Prop H8

While America celebrated a historical and joyous victory on Election Night, the following days would give birth to an ugly reality: the passing of Proposition 8 in California which stripped gay Californians of their civil rights. Since the passing of Prop 8, there have been nationwide protests and rallies. As I said via email to Ben last night, the passing of Prop 8 may have been a good thing as it has acted as the catalyst for a grassroots movement; it riled up the gay community and straight allies and got us into the streets. If we learn anything from Barack Obama's victory, it's that change starts from the bottom up. We've got to make enough noise so that we can build a national consensus and lay the groundwork for the Supreme Court to grant everyone in every state equal rights. No more of this hate-filled ballot initiative crap.

I've participated in two marches/rallies so far. The first was the night of Saurday Novemember 8 in Silver Lake. We walked from my apartment in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, to the adjacent Silver Lake area. As we walked, we noticed other people joining up and walking towards the protest with their own homemade signs. A woman at the end of my street saw our signs/posters and ran after asking if the march had started yet; she was going to try to drive to the protest. By the time we got to Silver Lake our group had grown from 6 (only 2 of whom identified as gay) to 25. There we joined a huge mass of people--we were later told there were 10,000 of us--and marched through the streets screaming our opposition to Proposition 8. It was such a thrilling and historic experience. The crowd was so massive that you couldn't see the beginning or the end. There were people of all races and ages and children too. People watched from apartment buildings, businesses, and sidewalks in awe. Many (myself included) had never seen the streets of Los Angeles completely filled with people. From the middle of the throng you had no idea how many people were there. Some people screamed "Yes We Can". Popular refrains included "Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right!" and "What do we want; equal rights. When do we want it? Now!" We marched in a loop, and from my apartment walked 4 miles in total. The police presence was palpable. There were cops on horses, cops in little armored golf cart things, and riot police. There were helicopters overhead shooting coverage for the local news. We marched on designated streets, and the police had blocked off Sunset Boulevard heading west. The protest was supposed to return to the point of origin by walking east on Sunset. Then the protesters started yelling to police "let us through!" and they sat down and refused to move. We later learned via the local news, that about 500 people had broken past the cops and and continued to march west on Sunset Boulevard into Hollywood.

Through the course of the march we'd come back to an area that was closer to my apartment and decided to break off and head back. However, the cops had the streets blocked off and wouldn't let us out for fear that the marchers would overtake streets that were not designated for marching. Eventually, we saw a random elevator for the subway, and took it underground where we were able to get past the police barrier. Very sneaky! Then we walked home. On the way we were greeted with horns of approval from motorists who were stuck in traffic as a result of the protest. People asked us if the march was over; they wanted to join themselves. We were exhausted, but so glad we'd participated in the march.

Last Saturday morning I went to another march with Robert and Sarah.

We took the train downtown and back, and it marked my first real trip on the Los Angeles subway. I must say it was great. The trains and stations were all super clean and easy to use. Aboard the train we bumped into Greg and some of his friends. Greg had made this ridiculously elaborate sign that was awesome and huge (just like his package, heh).


My signs sucked in comparison. Shortly after we had arrived at the first protest (the previous weekend), I had realized the redundancy of "H8TE". I guess it's like replacing the "A" with an "8" but still...it made me feel like a moran.



I had joked with Sarah that if the protesting continued I'd have to turn into a "California Liberal" with my own "protestin' closet" where I'd keep sharpies, poster-board, and wooden stakes. I'm reminded of that scene in PCU where the hippie protest girl busts out her portable protest placard. That's what we need...Anyway, it was a good rally/march on a beautiful day.

There were tons of good signs.

I have some video from my new camera, which I've posted for your enjoyment. There was a band, and cheerleaders, and a few great speakers during the day. Not all are captured in my videos, and excuse my poor horrific camera skills.