Arizona Equality Walkers - Soulforce Right To Marry Update

Entry by CJ Minott

We started this morning at the Glendale City Hall with another conversation about why we were walking, each person remembering a specific person whom they were walking for. Then we began our journey past the beautiful local shops where he had eaten lunch the day before. From Glendale we were headed to the Church of the Beatitudes, a lovely United Church of Christ congregation where we had lunch and the most amazing cherries for desert. We were greeted warmly by Pastor Nancy Elsenheimer and several community members. The Church of the Beatitudes is a progressive congregation in the Central Phoenix area with a long history of supporting of the LGBT community and other important social issues.

From the church we headed down Central Avenue, a street of great historical and cultural significance to the Phoenix valley. Along Central we were able to stop at its many churches to give them some information about out walk, some of which offered us cold water and some time in their air conditioned environments. We also stopped at local LGBT supportive retailers, and popular coffeeshops to leave some information about the future of marriage equality in Arizona.

Along Central we had conversations with many different people in a busy downtown environment, and at the same time see the new Phoenix light rail which will someday help decrease pollution and traffic problems. Members of the Central United Methodist Church cheered us on by ringing the church bells and offering us cold Sonic slushies. The church was only a few short miles to the Phoenix City Hall where we were greeted by water fountains and another symbolic statue of family. The presence of these statures at almost every city hall we've visited so far reminds us how important this walk is. It reminds us that we are not walking just for our selves, but for the many Arizona families which are not yet fully recognized, supported and protected. It is my hope that someday soon they too can be memorialized by a bronze statue of their own at a city hall in Arizona.

Onwards to Scottsdale & Mesa tomorrow!

(For more information about the Soulforce Campaign, click here.)