Billboard supports gay marriage
GREENSBORO — Forty-three years.
That’s how long it’s been since Ellen Gerber fell in love with the person who would become her partner for life.
Forty-three years of love — but no wedding ring.
And that’s why they soon will be on a billboard above Battleground Avenue near Cone Boulevard.
The billboard, paid for by the Triad Equality Alliance, features pictures of long-term gay and lesbian couples, including Gerber and her partner, Pearl Berlin.
It’s part of an effort aimed at achieving what Gerber, 73, describes as her dream.
“I want to live long enough to be able to get married in North Carolina,” she said.
The High Point couple have friends who have gone elsewhere to marry. But they chose not to do that. They wanted to do it here. With friends and family. On the soil where they live.
Her hope is to be able to be wed by their 50th anniversary.
She knows that might not happen. But sometimes history holds surprises.
“I never thought apartheid would end without a shot being fired. I never thought the Berlin Wall would come down. If those things could happen, we could get gay marriage in North Carolina,” she said.
The billboard to be unveiled this week takes a somewhat subtle approach, not mentioning the word marriage. It shows four couples and how long they’ve been together and asks the question: “Haven’t we waited long enough?”
Judith Kobler, co-chairwoman of the alliance’s board, said the idea behind the billboard is to combat myths and stereotypes by showing gays and lesbians in committed relationships.
It follows up on similar campaigns in previous years that included billboards at various locations across the city with themes such as “We are your neighbors.”
“It’s starting to change the perception of what gay people look like,” Kobler said. “I think we’ve come a long way and I think we have a long way to go.”
The billboard also suggests issues involving fairness.
Those involved note that gay and lesbian couples are denied many of the benefits available to straight couples.
Social Security benefits upon the death of a spouse. Filing taxes jointly. Medical benefits.
Gerber said she had to pay for health insurance for 15 years before her Medicare kicked in because she couldn’t go on Berlin’s plan as a spouse.
“The expense was enormous. Had we been able to be married, it would have been a whole different ballgame,” she said.
Gerber said participating in the billboard is a part of the history of activism she and Berlin share that stretches back decades.
She was there for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington. Eventually, that activism broadened.
“As time went by, we became gay activists,” she said.
Her life and activism have converged in the billboard.
Gerber hopes the message has some resonance with the tens of thousands of motorists who zip past every day.
“This is about love,” she said. “Who you love. Who you fall in love with.”
Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or jason.hardin@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: “I want to live long enough to be able to get married in North Carolina,” says Ellen Gerber, (third couple from the left), who is pictured with her longtime partner Pearl Berlin. The billboard will be on Battleground Avenue, near Cone Boulevar...
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