Thousands of people are expected to attend the gay pride parade and festival in downtown Winston-Salem this weekend.
Organizers say they expect large crowds after a federal judge struck down North Carolina's gay marriage ban on Friday. Brent Morin, vice president of the organization called Pride Winston-Salem, says several same-sex marriage ceremonies will take place at the event.
“With this favorable ruling that has come down we are changing our plans for Pride Winston-Salem, which is on October the 18th and 19th,” says Morin. “We have hired caterers, cooks and cake decorators and flower people to come in and help us pull off a large scale wedding with multiple couples.”
Morin says although same-sex couples have won equal marriage rights in North Carolina, he says that there is still a lot of work that need to be done in other states.
Meanwhile, Legislative GOP leaders Phil Berger and House Speaker Tom Tillis issued a joint statement shortly after the ruling. They still support Amendment One and will work to keep it in place.
The constitutional amendment that North Carolina voters approved in 2012 was put on the ballot by Tillis and the GOP-controlled General Assembly.
Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news
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