“We’re giving them the street.” So the police officer said as my daughter and I arrived at Central Square in Cambridge at 11:30 this evening. The police pulled back the restraining fences and the crowd packed Massachusetts Ave. solid where we watched couples enter the Town Hall — the first same-sex couples in America to be issued marriage licenses fully legal according to state law. (Oh, stop your quibbling! We’re the first state to do it right and I’m going to enjoy that.)

WOOHOO!

The crowd was enormous. We were crammed together from the street all the way up the long steps to the very entrance of the building. The protestors across the street (“God hates fags” read one particularly charming sign) were outnumbered and totally ignored; by midnight, they’d left.

Songs rippled through the crowd: “Going to the Chapel,” and “America the Beautiful” and “This Land Is Your Land.” Every couple that went up the stairs was cheered and applauded by all of us. “It’s Woodstock,” I said to my daughter. (“It’s the Summer of Love,” I thought.)

Then, at midnight, people threw rice, clapped, shouted, cheered. At least one of us laughed and cried at the same time. A chant began further up the hill and I couldn’t tell if it was “We are equal” or “We are legal,” but, well, that’s the point, isn’t it?

I’m proud of my state and I’m happy tonight.

I’ve posted my photos here.

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