Gay Marriage Supporters Plan Proposition 8 Protests For Saturday

From USA Today:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousands of gay-marriage supporters plan to take to the streets Saturday to protest gay-marriage bans in California, Arizona and Florida.

Protesters are focusing on California, where the state Supreme Court declared same-sex marriages legal in May before voters tossed them out Nov. 4.

California's Proposition 8, which passed 52.2% to 47.8%, "eliminates (the) right of same-sex couples to marry."

Proponents of same-sex marriage say its passage has only energized the gay rights movement. Activists are using a grass-roots network of websites, e-mails and text messages to coordinate protests in about 300 cities -- from Fayetteville, Ark., to Omaha.

Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic says he will be covering the protests tomorrow.

Tomorrow, a virally-generated national day of protest across America is taking shape to protest the attack on the core civil rights of a small minority in California. It's a protest to demand equal treatment under the law for gay couples. It's a radical demand for a traditional institution and also a protest against those who seek to impose religious restrictions on civil law. It is a defense of both religious freedom and the freedom of those whom many (but not all) religions condemn.

The Dish will devote Saturday to covering the protests. Please send me stories, anecdotes, photographs, music, Youtubes, and graphics that reflect what's going on around the country. As on election day, we'll try and let you speak via this blog to the wider world, and convey a sense from the ground up of how people are feeling and arguing and acting.

Comments

[laurinek]

I have never understood the "threat" that gay marriage poses. It is only ignorance and fear that leads people to this conclusion. Using the Bible as a guide, the Right says homosexuality is wrong, but it also says slavery is OK, and women are the property of their husbands. You can't have it both ways Either the Bible is absolute truth or we have progressed and realize that the Bible was written in a different time. As a straight married mother I will fight for the rights of ALL for equality.

[luvobama]

Are you my long lost twin? I feel the same way.

[mishi]

Cherry-picking religion is as old as Methuselah. I wonder how many people who voted for 8 "'cos the Bible tells me so" work on the sabbath, in clear contravention to the Ten Commandments? Face it, religion is often (mis)used by people who are screwed up about their own sexuality. Just ask Ted Haggard.

[DontJustFollow]

Then join me in my quest to legally marry two women. Either that or tell me why I shouldn't be protected under the constitution.

Equality for ALL !!!

[luvobama]

You don't have to worry about that. I doubt you could find one to enter that kind of union with you. I'd rather eat bugs.

[DMHopper]

If you want to marry two women of legal age who consent to that arrangement, I say go for it. I'd support that right, even though I have no interest in exercising it for myself.

[lunarmagpie]

because that's known as bigamy (or polygamy), and that's been illegal for years. totally different thing. but thanks for stirring the pot!

[Ohg]

We may have to seek compromise in the short term - and there are viable compromises. ..........­......

http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/11/14/the-right-to-privacy-the-9th-amendment-gay-marriage/

[TheHandyman]

No there isn't. To accept a compromise, even termporarily, is to put off until later what has been too long overdue. There are some things in life that one should never compromise over and this is one of them!

[diablorobotico]

No, you don't compromise equality. It's impossible. Then it's not equality.

[romchr]

"Virally generated.­"

Come on Andrew, you've got to be kidding.

[devilyousay]

Human rights should never be left to a popular vote. If that were the case, blacks would have been drinking at separate water fountains in much of America well past the 60's.

And Melissa Etheridge is right; if you don't want to give a gay person equal rights then you have no right to commandeer their paycheck in the form of taxes, to support the rights you deny them.

[RuffNReddy]

I was reading comments on youtube from H8 supporters and the gay bashing and hate is abominable.
It's scary. It's part of the second wave that Palin helped churn up when all the freaks came out of the woodwork to support her. The hate and ignorance is really scary.

What's amazing to me is how many of these people don't seem to realize that there are millions of straight families and individuals who support gay families and their rights.
As if it's exclusive only to gays and that it's only affecting them.
I'm straight, married and a parent and were friends with gay families and it affects us greatly because I see how upset they are and how their children, who don't understand the issue, suffer....
'Why can't my parents be happy, too? They feed me, care for me, love me but, why can't we be recognized as a regular family?' This issue about a mother AND a father is moot. Divorce rates are so high and so many
homes are broken. And so many kids are born to underage and single mothers... if they really want to protect the sanctity of marriage then they should abolish divorce.

Not enough effort has been made to show the rest of the population that if you want top 'protect' kids then you insure the same happiness and security as any other kid.

This sickens me.
But, I have faith that it won't stick. It just can't.

[sclucie]

As opposed to the deeply tolerant people who put together the "Invasion" ad? And good luck trying to brand me - I've supported gay rights with time, money and work all my life. But this time a line has been crossed - and it has nothing to do with honor or decency. Quite the oppposite. When are the Prop 8 opponents going to take responsibility for what THEY have done - instead of blaming other minorities? The post-electon opposition is not even honorable. They take no responsibility and pretend that Mormons did it - not Catholics, not Evangelicals - not older Californians, not the Republicans who live next door - Mormons - the outsiders. Gay activists have become what they most despise.

And I'd like to know where my money went - because it certainly did not go toward a political campaign run on the basis of honesty, dignity, or equality. Invasion was lower than anything Lee Atwater would have ever come up with - and Courage Campaign should be ashamed.

[LexKitten]

I pretty much speak for the gays when I saw that we do blame the evangelicals and the old people as well.

Feel better now?

[DontJustFollow]

Great - how many times does the democratic process have to speak before this issue goes away?
Should the republicans stage mass protests because Obama won?
Get over it. California voted twice now to let gays have all the legal rights allowable but to keep the definition of marriage as an institution between a man and a women.

Go get married with a civil union. You can visit each other in the hospital and you can sue each other when you decide to move on. It is no different than old fashioned marriage and just come to grips with the fact that there are laws in this world that not everyone likes.

Calling this a civil rights issues makes you sound silly. Civil union gives you ALL the rights we have.

[mercury613]

First of all, civil unions don't exist in CA; we have domestic partnerships, and they do not give us all the rights married couples have.

http://www.aclu.org/getequal/rela/california.html

Please get your facts straight before making a statement like that.

[adamsmith3]

Seriously, if gays wonder why so many African-Americans voted for Prop 8, they might think to wonder how offensive it is for blacks to hear their civil rights movement compared to the struggle over a definition. Such a ridiculous analogy.

[MechaMike]

Gay rights are civil rights.

In some states gays cannot marry, enter into a civil union or domestic partnership, can't adopt or foster care, aren't protected from workplace discrimination, aren't protected under hate crime laws, and aren't protected from bullying at school.

In some countries gays are imprisoned and executed just for being gay.

Coretta Scott King-- the late Martin Luther King Jr's late wife-- was for gay rights and gay marriage.

[luvobama]

It is a spot on analogy. Name one difference.

[diablorobotico]

Only ridiculous to those who fail to understand it. We'll keep educating, but if you don't meet us halfway there's only so much we can do.

In the end, we'll have equality. Everyone who's there for us now will feel better later for being on the right side of history, but your participation is not required. We got it, thanks.

[cmfrey]

"The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it's the gay community. Because it is the community which is most easily mistreated­." -- Bayard Rustin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin

[WoodyCPM]

No they do not. You're wrong. Civil unions do not give married people all the same rights. The federal government does not recognize civil unions.

[KevinVT]

And California has never had Civil Unions. They had domestic partnerships until the court ruled them discriminatory.

Do you think the "voice of the people" suddenly makes them not discriminatory?

[DMHopper]

"how many times does the democratic process have to speak before this issue goes away?"

Until it gets the right answer.

[luvobama]

As a straight woman, married 25 years, i have a hard time figuring out why anyone would argue against gay marriage. Your argument is Separate But Equal, and I think that went out in the 60s. The religious argument doesn't hold water either. There are more marriages that have nothing to do with religion than not. We seem to have no problem with a dultery or divorce as well. So there goes the sanctity argument. I think those of you who protest way too much over something that is none of your business, may have some serious issues. I believe you spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about other people is bed. That is what this is all about. You certainly aren't concerned with them sharing a checkbook, dividing chores, paying bill and sharing a closet. No, you go places that are pretty g ross.

[peacebypiece]

did you really mean "places that are pretty gross"??

[SonofLiberty1]

Actually I think that gay marriage activists are living on borrowed time...

They have great jobs now, but when they lose them like their fellow 10 million American neighbors.­..
They won't be worried so much about marriage..­..

Like many of us...

They will worry about having a place to sleep, clothing to wear and a meal!

[luvobama]

Nope. Love trumps everything. That is what this is about. L O V E!!!!

[diablorobotico]

Actually, without equality for all we all have nothing. So, no -- equality is the only thing that really matters.

[Cybersquirt]

I wonder how much more the economy would tank if all gay and gay friendly people took a few days off'a work to protest the fact that 3 states legislated discrimination. When was the last time we legislated discrimination again?

[adamsmith3]

Nothing like persuading people to your side for the next inevitable referendum on gay marriage like frothing at the mouth in large rallies, interrupting church services, and yelling racial slurs about the 70 percent of African-Americans who didn't vote the way you thought they should have. The first step to bringing people to your side is to make calm, logical arguments that create sympathy for your cause. The display that has been shown over the last week will only cause backlash and will result in a 60-40 vote against you next time.

[conservativesoncrack]

You are missing a major point of all this:

Rights can never be allowed to be up for a populare vote. Otherwise, every right you or I have is at risk.

[republifornian]

well the court decided the proposition was legal so the vote went ahead so I dont see what you folks have to complain about, seems to me this issue has already been resolved, the california voters did want prop22 overturned by te court so the moved for prop 8 and it passed end of story.

[adamsmith3]

I understand that, but obviously there is disagreement as to whether defining gay unions as "civil unions" rather than "marriage" is stripping away a fundamental human right. There are rational people on both sides of the argument. Until then, however, it does come down to a popular vote and gay activists had better start considering how their rallies appear to their fellow citizens on the evening news every night if they want their side to win next time around.

[WoodyCPM]

adamsmith3 advises...­"make calm, logical arguments that create sympathy for your cause." Tell me oh wise one how many more centuries would you say is fair for us to make 'calm, logical arguments'? Hmmm? Another two or three or four, maybe? The gay civil rights movement began in Europe in the 19 century. But then of course why would you be expected to know anything about gay history?

Let's take away your right to marry or to divorce and then see how many centuries you're willing to wait for your civil rights. Let's put your civil rights up for a vote.

[adamsmith3]

I am not saying you are not in the right in your argument. I am simply arguing tactics. People don't like being screamed at or told they are oppressors because they don't think a certain way. Once you do that, they shut off their brain and basically vote you a big middle finger in the ballot box. It's not rational, but you give people emotion and they'll deliver emotion to you right back. I am just saying that the fight needs to be done through organized debates throughout California, and by dispersing media with the tone that the average person can swallow. These protests are done so in the stupidest way possible. There's no strategy in mind. It's just venting rage and that's no way to fight your cause.

[sclucie]

I've supported gay rights my entire life. Every time I read a snarky, intolerant post like your's, every time I see an ad like Invasion, every time I see gays attack minorities - I wonder who I have been fighting for for the past 30 years of my life. It seems to be a bunch of bigots.

[luvobama]

Where were you in the first Civil Rights Movement? It looked and sounded just like this one. The oppressors used the EXACT same arguments for denying other Americans their rights. Look it up if you don't remember.

[DontJustFollow]

The last time I looked, gays could ride anywhere on the bus they liked, drink out of any fountain, eat at any counter, go to any school...

Comparing the gay movement to the civil rights movement is nothing more than theater and is utter nonsense.

If you don't like the way Prop. 8 turned out - now you know how half of the county feels about Obama winning. But think how completely racist it would be if half of the country took to the streets Saturday and staged mass protests against PE Obama...

[PerfumeisToxic]

What about the probable 70% of whites that would have voted to continue segregation? Why wasn't the "democratic" voice of the people heeded in this situation. Those pesky courts with their annoying constitution and it's gaurantee of civil rights overode the "voice of the majority" After all segregation was mostly about trivial issues like drinking fountains and where you sit on a bus. Just like "marriage is a trivial word. It's all sends a message to the opressed group that they are not equal.

[sclucie]

I don't recall the Southern Leadership Council running ads like Invasion. They had honor and integrity and courage. I saw none of that reflected in the campaign run by the opponents of Prop 8 - which I gave money to. I've seen pieces written by gay activists who admit that Prop 8 was their's to lose - and the campaign was horrendously managed - and they are to blame for the loss. Now I see lies propoagated by the same people. I wish that Prop 8 had lost. I hope that it is overturned in the courts. But that does not change the fact that "Courage Campaign" put out an ad that would have shamed Lee Atwater - and reached out to no one - to try to build a coalition for victory. Now there is action. Now there is outrage. Where was this 3 weeks ago?

[diablorobotico]

It's news to me that I'm trying to persuade anyone. I'm just claiming my equality, with everyone else. If somebody can't get that all people are created equal, they're beyond reason. There are enough people who can be reached by reality without being coddled or begged to do the right thing that we don't have to worry about the dyed-in-the-wool bigots.

[luvobama]

Conservati­veoncrack, I owe you an apology. Further down the page i misunderstood what you had posted. Please forgive me and know that we're on the same side. My bad.

[conservativesoncrack]

No apologies needed. I thought that might be the case based on our other interactions. :-)

[Steamboater]

Boycott the state of Utah and go to antigayblacklist.com to see the list of donors who supported Prop 8 in CA. It included their names, how much they gave and what companies they either own or work for. I(I don't care for the title of the URL because a boycott is called for and not a blacklist.­)
BTW, Leatherbees here in Sacramento--it's an ice cream store--gave $20,000.00 in support of Prop 8. Please boycott them wherever they are. Marriot's CEO is a Mormon and although Marriot has a non-discriminatory policy in regard to Gays, it makes it worse because they have no compunction about taking our money yet Mormons...­I don't have to say any more.

[mercury613]

Don't forget Century and CineArts theaters. Their CEO gave $9,999 to Yes on 8.

[republifornian]

seeing as gays are only a small percentage of the populous, how about we tell everybody to boycott the list of businesses that voted against prop8 and then, we start protesting to have everyone one of those protesters who assualeted that little old lady carrying a cross prosecuted for hate crimes, we see all to clearly the justification for passing prop 8 as we know that it wont stop at marriage, then comes mandatory sensitivity training for k-12 when in reality it is we parents who should be teaching these things to our kids.

[mercury613]

For decades the Christian right has been boycotting business for being pro-gay. We're used to it.

[LexKitten]

First of all, if you want to put words together to create a meaningful idea, please use periods to seperate ideas like the rest of us.

If anyone physically assaults another, they should be held responsible, I don't think anyone is arguing with you on that. If you would like to judge validity of issues based on how small of "percentage" it represents, let's examine the rate of violence against gays versus how many hate crimes are committed by gays.

And yes, I know how terrifying the idea of sensitivity training for your children is. Teaching them to accept one another? How outrageous! It's almost as useless as teaching them lies like evolution! Maybe you should homeschool, where you can indoctrinate, ooops I mean TEACH your kids whatever fairy tales and forms of hatred you wish.

[WoodyCPM]

I think this is a good tactic. Boycott their businesses. Refuse to pay your taxes in the state of California. There are a lot of very wealthy gay men and women in California. Make the state hurt.

Go to Salt Lake, protest in front of the Mormon Church. Protest in front of their churches. Protest during services. Protest until the city and state pass laws outlawing your protest. Sue them in federal court for violating your constitutional rights of free speech. Protest. Call the haters and vipers and hypocrites out. Find out which preachers, Mormon, Black and Catholic churches threw money into this, Protest outside their homes. Boycott their businesses. Get online and trash their businesses. Set up a vigil like Cindy Sheehan did outside Bush's ranch. Never give them a moments peace for what they've done. Make them have to pay for their self-righteousness and bigotry.

[sclucie]

Why do you pretend that it was only Mormons? Have you looked at the list. There are a number of million dollar contributors from Catholics. There are huge donations from evangelicals. White republicans voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8. The Catholic Church issued pro-Prop 8 statements from the higest offices. This is a hate campaign - not an equality campaign. Take a look at the million dollar plus contributions against Prop 8 from Utah. Take a look at the number of people from Salt Lake who contributed to the oppposition to Prop 8. It seems almost as important to hold on to your hatred as it does to get your rights.

[LexKitten]

I have to add that what gets me are women against gay marriage, who's argument is along the lines of not "redefining marriage".­... Um.... if marriage still was what it was to begin with, you would be a posession of a man from the day you were born until the day you died, have no rights, voice or property of your own. Things change, progress is made.

[luvobama]

I especially like your last sentence.

[deruo]

Tomorrow should be interesting.

There are protests in other countries as well in opposition to Prop 8. As far flung as Osaka, but closer to home at the US Embassy or other public spots in cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver.

Heard several times in the past week - variations on "The US has a lot of nerve challenging Chinas record on human rights when it's violating or taking away the rights of it's own citizens."

[LexKitten]

Representing at a Portland rally tomorrow!

[BandsofBlack]

THERE ARE RALLIES IN EVERY STATE!

Check out this website for one near you:

http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/

[SonofLiberty1]

So what?

I guess you aren't listening.­..

The Stock Market is tanking..c­rashing each day.
Huge International Corporations are going bankrupt and announcing huge layoffs,
like American Express letting go of 7, 000 people and asking for 3. something billion bailout...

Buddy, we are in a DEEP recession, headed toward a DEPRESSION and you are wasting time worried about this?

[rextrek]

I guess its ONLY a waste of time to you...when you HAVE RIGHTS YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED.

[diablorobotico]

You're not worried that nobody is equal until all of us are equal? Buddy, there is no other issue than that.

I suggest you be less concerned about being a slave to the whims of the owners of the economy and pay attention to the civil rights of your fellow citizens. If not, it's cool, we got it covered.

[luvobama]

And yet here you are arguing with gay people and gay supporters. What is your intention?

[LexKitten]

Yeah, shouldn't you be posting in another message board, buddy?

[hellonurse]

There is also a rally in Denver at 11:30 if anyone is in CO.
I am going because I want to wear an ugly bridesmaid dress in my gay friend's wedding!

[truthskr]

There's one in Boulder as well should anyone in the NW metro area prefer.

[luvobama]

That's funny! Don't forget the delicious chicken dinner and the always yummy wedding cake!