| |
THE
BRIDE, HE WORE WHITE
or
How Men Wed in
1953 Waco
by John Troesser |
In
reading through Observations - the interesting and too brief memoirs
of veteran Waco newspaperman W. S. "Bill" Foster, we noticed mention of
an incident from 1953 that readers may find interesting considering the recent
discussion about gay marriage and its potential legalization.
Although
something tells us that it was probably left off the official chamber of commerce
calendar of events for 1953, Waco
that year hosted what was described as a "homosexual convention" that April. Perhaps
it was meant to be a centerpiece of the convention or maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment
thing, but in any event, two men decided to get married during the gathering and
so it was done. Make that attempted.
The site of the ceremony (attendees
could call it a ceremony - to the police it was termed a raid) was a small house
near LaSalle Street in South Waco. For people familiar with the Waco of 50 years
past, it was in back of the Blue Arrow Lounge. Now you remember.
The
police interrupted the festivities before rings could be exchanged. It is not
known if the authorities waited for the clergy to ask "If anyone has an objection
why these two…" Since these were new frontiers back in 1953 one can understand
that details hadn't quite been worked out. The groom wore a suit while the "bride"
wore a long white gown.
All of the participants were arrested and fined
$25. Many of the attendees were local Waco businessmen (even so, their fine remained
set at just $25 - the 1953 Waco Police Department was firm, but fair). It was
not mentioned if the bride had to pay his fine. A slight scuffle ensued, for police
Lt. Bill Cornell received long term disability pay for a permanent service-related
back injury.
The Waco Citizen - the city's non-syndicated "underdog"
newspaper was the only one to cover the story and send a photographer. The paper
featured the couple on the front page and wire services took the story nation-wide.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime scoop for the Citizen who really needed the boost.
The edition sold out in Waco and copies driven to Hillsboro went for $1.00 a copy
(slightly higher in Canada). People loaded bundles of papers into cars and drove
them to parts of Texas where the news surprised some people and didn't surprise
others.
The paper named names and since it was 1953 - some businessmen
left town. The photo was so popular that a master print was made and sold well
into the 1970s.
The Waco Citizen, a twice-weekly neighborhood paper
whose slogan was once "If you don't want it printed, then [you] better not let
it happen" continues to be published in Waco as of this writing. A month and a
day after the story appeared, Waco was hit by the destructive and deadly tornado
that changed the face of the city forever. Despite the proximity of the events,
most people consider the two incidents to be totally unrelated.
©
John Troesser
"They
shoe horses, don't they?"
December 1, 2003
Source: Observations:
A Compilation of Events in Texas History by W. S. Foster, The Waco Citizen Press,
November, 1976 | |
|
