Today in San Francisco City Hall we celebrate the life of an extraordinary woman and a true civil rights pioneer.
As we gather to remember the life of Del Martin, in the very same building where she was recently married to her spouse of more than 50 years, we commemorate her service by vowing to continue to fight for the causes she championed for so long and so well.
Del Martin was an activist, a mother and grandmother, a leader in the fight for equality and, most importantly - the spouse of Phyllis Lyon. I was honored to be present at the marriage of Phyllis and Del nearly four years ago, when they were the first couple married in San Francisco's remarkable "Winter of Love."
Just a few short months ago, I was touched when Phyllis and Del asked me to preside at their marriage ceremony, held after the California Supreme Court confirmed that separate is not equal, and that marriage equality is a right and privilege guaranteed to all Californians.
It felt like our whole city was there to bear witness to the remarkable love, life and work of Phyllis and Del. The two of them lived their lives out loud. They are heroes in the struggle for marriage equality.
Today we celebrate the life of Del Martin, and we gather to support Phyllis Lyon, at a moment when everything they worked for is under attack.
Thanks in large measure to the struggle and sacrifice of Del and Phyllis, gays and lesbians can finally legally marry in California.
But Proposition 8 on our state's November ballot seeks to eliminate that right. This attack is led by those that wish to permanently enshrine discrimination in the California constitution - in defiance of the decision by the California Supreme Court to affirm marriage equality.
The theoretical debate about marriage equality is over. This fight - the fight against Proposition 8 - is about our friends and neighbors, our teachers and students, our firefighters and family members. This fight is about equality for them and their continued right to enter into loving and committed relationships.
Proposition 8 would turn back the clock and eliminate the ability to marry for millions of our fellow Californians.
That's why, today, we shouldn't leave flowers in memory of Del Martin. We can honor her service best by helping defend the cause she championed her entire life - equality for all.
Del and Phyllis started the struggle for marriage equality in California. It's up to us to finish it.
Follow Gavin Newsom on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GavinNewsom
Dave Baird now 65 and living in Olympia Washington.
Gavin thanks for your tribute to two of the greats of our movement.
Allowing voters to deny civil rights to a minority = a tyranny of the majority. The way some people are talking, you'd think they would agree that white men in the post-Civil War south should have voted on whether or not blacks could be citizens.
Please run for statewide office Mayor Newsom, so I can vote for you!
Bloggers-NOW IS THE TIME! Even if you dont live in California--this is YOUR fight too! As California goes, so goes the nation. We must fight to preserve this landmark decision and similar measures in other states if we are to have any hope of having the right to marry for ALL American citizens implemented on a Federal level for all states within in our lifetimes. I have included some links here so that we may put our money where our mouths are and help our GLBT sisters and brothers in their crucial time of need. Provision 8 must be voted down! If you can GET ACTIVE, please do so! If not, any amount of a CONTRIBUTION can help support those who are-- for example, keeping advertisements on the airwaves in California. Together, we can defeat this measure!
EDUCATE and DONATE:
http://www.noonprop8.com/home
https://secure.ga4.org/01/equalityforall
http://www.hrc.org/10459.htm
https://secure.ga3.org/03/ca_marriage_pac
Thanks!
"Live & let live/Treat others as you wish to be treated/Life is too short/Let love be your guide"
If the backers of Prop 8 in California want to ban same-sex marriages then I DEMAND they add language that divorce should be banned simultaneously.
After all, isn't Prop 8 all about protecting the sanctity of marriage? Would then the act of divorce not be a threat to that very same sanctity?
Oh, and for those self-proclaimed Christians against gay-and lesbian marriages - Jesus forbade divorce too. He was asked and he answered {paraphrasing}: "Moses, succumbing to your cries said that if a man wished to divorce he would give his wife a letter of divorce but I say unto you, in the beginning, God created man and he created woman. What god has brought together, let no man take apart." Remember that when you begin preaching against same-sex marriages. Jesus took the "till death do us part" bit seriously.
Don't inject your christian-like views into other people's lives unless you're willing to practice what you preach, and what you preach is done so in its entirety. Otherwise, you're a hypocrite and your argument loses all credibility.
GObama/Biden '08/'12!!
Sounds like a great idea to me, stop using my money for section 8 housing and welfare then. Let those people worry about their own lives right?
Since you raise it, at least the section 8 argument is one that has some relevant issue to your life, which is whether the government transfers your money to others. That is a different debate. Proposition 8 passage will have no measurable financial effect, or any other rational effect, on you whatsoever.
Whether there is section 8 housing or not, "those people" and "you people" should have enough to worry about rather than whether gay people can get married.
We need more people like Mayor Newsome and our Governor, Deval Patrick.