This evening I marched with thousands of others in San Francisco to protest the passage of Proposition 8.
There are some great pics of the crowd at SFist: Prop 8 Protest With Pics
The crowd was loud but well behaved and was surprisingly diverse - there is support for same sex marriage from many segments of society which is nice to see.
You could feel the anger and hurt radiating from the crowd. The reaction to the passage of prop 8 is really snowballing - it is re-energizing the community. That's the silver lining here because the community was definitely caught a bit flat-footed by the "yes on 8" campaign. (Hey, give us a break - we were all preoccupied with planning our weddings this summer!) Even this rally felt reactive ... everyone feels stupid that they weren't marching in the streets BEFORE the election. It feels like we were blind-sided and now we want a re-do without having to wait 2 years.
I am sure we will repeal prop 8 either in the courts or in two years via the initiative process. I actually think we should do both - the legal system needs to address the issue of whether the initiative process can be used to narrow a civil right even if it only impacts a small part of the constitution (case law is not clear on this) but now that the amendment has passed by popular vote, the argument will, unfortunately, not be put to rest in the public's mind until a clear majority rejects proposition 8.
I am Mormon, I supported prop 8, and I advocate respect for homosexuals, as do many others of my faith. I mourn the hatred homosexuals face on a daily basis and pledge my efforts to eliminate wrongful hatred towards gays.
thetrying.wordpress.com
Posted by: Willard | November 07, 2008 at 09:27 PM
Willard, supporting Prop 8 and advocating "respect for homosexuals" are contradictory.
If you do not treat someone as an equal, you are not treating them with respect.
Even if you support civil unions, which you haven't even indicated, let me remind you:
Separate is NOT equal.
Posted by: anonymous | November 07, 2008 at 11:57 PM