San Diego Anti-Proposition 8 Rally - GIANT Saturday Edition

The support from and turn-out by those inside the gay community and also by so many other right-thinking citizens is amazing. The outpouring of energy, strength, commitment and, yes, even ANGER is overwhelming and revitalizing. The protests are taking place across the state -- and even across the entire country. Check out Join The Impact to see where upcoming protests are taking place near you. Another excellent source is Queers United. Or contact your local gay and lesbian center, such as San Diego's excellent The Center.

[Click this blog post's title for more photos of San Diego's huge Anti-Prop 8 March on Saturday.]

We must keep fighting for our rights. I know we all have busy lives with many responsibilities and duties pulling us in multiple directions. I am no exception. My time is divided between work, family, our current search for a new home -- all of these things, along with the mundane (grocery shopping, laundry, beauty sleep, the latest episode of Ugly Betty) can take up a lot of our time, keeping us from getting out and doing what we know we must do to repeal Proposition 8.

But, if we continue the fight -- if we continue to come together in such huge numbers as we did on Saturday the 8th here in San Diego -- we will certainly be heard by those around us. And they will know that we are seriously pissed off by the lack of social justice their passing of Proposition 8 has demonstrated.

On Saturday, by the estimates of the San Diego Police Department, somewhere between 8000 and 10,000 participants took to the streets to show their support for gay marriage. These thousands upon thousands upon THOUSANDS of protesters could have stormed churches, meetinghouses, temples, ministries, tabernacles -- what ever you call your evil place of worship. (We know who you are and where you prey if you gave funds to Yes on 8 -- it's on your Yes on 8 website!)

And yet, all 10,000 participants behaved wonderfully. Not one single arrest took place, not one incident was noted by the police. I'm very proud of how my community, and those from outside the community who joined us, behaved this past weekend.

Even the REPUBLICAN Govern-ator, our own Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, seems to have had a change of heart regarding gay marriage. He now has spoken out encouraging us all not to give up the fight. And he reminds us that we have a goal in mind: bring this issue back before the Supreme Court (as we have already done!) and have them settle it ONCE AND FOR ALL!

This from the Los Angeles Times in an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Schwarzenegger tells backers of gay marriage: Don’t give up
By Michael Rothfeld and Victoria Kim

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today expressed hope that the California Supreme Court would overturn Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage. He also predicted that the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who have already married would not be affected by the initiative.

“It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it’s not the end,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview on CNN this morning. “I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area.”

With his favorable comments toward gay marriage, the governor’s thinking appears to have evolved on the issue.

In past statements, he has said he personally believes marriage should be between a man and a woman and has rejected legislation authorizing same-sex marriage. Yet he has also said he would not care if same-sex marriage were legal, saying he believed that such an important societal issue should be determined by the voters or the courts.

Following that position, he publicly opposed Proposition 8, which amends the state Constitution to declare that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Today, Schwarzenegger urged backers of gay marriage to follow the lesson he learned as a bodybuilder trying to lift weights that were too heavy for him at first. “I learned that you should never ever give up. . . . They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.”

See, in my view, civil rights are NOT a matter for the lowest-common-denominator in our society to decide for the rest of us. If this were the case, we would still have slavery, laws against miscegenation and women's suffrage.... Such important advances in our society are often brought about only by level-headed, reasoning and reasonable courts -- not by the teeming, steaming, brain-dead masses.

Stay angry, stay focused and stay peaceful. Mostly, though -- STAY ON THE STREETS!

- T