Equal marriage activists dropped a banner more than two stories long from the roof of the County Building during a protest today to support equal marriage rights for all.

The banner was dropped from the roof of the Clark St. side of the County/City Hall complex at 118 N. Clark St. and was visible for more than ten minutes before persons unknown began hauling the banner back up to the roof of the building.

The State of Massechusets began marrying same-gender couples today, and activists across the country are staging protests and rallies to demand that their states end marriage segregation, as well.

Today's banner drop was staged in conjunction with a protest sponsored by Equal Marriage NOW! at Cook County Clerk David Orr's office to both celebrate Massachusetts' victory and to demand that gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people be given the same rights as heterosexual couples here to marry.

May 17 also marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education, which struck down segregation in the schools and other public accommodations. Equal marriage supporters argue that separate was not equal then and still isn't, and today's call invited all people who oppose segregation in all of its forms to join activists at the action in celebration of the Massachusetts' victory and to oppose Illinois' officials' continued adherence to bigoted laws.