As I was walking through downtown Oakland today to get to the Facing Race Conference, my friend and I stopped by the No on Prop 8 protest. Adrienne and I were talking about how we wish we could merge the two spaces, Facing Race and fighting for gay civil rights. But it was a powerful moment and I caught one picture on my phone.
But I was seriously struck by the two men that were holding pro gay-hate signs against gay marriage. I know I shouldn't focus on the bad, but it made me so upset. They were two against about 400 people that were there to support the civil rights of gay people. But displays of anxious masculinity are always so curious. And frightening.
Please leave your own protest stories, pictures and thoughts in comments.
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I went to a protest today in Buffalo NY, no anti protesters though. It rained so we the crowd didn't stay very long, but our state senate representative Sam Hoyt came, which was nice.
Its interesting how they must know they are wrong.
Just as many people voted anti-gay, as pro-liberty.
Yet, at the protests, no anti-gay people showed up.
That tells me something. Deep in their guts they realize they are doing something deeply wrong. No matter how they rationalize it to themselves that it's ok. They do at some level realize they are doing a nazi-like action by resisting gay rights.
If only the extremists actually learned to read their feelings. Like as that anti-gay dude is sittig home, ask himself "ok, why did I get that feeling of not going to the anti-gay rally"... Why did it feel wrong.
Of course, i'm just dreaming, as being a conservative requires repressing feelings so you can't feel them... but, just a hope.
Depends on where you are. My best friend was in SLC and they had quite a lot of pretty hateful counter-protesters at her rally.
Although I agree with your comment about the absence of anti-gay marriage people at the prop 8 protests and how they must realize they’re wrong in some capacity, I also think it was the situation. Putting yourself into a situation in which you’re a distinct minority at a specific protest supporting gay marriage is a difficult thing to do and not many people would be willing to put themselves in such a situation. I think many people (gay, straight, conservative and liberal) understand the comparison between the civil rights protests for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s and the gay rights protests today and it is deeply disturbing that the majority of California voters (as well as voters in other states) aren’t able to realize the importance of civil rights for every minority group and the impact it has on every American citizen. Those of us who support civil rights for everyone understand the significance of this particular time in our history and the determination to fight for it, but unfortunately, changing the minds of people who have deeply held religious or other beliefs about this issue will take time.
I was across the bay in San Francisco and it was awesome! Jewelle Gomez spoke, along with tons of other people. The crowd was excited and loving it. I didn't notice any anti-gay or pro 8 counter protesters. It ended up being a fantastic rally.
DC was amazing. According to the DC Blade, there were tens of thousands. There was singing and chanting and some AWESOME signs. Check out the article.
http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=22440
God, that "Shame!" poster is so poignant.
For what it's worth, I've heard way more discussion of these protests in the mainstream news media than I can remember having ever heard about any protests anywhere, which is heartening.
Dallas was fantastic! The Dallas Morning News is putting the number at 1,200 people, but I'm not sure there were that many. We had a small group of protesters, complete with giant cross that one lady was leaning against and crying because "God loves you, too, but your lifestyle is a SIN!". We stood on the other side of the street chanting "Open your heart!" to them.
There was so much love and so many wonderful people. We had amazing speakers, even though the mic kept cutting out. (I was fortunate enough to be close to the stage and could hear them, anyways.) People passing by in cars honked and waved.
I hate that we have to protest at all, that civil rights are still being denied and/or taken away from human beings who deserve those rights. But if we have to fight the good fight, then I'm glad I did it right here in Dallas with these people. My city made me proud today.
Errr...we had a small group of counter-protesters, I should say.
I went to two rallies against prop 8 today, one in Minneapolis, the other in St Paul. It was a wonderfully positive experience, I think everyone in attendance was proud of being a part of such an uplifting, positive queer experience. I didn't see any counter protesting! It felt great to be a part of a larger protest, and knowing that the mainstream media was covering made us all aware of the impact of our actions. I hope this queer positive force continues to draw national attention and hopefully turn the focus away from hate.
I was at the rally in Minneapolis as well. The StarTribune says we had over 700 people. I did not notice any counter-protesters. But it is Minneapolis after all - you know, the city that elected and then re-elected the only Muslim in the US House of Representatives, Keith Ellison, by a massive landslide? What can I say, this city is liberal and open-minded. If it weren't for the cold winters, I would never want to leave!
We had around 40-50 at our little rally in Athens, OH. And zero counter-protesters!
In San Diego, we had about 20,000 protesters! Woo hoo! I'm glad so many people made it out despite the crazy heat (high 80s). As the march wore on, fewer people were chanting and yelling since we all got tired, but it was still awesome. There are some cool pictures of the crowd online: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081115-1359-bn15march.html
Also, there were very few counter-protesters. I think I only saw 5 at the most.
Samhita! Thanks for coming thru to the Oakland protest! I was one of the organizers, and was really very happy with the turnout and vibe. It was a beautiful day.
I found the "counter-protest" to be quite pitiful. I saw people pointing and laughing too. Two female friends of mine who were recently married had asked prior to the protest if i had any idea if the counter-protest would be huge (they were understandably in a sensitive space), and i said i had no idea, but that BART was really close and they could always go to SF instead if it got bad. So i smiled to see this laughable counter-protest. it was still triggering, the signs they had, but it was no match for the sheer numbers, the positivity, the powerful words, and all the love present.
In Panama City, FL we did a small demonstration at City Hall. As you may know, FL passed Amendment 2 which doesn't recognize ANY umnarried couple, gay or straight. Even Blue Cross Blue Shield was against it. Anyway, I wax expecting 20 but it was closer to 50! We live in a very conservative area (they voted like 70/30 for McCain) so 50 for a turnout is great!
PHOTO ALBUM here if you'd like to see.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.editAlbumPhotos&albumID=1939657&MyToken=e0c7ae70-aff8-49dd-9d10-0116060a8718
I'm the one with the "Focus on your OWN family" and "hate is NOT a family value" poster.
Great protest in Chicago today, couple thousand took to the federal plaza and moved to streets - stopping traffic but all in a peaceful manner. Many speakers from the our large community of supporters- African American Men, Churches, and of course our local Gay Mens Choir. We did have 20 or so protesting us but we were civil. Got lots of local coverage on all news stations/papers. our organizers were ticketed though because we ended up blocking traffic and more police were needed.
I was at the Phoenix event at City Hall downtown, and it was great! One of the city employees said he estimated at least 3,000. I'm not certain on the real numbers, but he told me it was more than they expected.
There was a great vibe. I didn't see any negative protesting. A woman did come up to me and my friends (a straight couple with their 3 year old girl) and asked them to be a positive straight family view on the news station, and they obliged.
The speakers talked a lot about prop 102 (of course), and Sheriff Joe (LOTS of BOOS! from the crowd whenever he was mentioned).
We marched to the capitol. Phoenix PD was awesome, and I've only heard positive remarks about them.
Honestly, it was fun. People were excited, and there were lots of honks from passing cars.
It was also 80~ degrees, with a great breeze. Warm in the sun, but not at all uncomfortable, as long as you had water and occasional shade. :D I have to gloat just a little. ;)
Anyone else in AZ?
Why are people voting on civil rights?
Seriously, I need help understanding here...
The counter-protest in Philadelphia was equally pitiful-- there were maybe three guys from some local evangelistic organization (don't want to give them any publicity), who were eventually surrounded on all sides by 5,000 protestors chanting "no one hears you" and "hey hey ho ho homophobia's got to go".
I'm not sure when they left, but they would have had to squeeze through a crowd of protesters who were ALL pointing and laughing at them.
I want it sad, that the majority of the people actually voted for an anti-gay law. That means there is still some progress to be made.
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"They were two against about 400 people that were there to support the civil rights of gay people. But displays of anxious masculinity are always so curious. And frightening."
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---> I find it interesting... And before anyone reading this tries to project any assumptions about what I mean by having noticed this (I have none). I just noticed a pattern, and I ascribe no good, bad, nor neutral judgment on it. So back off before you insert assumptions
I have noticed samhita, that you and overall the feministing-crew have a very "problem-solving" attitude. What I mean is that you will be able to see any situation and find the thing that could be fixed. Like a meeting of 400 pro-gay activists, and you will focus on the 2 anti-gay activists in the corner. And get "upset".
Or see a youtube video on a feminist lecture with 450 contructive comments, and focus on the 243th comment that says "haha, yeah yeah, bla bla you're all retarded haha, stupid video, go home and cook haha"... You will take a screenshot of it, post it on the blog, and say something like "Its so upsetting how the masculine need to control women, even with internet harassment is so prevalent. It upsets me that we can't even share videos in peace!"
There are personality types. There are problem solvers, and goal-achievers. There are matchers and miss-matchers. [these are like the introvert/extrovert scales, and they are distrbuted over the population.
The great thing about a "problem-solver" perception apparatus is that its crucial to finding and solving problems (i'm one too, this is how I learned this). The side-effect of it is that it creates the overcompensation to propel motivation. You see one rude comment, and it gives you the same emotion as if you saw 400 men mocking women and slapping them in public, while all the images of all related patriarchal problems flash through your mind in a milisecond when noticing that comment. This is a "good" thing, as it infuriates you, and you solve the problem in a super-fast manner. The trouble however is that it doesn't look at all the previous success, but is always focusing on what can be solved, without seeing what has already been solved, and using it to get results faster.
The "goal-setter" generally looks for everything in the enviroment that is positive and can be used to achieve a goal. Looks at the things that have worked, sees how to use them to get that goal, doesn't perceive what doesn't work. Side effect is that of blindly achieving the goals, while not solving a lot of the other problems. Solves the goal, but leaves all other problems untouched. And by being completely blind to some problems can be totally "run over" by a problem, becase we didn't anticipate it.
They complement each other, and solve a system from both angles. I'm a natural "problem-solver". Always have been. I remember even as a child not being able to go to be until I cracked the answer to a question I heard, it just troubled me and I just HAD answer it or I could not rest, or I had to assemble that puzzle or figure out why the damn door makes a screeching sound when opened, but not when closed.
I've found that in most areas in life however, the best solutions tend to lie in between the two perception systems. So I consciously learned to mimick the other side and use both at the same time. Reaching solutions that were far superior to either. Even 2000 years ago philosophers discovered the golden mean. Almost all universal truths lie in the exact middle of all extremes or opposite solutions.
Okay.
Please don't lecture us. We're not children.
My wife Joan and I were there at today's Impact rally at New York City Hall with the sign we'd made featuring our 2004 Massachusetts license. Along with around 4,000 other folks, mostly in the 20s-40s range, we squeezed into a few fairly tight pens under the watchful eye of quite a few (very nice) police officers while we listened to the usual mix of politicians, political activists (with or without spouse, partner, betrothed, or family) poets, and folks from Broadway. Frankly, I was a little surprised by the lack of outrage or irony: less than a generation from ACT UP and it's all very positive spin and "Yes we can." I'm very glad that we were there, and am grateful to the organizers who have put in so much time and work and to my fellow demonstrators. But for my money, the best part was waving our signs and shouting "Write my name in the book of love" at the open-air tour buses.
i was there, too! and i agree, my favorite part was the surprised people on bus tours. the best were the people that agreed with our cause! such a great day. so much positivity!
Yeah, I was in NYC too. I couldn't even see where the crowd ended! (Although, I'm 5'2" and was crushed us against a barrier, but still!) I got there early and new people kept arriving, even across the street. I only saw one negative lady in a tour bus give a thumbs down, but I'm pretty sure the 7k+ of us out-weighted her. Plus, she didn't even have a sign so whatevs!
It was very fulfilling being there and I can't believe it didn't rain at all!
I went to the protest march here in San Diego this morning. It was AMAZING. It started late and it was very hot outside but totally worth it. I've never felt so American in my life. We started at Balboa Park and went downtown. When we stopped traffic and people honked and cheered showing their support from their cars and their bedroom windows...it was amazing. There was a lot of love in the air.
San Diego is considered a conservative area but today I didnt see that at all. People really are changing and its great to see.
I think we have to celebrate the little victories and learn from the losses in order to make progress. I feel like the last week or so many people have gone very negative, mostly out of anger and I understand that but it doesnt help us get what we want.
What I realized what the gay community is missing is a leader. I think we're the only minority group who has never had a true leader...maybe its about time we got one.
I was at the rally in Austin,TX and it was amazing. There were at least 2000 people and some great speakers. Afterward, we marched from city hall to the capitol and back chanting and waving signs. There was one negative protester but he left at 12:30 when the crowd kept growing above 1500.
I was there in Oakland!!!
I was at my local protest. It was small compared to the ones in the cities, but we still had 150-200 people show up! It was awesome! You could feel the positive atmosphere and the love in that space.
Thanx for posting this!! I grew up in Oakland but live in LA now!! The LA protest was packed!!! I only saw one anti-gay demonstrator.
Oh and here are my pics from a previous protest in LA the wkd before!!!
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=116932167&albumId=2085618
I live in a relatively quiet city on the east coast; while driving by our city hall I heard all sorts of noise and honking, and a Hawaiian shirt caught my eye. I looked left and there was a smallish (50 people maybe) support protest against Prop 8. I didn't see any counter-protesters, but it was rather nice to see a support protest where I live.
Supposedly my state is going to try and pass legislation in the next session to legalize same-sex marriage - I rather hope so.
Boston managed an estimated 4 to 5 thousand despite the rain. It was incredibly heartening to watch the crowd build and build.
What was even more heartening was hearing multiple speakers--including the fabulous Gunner Scott--focusing on how much work we still have to do in Massachusetts, particularly around trans rights.
Despite a terrible sound system (and a handful of JoinTheImpact folks who didn't know how to use a mic) I thought the array of speakers was pretty great--particularly Byron Rushing.
Favorite part, though: watching the pitiful counter-protest (small, old, and white) get surrounded by a bunch of kids hugging each other over their banners. There was a lot of hilarious jockeying for position as the "Let the People Vote" crowd kept moving back and forth (and up and down) trying to keep their signs visible.
Louisville, KY had about 200 people which is really good for our state. We had lots of support and no anti protestors. The only negative comments came from a woman interviewed by the local news crews. We did get some stares from passing cars but it was generally a good day. I think it suprised people how many gays were in the city and state. There was a protest in Lexington too but haven't heard from that.
San Francisco was awesome! The march went on for hours and went through the whole city! Also, a group of about 10-12 wearing matching "NO ON 8" t-shirts blockaded the freeway entrance with a banner, chanting, "If rights have to wait, so do the cars." They held out for maybe 20 minutes before the cops read them their rights and arrested them. The crowd cheered loudly as each one of them was led to the police van. It was a real showing of dignity, courage, and conviction. Those people rock!!!
Northampton, Mass. reporting! There was a decent crowd and some good speakers, plus the Raging Grannies!
I really wanted to go to a protest but I can't (one of the organizations I'm in at college prohibits us from going to stuff like this; it's for journalism so we have to appear unbiased.)
My sister did, though. Yay her.
I was at the San Francisco rally/impromptu march.
We were blessed with some unseasonably warm 80 degree weather so people were out in masses. The rally started at city hall, but people wanted to march so march we did! It was funny because the original plan was to march down market towards the castro (big queer area in SF). But this was an unplanned march so we didn't have permits and walking with around 6,000 people down a main street with a highway wasn't going to happen. The cops arrested some people and then a few people started shouting "go downtown!" and the entire march pivoted and started marching through downtown. We shut down all traffic and probably annoyed a ton of people in the process. What was great is that we marched through the entire city practically--Up Market down Powell, through chinatown and the tunnel near the california, through north beach, through fisherman's wharf, through russian hill and cow hollow, through part of the marina, zigzagged back and forth through polk and van ess, and came back right where the rally started: city hall. It was crazy--i thought my feet were going to fall off and we marched for about 2.5 hours but it was totally worth it to see all the cheers of support, to see the random people honking their cars or joining the march, and to just march out years of pent-up frustration.
I volunteered at the San Francisco rally, which was amazing. We only had a few counter protesters. I spotted one early in the day and kept an eye on him. His sign read "NO QUEERS DAN WHITE NO QUEERS", and had Twinkies attached to it. Luckily nothing happened, but he did curse at the protesters and rambled about how AIDS was all gay peoples fault before leaving. I heard there were two other counter protesters that were getting rowdy, but the situation was diffused and we didn't have to get police involved.
Overall the day was a huge success. We had some fantastic speakers and a great crowd of supporters.
my minister got arrested at the no on 8 rally in sf. he was actually out on bail to be here in church today.
:(
As someone born and bred in Oakland I'm always proud of my city when they host protests like this. Now that I'm in Fresno, they are few and far between.
I've never been arrested for a pro-gay-marriage protest, though I've been to a few. Actually, the worst beating I ever got was from a police officer at a marijuana-legalization protest.
Still, the gay hate is more disturbing than anything else I've seen. These people are so passionately advocating for hatred of a major minority. It just seems obvious how inherently fascistic these religious fanatics are, and I find it seriously disturbing.
here are some beautiful pics from the Oakland rally.
i also give an insider scoop on behind the scenes dynamics and struggles from the point of view of an organizer at my blog, http://fem-men-ist.blogspot.com
San Jose, CA.: the newspaper estimated there were about 2000 of us. Our LGBT community is more dispersed than San Francisco's, and not as visible or famous as the Castro. So I was really happy to see so many people come out and voice their support.
Two-thirds of the folks gathered in front of the City Hall fountain listening to the speakers. Unfortunately, there wasn't a full PA system (maybe they didn't expect that many people to show up), so the speakers were talking through bullhorns which only the first few rows could hear. I was impressed that they got something organized so quickly for so many people, though, so no complaints here. There were enough of us to break out into loud chants and cheering every few minutes. You could hear the crowd from several blocks away.
The other third of the folks stood behind the fountain which faced the main thoroughfare (Santa Clara St.), holding up signs and encouraging passing cars to honk. Every time a car honked, cheering broke out, which was about every second or third car.
It was a positive vibe. Electrifying. Supportive. Encouraging.
There was one guy across Santa Clara who was holding up anti-gay signs. He was surrounded by No on 8 people, and was being guarded by a police officer on a bike. They left them alone and he left him alone, from what I could see. I'll defend your freedom to say things I disagree with, and all that, blah blah blah. I'm glad he were there, actually. He can go back to his group and tell horror stories about being outnumbered TWO THOUSAND TO ONE, hee hee hee. "And everybody seemed so happy, despite my repeatedly telling them they're going to hell. Why won't anybody listen to me?"
I understand where the anti-gay marriage position comes from> My confession, I used to be adamantly homophobic, but then I turned 15 and got over it. Just wait, they have to grow up sometime.