This year, Philly Pride will not only celebrate a parade and festival, but a wedding ceremony.
Antoine Pierre, 44, and his partner Anthony Jones, 37, will “tie the knot” in front of a crowd of potentially thousands of witnesses at 1 p.m. in front of the judge’s stand at Sixth and Market streets. The Rev. Jeffrey H. Jordan-Pickett, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Philadelphia, will serve as the ceremony officiate. Members of MCCP’s praise team will serve as singers, and church congregants will arrive in style in a trolley to serve as VIP wedding guests. Pierre and Jones, who live in South Philly with their son, want the event to highlight the fact that Pennsylvania lacks recognition for same-sex couples — and it will also help prepare them for a commitment ceremony they’re planning in the city in October. Pierre, a Baltimore native, and Jones, who hails from New Jersey, have been together for a year, but met and talked online for six months prior. The two met on a dating site and Pierre said when he saw Jones for the first time, sparks flew. “He was beautiful — I mean just perfect,” he said. “When we first met, it was love at first sight, and I knew he was perfect for me.” Jones said he was taken by Pierre’s good looks and that he turned out to be everything Jones had been looking for in a partner. “My first impression was that he was fabulous, very handsome and I loved his state of mind,” Jones said. “He was just everything I was always looking for: excellent personality, good spirit, and he took to my son and was just perfect.” At the beginning of their relationship, Pierre was hospitalized for 30 days and Jones and their 2-year-old son were a constant support. “Just the support and him being there, it made our relationship stronger and showed me he had a heart and cared so much about me and that drew me to him,” Pierre said. “He didn’t really know me at the time, but just sticking by me was amazing.” Jones said the relationship works well because of their open communication and their ability to support each other. “I feel like he is my backbone with everything and he is an understanding person. Our communication is outstanding,” Jones said. “I’ve learned patience, to trust, to be able to reach out for my own goals. He is very supportive.” Pierre said he hopes the couple’s ceremony at Pride sets an example that same-sex couples are just as worthy of marriage as heterosexual couples. “We are hoping this sparks some attention and people look up to us,” he said. “We want people to see that it is just love; you can love somebody of the same sex and it be true love. It is more than a ceremony to us: We just hope that other people look at it and use it as a platform for marriage equality.” Jones agreed and added, “I hope that they learn that being gay does not mean you cannot find love. People should learn how to allow people to have the right to love who they love.”