Prop 8 Perspective

This is an email I received from my best friend's mom. Terry is a great friend of mine and I thank her for sharing her feelings about this with everyone.

I have been able to be at two "Yes on Prop. 8" rallies this last week. The first was in Lancaster, CA at the church that Pete Knight belonged to. Pete Knight was the congressman who wrote the original Prop. 22 that was originally passed by 61% of the people in California stating that only marriage between a man and a woman will be recognized in California. There were 700 people at that rally. There were about 3 or 4 speakers there. Different religious denominations were represented in the speakers. Pete Knight's son spoke. The people in attendance were respectful and attentive. I thought some times it would have been nice to have a little more yelling by the people. But I wasn't yelling. I feel very strongly about the subject, but I wasn't interrupting the speaker to yell and chant like you see on TV. There were about 15 protesters just off the property that were yelling very loudly trying to disrupt the speakers. I should explain, we yelled between speakers, the usual, "Yes on 8" etc., but no one was rowdy or rude, just respectful. There were at least 2 police cars just off the property with the protesters, so that made me feel better.

The rally was set up with the "Yes on Prop. 8" bus in front, placed in back of the podium where the speakers were, then lots of space for the rally attendees. In back of the attendees was another platform for the media. There was one television camera on the platform that I saw. The bus is big with both sides painted with happy couples and families, two large wedding rings etc. Very well done. Anyone that has donated money would be proud that their money might have been spent on such a well done advertisement.

I learned after I got there that this is part of the "Yes on Prop 8" bus tour. I learned that there was another rally in Los Angeles on Friday at 12:00. So I went to that one also. The same bus was there. The same well produced set-up with platforms for the media. At the Friday rally, I was about 1/2 hour early. I was wearing my American flag vest. That is probably what caught the attention of the Fox 11 newsman. He can up to me and asked if I would be willing to talk to him. I said I would. He asked me why I was there at the Prop 8 rally. He then turned on the camera and I answered him. I just said that I was there because this was a very important issue and I want to support marriage between a man and a woman. It was something benign like that. He turned off the camera and said , just talk, tell me what you think. So then I told him that I am the mother of 7 and the grandmother of 15. I feel that this is so important for our families and the children. Then I said that I feel that my rights will be compromised if this does not pass. I was surprised that the words came out so well. That is unusual for me :) The newsman was very nice and we talked for a minute. He said that I would be on the Fox 11 news that night.

I called (my husband) Blaine and told him my exciting news. He set up the recorder there at work to record all channel 11 news that day. There was only the 10:00 pm news and directly following that was a special on Prop 8. At first I was kind of excited to be on TV. Then when I heard about the special, I was a bit nervous. I thought having a 10 sec. little blurb would be good, but I wasn't sure about the special, and I didn't know what my interview would be used for.

We weren't able to see the news either Thurs. night or Friday night. So I don't know if the other channels covered the "Yes on Prop 8" rally on Thurs., but we watched the tape that Blaine made of the Fox 11 new programs for Friday. Neither the regular news, nor the "Prop. 8 Special" that followed on Friday night made any mention of the "Yes on Prop 8" bus tour. The special that followed the regular news started with scenes from "gay" marriages where the couples were very loving etc. Nice music was playing. Then they went to the "Yes on Prop.8" portions of the program. The people they chose to put into their program were radicals, in my estimation. They were screaming and yelling their prayers into microphones. These "Yes on 8" events they chose to include were very raucous events and people. We thought we might have missed my 10 second portion, so we went through the programs again. We didn't see anything that showed the passionate, but peaceful people that I had seen the last two days at the rallies.

The reason that I am writing this very long explanation of what I experienced at the "Yes on Prop 8" rallies is that the media is not covering these events. They are nice for those that attend, because we see others there that believe what we believe and we can take courage and go forward with more determination. But I don't know how the general public is going to know what we are about, what this proposition is really about unless we step it up a bit. So, I am asking that if you see that the "Yes on Prop. 8" bus will be anywhere near your area, go and support those people that are doing all this work and putting these rallies together. Let them know that there is support. Then because at least I don't have power over those that edit the program and decide what clips will be on the news and what won't, I guess we will have to tell the general public ourselves. Please go to whatever sign holding programs you can. Be kind, but passionate. In the news we are made to look like raving radicals. But we are not. We are good people trying to do something really important for our children and the nation. We need to push hard this last week. Please do all that you can. At the end of this, on Wed. morning, it would be very sad to think, if I had just called that last page of people, maybe it would have passed.

Our sign out front was stolen yesterday. A woman and two teenaged girls stopped and took it right in the middle of the afternoon in front of our neighbors that were out doing yard work. We will put two signs up today :) One of the pastors that spoke at one of the rallies said that it has been reported to him that there is at least one high school teacher in the area that has told her students that they will get extra credit for every "Yes on Prop 8" sign that they bring to her. That could be where our sign ends up. But we have more, thanks to you that have donated your hard earned money. Thank you :)


We can do this! :)

Hopefully,
Terry