Residents and merchants of a San Diego
suburb have banded together to throw a dream wedding for a gay couple
whose wedding was disrupted by anti-gay slurs.
Arizona residents Oscar de las Salas
and Gary Jackson's August 17 wedding in Coronado was repeatedly
interrupted by a heckler believed to be hiding in a nearby luxury
residential building screaming “homos” and “go home, fags.”
According to San Diego's Union-Tribune,
a do-over for the couple is planned for Saturday, October 11.
“The people of Coronado, who said
they wouldn't tolerate what happened to us, have crated a happy
ending,” de las Salas told the paper. “We never expected this.
It's incredible.”
What started out as a small reception
for the couple mushroomed into a fully catered wedding to be held at
one of the city most exclusive hotels as donations poured in.
“It's insane how much they're
donating,” said attorney Alisa Kerr, one of the four young women
behind the effort. “I mean a Loews [Coronado Bay Resort] wedding
on a Saturday – I have no idea how much that would cost.”
Mayor Casey Tanaka will officiate the
ceremony.