enough to come out when it was difficult to come out, to share their stories when that was not easy. That's right. Who gave us their names and so many who gave us their lives and couldn't be here with us today for this celebration and I think about them, and I think about them, and I think about one in particular and his name was Harvey Bernard Milk. And Harvey Bernard Milk, our dear hero, one of our father figures, he said to anyone who would listen in the waning days of his life, he said we can no longer be satisfied with crumbs. It is time that this community stop asking for crumbs and demand the real thing because they may find that they could actually get it and we have today. And he said to anyone who listened that if we're ever going to win equality for all, it is time to stop asking for crumbs and to start demanding equality from the federal government and we've done that today and we have won. So I thought of my forefathers but I also thought about almost every single one of you who have also given your lives and your stories and your names to this movement so that we could be here today. And I want to thank all of you and I want to congratulate all of you for going out there and winning freedom today, winning equality today, winning respect and protection for your families and your future families today. Congratulations for that. But most importantly, what every single one of us Californians won today was strength. We won strength and we did it with our blood and our sweat and our tears and our stories and our lives and our love. But we are not done. And now it is time for each and every one of us to take that strength that you now feel as Californians, take that strength and take it to Texas where I grew up and take it to Virginia where my dear big brother lived and take it to Holland, Michigan where so many have been denied equality and take it, please take it to Altoona, Pennsylvania to the place Harvey Milk talked about and that young person who is still yearning to be free. You need to take your strength to these places and share this feeling with this nation so we no longer, no longer leave a single one of our brothers or our sisters behind no matter the love in their heart or which state they live. That is what we will do with this day. That is what we will do with this strength. Now we're here today. We're here today to celebrate this community. We're here today to celebrate what we've all done to get this far. But before we hear from some of the community and our plaintiffs and our lawyers and the team at AFER, I want to acknowledge some of the elected officials who have helped make this reality. And I'm going to read the names of the ones who are here today. Mayor Abbey Land of West Hollywood. Mayor Antonio Virgosa of Los Angeles. That's right. Assembly Member Richard Bloom. Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Gruhl. That's right. Mayor Pro Tem John Diamaco. Councilman Jeffrey Prong. Los Angeles City Council Member Bill Rosendahl. Yeah. LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer. Los Angeles City Controller Elect Ron Galperin. Los Angeles City Council Member Elect Mike Bonin. Los Angeles City Council Member Elect Mitchell Farrell. Former Assembly Member Betsy Butler. Now, West Hollywood has always been a very, very special place for us now, hasn't it? For the LGBT community and our friends. That's right. It was a place of safety for me when I came here for college. A place to feel free. In fact, way back in 1985, West Hollywood was the first city to start domestic partnerships registries and to give full benefits to people working for the government who were domestic partners. And we should cheer West Hollywood for that progress. But I want to introduce you to somebody who knows West Hollywood very well and is a dear friend of mine. Not only is she the executive director of the Trevor Project, who is looking out for those young people who might still slip through the cracks. But she is also the mayor of this great city of West Hollywood. So, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Abbey Land. In this section, Santa Monica and San Vicente, where all LGBT activism happens, and today we are here to celebrate that at the injustice. We were one of the few cities that joined the DOMA Amicus Brief. We were a solution in support of marriage equality. We've always been at the forefront and we're seeing this tremendous celebration. Officials, we take an oath and we say that we will uphold the laws of the Constitution of California and of the United States of America. And how great is it to be able to uphold the laws that truly reflect what we feel in our video justice efforts? I'm joined here by council member Jeffrey Prang, Jeffheim advocate, not only as a council member, but also fighting with the Democratic Party to ensure marriage equality was always part of that Democratic platform. For love, he got to marry Ray and they are a happy couple, I must say. I'm here with my colleague John Heilman. John Heilman was that person that passed domestic partnerships when no one else in the country would do it. John Heilman has worked tirelessly for LGBT equality for years. Alley John Duran is not here. He is in Chicago celebrating, I am sure, but he was there 13 years ago trying to figure out how do we ensure that every gay and lesbian person who wants to get married gets married and gets the benefits that they deserve. Family member Richard Bloom is a Santa Monica City Council person and now in the State Assembly, tirelessly to make sure LGBT people get every right they deserve. Give him a hand as well. League John D'Amico, Mayor Pro Tem D'Amico. So I am what you call a straight ally. And 18 years ago I got to get married to my husband Martin, a man that I just adore. And Denise Agar, rabbi Denise Agar married us. And it was the best day of my life, which is true. But John D'Amico had to wait another 13 years before he and his partner Keith could get married by Denise Agar. But they did in the summer of love and they got married and I want to have John come up and say a few words about this historic day.