Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of New York City became famous 40 years ago in the early hours of 28 June 1969. On that day, for the first time in American history, violent demonstrations took place against a police raid targeted at the gay community, more particularly at a gay bar situated in that street.
While the situation for gays has generally improved a lot since then, some issues such as gay marriage continue to be highly controversial not least in the United States. This has led gay couples to search for other forms of expression to 'tie the knot' and tell the world about it.
Gretchen Schoser and Cheryl Dubois from Florida chose to register with the International Commitment Ceremony Registrar. It serves as a public and permanent historical record of commitment ceremonies that have been performed all over the world. Gretchen's and Cheryl's commitment ceremony took place on 27 July 1999 in Miami Beach, Florida and will stay on the record 'as a monument to their love'.