A very many congratulations to Mayor E. Denise Simmons of Cambridge, Mass., and her partner Mattie B. Hayes, who will wed on August 30.
Mayor Simmons is the country’s first out, lesbian, African American mayor. She is also the mother of four and grandmother of three, and is raising her grandchildren. I’m thinking I could learn a lot from her about time management.
A press release from her office notes:
The couple shares a passionate interest in advocacy and support work for children and families, and their wedding ceremony shall touch upon those themes. This is certainly a joyous milestone for the Cambridge Mayor and her family, which is to be expected of a loving union; however, this same-sex marriage is also important on a broader scale, as it seems indicative of a more accepting, more tolerant society.
The couple will wed at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, which has predominantly been serving Cambridge’s African-American community for over 100 years. Simmons observes, “I believe this may be the very first African-American church to hold a same gender wedding, and that’s something that just wouldn’t have happened years ago. But times are changing, people are becoming more accepting of their fellow citizens, and we are slowly arriving at more of a ‘live-and-let-live’ kind of world.”
Rev. Irene Monroe, an African American feminist theologian who writes regular columns for New England LGBT newspaper In Newsweekly and The Advocate, will conduct the ceremony. (Rev. Monroe is also a fellow writer of mine at The Bilerico Project.)
(Thanks, Rod. Photos: Mayor Simmons; sign in main foyer of Cambridge City Hall.)
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