Brook Garrett and Jay Blotcher were married in 2004, alongside 24 same-sex couples in Peace Park in the village of New Paltz.

“February 27, 2004, will always remain an amazing memory for both of us, because we were taking a stand for something important,” said Blotcher, from the couple’s home in High Falls.

For his other half, Garrett, it did not come without some nerves.

“He woke me up and said ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ ”  Blotcher said. “At the time, Brook was mentoring LGBTQ teens through a project called Circles with Planned Parenthood, and I said to him, ‘this is gonna mean a lot to your kids, so think of it that way.’ ”

“So we did it for the kids,” Garrett replied, laughing.

With a split-second decision to blow kisses to thousands who came out to support the marriages that day, Garrett’s face was plastered across every major newspaper and television screen across America.

“It was just a pure emotional response to the emotional response,” he said.

He recognized the decision that day was part of a larger movement.

“Others before us have done much more drastic and physically demanding and dangerous things for, you know, civil rights and equality,” Garrett said, “so you know, we’re standing on their shoulders, and without them, we’re not sitting here today.”

Every action, they said, be it large or small, helps to advance a larger conversation.

“The activism and the marching, we’re seeing that now. How do you become active today? Some people are easy to donate, quick to sign a petition, and then there are people who are marching,” Garrett said.

As the couple spoke, activists, young and old, were gathered just minutes from where they repeated their vows in 2004, rallying for the Black and transgender communities in New Paltz and by extension, New York.

“It’s life-affirming that there are places to go in New Paltz where people who believe in equal rights can stand tall and proud, or if they need to, to protest the fact that there’s yet another attack on equal rights and on decency in America,” Blotcher said. “New Paltz has always served as a great epicenter for progressive ideas, and it’s good to see that tradition continue.”

Blotcher said that the fight for marriage equality hasn’t affected the livelihood of those who have always enjoyed the right to marry.

“Throughout American history, naysayers have pointed to these efforts of equality and predict that the world is going to come to an end,” he said. “When women fought for the right to vote, people said ‘oh, this is going to cause the degradation, the collapse of American society.’ When people wanted to fight for desegregation, they said ‘oh, when Blacks and whites mix, then we’re going to have the end of society.’ It’s all the same lie over and over in order to prevent us from having our equal rights.”

Some 16 years later, Blotcher said there remains a poignant message to be remembered from that bold decision made in the early 2000s.

“Every act of defiance counts, no matter who you are. Go ahead and fight the status quo if you see an injustice. Your small act can actually change the world,” he said.

When asked if they had any regrets, Garrett said, “No. I think my only regret is that he didn’t wear a jacket and tie.”