The Nation - News from Oct. 11, 1987

Thousands of homosexual couples cheered and threw rice at a mass “wedding” ceremony held in Washington, D.C., as they protested religious and social barriers against their relationships. The ceremony, held in the street outside the Internal Revenue Service, was one event during six days of lobbying and protests by homosexuals in the nation’s capital. Police estimated 5,000 people gathered for the brief ceremony, aimed at showing the public that gay couples do not benefit from tax and inheritance laws that heterosexual couples enjoy from marriages. “We want health benefits, legal benefits--things most straight couples take for granted that most gay people don’t have,” said a Los Angeles man who identified himself as Mark.