Dayton, Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley will
officiate over the commitment ceremonies of six gay and lesbian
couples during the city's Gay Pride festival.
Whaley, the Pride parade's grand
marshal, told the Dayton Daily News: “I wish it could be a
marriage ceremony.”
Whaley is a member of the 400
plus-strong Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, a group which advocates
for marriage equality.
An inaugural ceremony during last
year's festival included 50 couples.
“We will do it each year until
marriage equality is legal in the state of Ohio,” Randy Phillips,
president of the Greater Dayton LGBT Center, told
the paper.
The couples will tie the knot on
Courthouse Square in downtown Dayton following the parade.