January 16, 2015

Celebrate marriage equality on the Love Train

By Aubrey Nagle
PhillyVoice Contributor

Adam Wallacavage/Mural Arts Program

See all of Stephen Powers' "Love Letter" series on the Love Train, Feb. 8.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of their "Love Letters" project and Pennsylvania marriage equality, Mural Arts is making their final Love Train ride extra exciting. The ride takes place on SEPTA's Market-Frankford line and provides a slow, guided tour of the "Love Letters" murals before finishing with the wedding of one lucky couple.

This year, Philly's first openly gay male judge, Daniel J. Anders, will perform the ceremony for a same-sex couple, a Love Train first. If you or a couple you know would like to be married on the train, email lovetrain2015@muralarts.org by Monday, Jan. 26 to be considered.

Besides the couple in question, all the details for Love Train 2015 have been set in motion. Leaving from Jefferson Station on Sunday, Feb. 8 promptly at noon, the privately chartered train will take its tour of 50 murals. Then, the train will pull into 69th Street Station to perform the actual ceremony before the whole group heads to the Loews Midtown Hotel for a catered reception.

Regular SEPTA riders need not worry about any service interruptions. The Love Train will operate in between two regularly scheduled trains. When it makes its stop at 69th Street it will pull on to a specially dedicated track as not to interfere with service while the landmark moment in LGBTQ history occurs.