Member of GetEQUAL TX and LGBT activist C.D. Kirven calls upon Mayor Mike Rawlings to sign the “Mayors for the Freedom to Marry Pledge” during Friday evening’s protest held in front of Dallas City Hall. (Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)

Facing the Dallas skyline, members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community stood outside City Hall Friday night, protesting Mayor Mike Rawlings’ refusal to sign the “Freedom to Marry pledge.”

“We want him [Rawlings] to sign the pledge. I know he is concerned with it just being symbolic, but it’s an important issue to the LGBT community and to the constituents,” Rafael McDonnell of Resource Center Dallas said.

More than 100 mayors across the country have signed the measure, which promotes marriage equality.

However, the Dallas mayor said that while he supports gay rights, it is a social issue and one that is not within his duties.

“I decided not to sign onto that letter because that is inconsistent with my view of the duties of the office of the mayor,” Rawlings said in a Facebook post last week.

Activists and members of Get Equal Texas, which fights for marriage equality, disagree.

“Our fight for marriage equality is not a social issue. We are fighting for our dignity; we are fighting for our families,” Mark Reed-Walkup of Get Equal Texas said.

During his election, Rawlings supported gay marriage; however, Reed-Walkup now feels that Rawlings has turned his back on the community and Dallas.

“Mayor Rawlings really campaigned heavily to the gay community that he supported our cause and supported marriage equality,” Reed-Walkup said. “When he got to office, he turned his back on us.”

While Mayor Rawlings cannot enact legislation for marriage equality, protestors want him to take a stance by signing the pledge.

“The pledge is not going to turn into a law. It’s a commitment to his constituents that he believes all families are created equal,” C.D. Kirven, an activist at the protest, said.

“City Hall is a place for love, a place for justice, a place for the people to be heard. It is not a place for religion.”

And clearly the people are being heard, as Mayor Rawlings met with more than 20 people from the LGBT community Saturday morning.

The meeting was closed to the press, but Rawlings addressed the media after, saying that he understands it is a big issue, “but in this case I chose to step back from symbolism, because that’s what it is.”

Kirven believes supporting symbolism is exactly what Rawlings needs to do.

“No mayor can approve marriage equality, but he can stand with our families,” Kirven said.

Some believe that Rawlings’ refusal to sign the pledge is purely political.

“I think he’s worried about re-election, honestly,” Sean Hubbard, who is running for U.S. Senate, said. “But I think in the end you have to do what is right and let the election work itself.”

And Kirven agrees. “I can’t help but think that this is political … He’s playing to the money of anti-gay people.”

Reed-Walkup and Get Equal Texas vow to continue speaking out until the mayor signs the pledge.

“The Dallas LGBT community is large. We’re loud, we’re proud, and as Texans, we fight back against discrimination,” he said.