Well, I'm happy to report that while I was home depressed and feeling sorry for myself (and my gay brothers and sisters) over the passage of Prop 8, thousands of good people in Los Angeles took to the streets to protest the Mormon church's involvement in this hateful campaign against us all. Meanwhile gay rights backers filed 3 lawsuits challenging Prop. 8, arguing that the anti-gay marriage measure is an illegal constitutional revision. My friend Jim from the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center sends in this dispatch from the Left Coast:
Wow –- what a week it has been. :( I think I’m still in shock because I haven’t really had time to process it. (Here) are a few of my photos from our news conference/rally today at the Mormon Temple and information about the launch of www.InvalidateProp8.org. I really want to spread the word about it and fill the church’s office with postcards.
So despite the fact that the event was on a weekday, in the middle of the day, and in Westwood, there were 2,000-3,000 people there. In front of the temple we had a news conference, at which (the center's CEO) Lorri Jean announced the launch of www.InvalidateProp8.org and denounced the leaders of the Mormon Church for helping to raise more than $15 million to fund the deceitful ad campaign that helped Prop 8 pass by a small majority. Jorge Valencia, a former Mormon and ED of the Point Foundation spoke passionately, as did Rev. Neil Thomas, also a former Mormon. Oh -- Janice Dickinson arrived, without entourage, and stood next to me!
Then we marched all the way around the perimeter of the Temple, on side streets, while many people in the neighborhood cheered us on. After we came full circle, about 1,000 protesters kept marching to Wilshire Blvd.and the Federal building. Naturally, the Temple Gates had been locked and even topped with barb wire. As of 9 p.m. now, many are STILL marching.
So despite the fact that the event was on a weekday, in the middle of the day, and in Westwood, there were 2,000-3,000 people there. In front of the temple we had a news conference, at which (the center's CEO) Lorri Jean announced the launch of www.InvalidateProp8.org and denounced the leaders of the Mormon Church for helping to raise more than $15 million to fund the deceitful ad campaign that helped Prop 8 pass by a small majority. Jorge Valencia, a former Mormon and ED of the Point Foundation spoke passionately, as did Rev. Neil Thomas, also a former Mormon. Oh -- Janice Dickinson arrived, without entourage, and stood next to me!
Then we marched all the way around the perimeter of the Temple, on side streets, while many people in the neighborhood cheered us on. After we came full circle, about 1,000 protesters kept marching to Wilshire Blvd.and the Federal building. Naturally, the Temple Gates had been locked and even topped with barb wire. As of 9 p.m. now, many are STILL marching.
8 comments:
i subscribe to your blog through google reader and read it nearly every day. if you only have one via that, which i hope you dont, then it is me.
i really appreciate your commitement to all things that are not only important to you but important to all of us. i hope you continue doing what you do so well because it helps the rest of us get through our day.
i live in california, temecula acutually, and everyone i know (except my evil, evil, evil sister-in-law *via my "legally" married husband*) voted no.
people are saying that the black people hate the gays because they voted 70% in favor of prop 8 but in reality only a small percentage of the voting popultion were black. it was, in fact, the 65+ crowd that ruined it for everyone!
no offense, but they will be dead long before the rest of us and yet we let them dictate the outcome of our future! who can we blame? sure it would be easy to say that they shouldn't have. yet, if EVERYONE who could vote did vote we would have won. i hope so at least.
maybe i am naive but i hope our future, those who are still in touch with society, have a more understanding of what is truly meaningful in life.
now it is up to the court, again, to establish what is just for all people in california. my main hope is that it doesn't stop here and continues for the rest of the nation.
i have been with my husband for nearly 6 years now and i want what my parents and grandparents have. our love is just as meaningful and should be represented as such.
thanks again ken!
xoxox,
ricky
www.pastelpoetry.com
**edited to correct spelling and my URL.. sorry!!**
I'm still in shock over Prop 8 too. Being from Los Angeles, I often forget that there's such a huge conservative chunk of the state. Anyway, thank you for the link on the campaign to INVALIDATE PROP 8. I just donated $.
I'm worried that a number of people voted incorrectly accidentally. Even Ricky, above, talks about his evil sister-in-law voting NO when clearly he means she voted YES.
It's true that you can't say, "The blacks are to blame!" because they are a tiny fragment of the voting population. In fact, Hispanics also voted in good numbers in favor of the proposition, and they make up a larger voting bloc. (Asians seem to be more on board with gay marriage, along with whites—though both only by the barest of margins.)
However, you also can't deny the 20-point difference between blacks and whites on this issue. Clearly, there has to be some reckoning and some community outreach. I feel like the people against the proposition didn't organize correctly, didn't do enough outreach and then, when they were outgunned by the Mormons, found themselves scrambling for cash a mere few weeks before the vote.
I think we need to craft propositions of our own and frame the argument that way.
In the meantime, we need to sue our way to justice. "Activist" legislators and judges are the only reason black people have rights today; do you think if we'd put civil rights to a vote it would have passed until...when? Maybe the '80s or '90s!
We shall overcome.
Plus, we'll have a friendly White House, though the makeup of the Supreme Court won't shift until one of the more conservative members bails and that isn't expected anytime soon.
Friendly administration? I'll believe it when I see it. Has President Elect Obama said a damn thing about prop 8 or any of the other anti-gay initiatives? I think we got us another Bill Clinton here folks. He did not do a damn for us, but made clear on MTV the night before the election his opposition to gay marriage. Keep drinking the kool-aid Queers. Blogs with pretty men ain't gonna help us win our rights.
There is talk on another site about getting a ballot initiative started in California to protect the sanctity of marriage by banning divorce. Just trying to get the word out.
Although, California did vote for chickens that are bred for food, to be able to spread their wings once in awhile so that they are treated "more humanely". Nice to know that CA voted for chickens rights and left out actual human rights. http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/title-sum/prop2-title-sum.htm
It'll happen though, this is Cali and we won't give up! :)peace
What I find particularly galling about all this outrage is that Prop 8 passing wasn't unexpected. Try any search engine to find articles from before the election predicting that the African American voter turnout- in huge numbers because of Obama- would be the final ingredient needed to clinch it. This was known! Why didn't gay "leaders" make it known to the population? The significant number of gay men in CA who didn't vote might have done so if they were adequately warned.
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