LA Couple Makes History With Same-Sex Wedding Atop Rose Parade Float
WEST LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Southland couple made history Wednesday as the first same-sex couple to be married on a float in the Rose Parade.
As part of the Tournament's "Dreams Come True" theme, the "Living The Dream" float (PDF) featured Aubrey Loots, 42, and Danny Leclair, 45, a gay male couple from Los Angeles who have been dating for over a decade.
The float, one of 45 participating in the 125th Rose Parade, was constructed out of flowers to look like a wedding cake.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation sponsored the float to raise awareness of the disease, with the theme "Living the Dream: Love Is the Best Protection."
"We did not know what to expect because the last few days have been so much negative stuff online and social media," Loots said. Some called for a boycott of the Tournament of Roses Parade because of the decision to include the couple's wedding.
The 2014 Rose Parade was the first since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June in favor of opponents of Proposition 8 made gay marriage legal in California.
"On a few occasions we heard some naysayers," said Leclair. "But just as they got started the crowd around them would get louder and louder just to try to eclipse that sound."
"Danny actually yelled out to them 'thank you, we love you and we hear you'," Loots said.
Some stations cut away as the float went by.
"It just makes me sad that for whatever reason our float got cut from the parade," Leclair said. Still, the couple said they chose to stand for love.
"And that made everything else disappear," said Loots. "Such a dream come true."
RELATED: Group Calls For Rose Parade Boycott Over Planned Same-Sex Marriage Ceremony On Float