Independence Day is quickly approaching and people in the metropolitan area have different plans.
Becky May, 19, will be headed home to New Jersey for the summer holiday. May does not decorate or buy fireworks for the celebration.
While May is not a native Washingtonian, she “knows it’s hectic” on the National Mall and will be watching fireworks from a beach in New Jersey.
Nicole Narvaez is going to the National Mall to watch the fireworks display, which includes over 6,500 shells, according to the National Park Service.
July 4 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Wayne Huang courtesy of Creative Commons)
The National Mall will be enclosed with over 18,000 linear feet of fencing and have 350 portable toilets to accommodate the thousands of people that attend the display each year.
Dominic Gatti, 20, thinks the Fourth of July is more of a celebration and party than anything else.
“I’m going to my frat party then probably to the Mall for fireworks,” said Gatti.
Narvaez “might be celebrating with friends,” and believes the holiday is about both celebration and remembrance.
Nadine Hallak plans to attend a barbecue with friends on the fourth. She will be watching the National Mall fireworks on television this year.
People in Washington, D.C. interviewed this month agreed that acceptance of same sex marriage has been on the rise in the United States in the four years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on the subject.
Marriage equality activists outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo by Stephen Luke courtesy of Creative Commons)
Brittany Proudfoot-Ginder, 30, an employee at American University, thinks the culture has become more aware and will continue to change toward acceptance in the years to come. Ginder explained opposition is dependent on geographic location and socioeconomic status.
Despite groups who disagree with same sex marriage, Ginder says people feel more comfortable speaking about it and there has been more visibility for the LGBTQ community.
The opposition is “fairly similar to how it’s always been, but now there is more of a community fighting back,” said Ginder, whose sister identifies as lesbian and is getting married later this year.
Ginder spoke passionately about the benefits of marriage, such as filing taxes together, sharing a health insurance plan, and being able to visit them in the hospital.
A May 2019 report from Pew Research Center found the opinions of same sex marriage have remained largely unchanged since 2017. While opposition is slowly declining, it remains a part of the culture in the United States.
Jack Sullivan, 66, sat on a bench on the American University campus on a recent day in June. He believes marriage being held as a constitutional right has only helped create acceptance and education.
“Acceptance provoked the legalization of marriage,” Sullivan said.
Aubrey Amos,16, has seen a lot more about LGBTQ groups on social media, but has also seen opposition more frequently, too.
“They are speaking their minds,” Amos said of those still opposed to same-sex marriage.
Jabriela Calderon, 30, thinks opposition groups have become more verbal and occasionally violent. She attributed this to same sex marriage and the LGBTQ community being normalized after years of marginalization.
“There seems to be more of an understanding towards same sex couples,” Calderon said.
According to a Pew Research report from May 2013, people are more open to same sex marriage after being exposed to someone from the LGBTQ community.
For Tyler Massias, 19, same-sex marriage has meant larger acceptance for others, too, including people of color who identify as transgender. He says that in the four years since that Supreme Court ruling, it has “generated a permissive culture.”
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case Obergefell v. Hodges, “requiring all states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Hannah Ruth Wellons, who worked at the American University library, said she believes that the issue now goes beyond marriage. It means that ignorance also is being taken away.
