Happy Monday!
Here are some articles about Prop. 8 weekend protests throughout California - read, click, comment!
L.A. Times: Anti-Prop. 8 protests spring up in California:
More than 20,000 protesters spilled into the streets of Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and even Modesto on Saturday in mostly peaceful demonstrations over passage of Proposition 8, the statewide ballot measure that bans same-sex marriage.
The unfolding street scenes underscored the racial and religious tensions that have surfaced since Tuesday's vote threw into question the legality of 18,000 marriages of gay and lesbian couples and foreclosed the option for any more.
Police estimated that 12,500 boisterous marchers converged about 6 p.m. at Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards in Silver Lake near the site of the former Black Cat bar, which the city recently designated a historic-cultural monument for its '60s role as home of the local gay rights movement.
Police guided the demonstrators through the streets for more than three hours without major confrontations. No arrests were reported.
Other demonstrations, including one that attracted up to 10,000 people in San Diego, popped up across the state. At each rally, participants vented frustration and anger over the ballot item that amends the state Constitution to declare that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized" in California.
O.C. Register: Prop. 8 protests continue in O.C.
This article is pretty one-sided, which, as a former Register reporter, really bugs me. After two and a half years of working there, I can tell you that even in Orange County, oft considered a bastion of conservatism in Southern California, pretty much ALL the writers are liberal. So that whole "liberal bias" in the media? So true!LAKE FOREST – Hundreds gathered in front of Saddleback Church and on the streets of Rancho Santa Margarita, Anaheim and Laguna Niguel Sunday to protest the recently-passed gay marriage ban.
Holding signs reading "Shame on Rick Warren" and "Preach Love not Discrimination," the crowd chanted "Equal rights now."
Some said the protest was akin to the civil rights movement, bringing out both heterosexual and homosexual people. Others said that it wasn't too late to voice their opinion and make a change.
Thank goodness I don't have to keep my mouth shut in order to get along anymore! I honestly don't know how I could have sat through this whole Prop. 8 thing in the newsroom.
But I digress...
San Diego Union-Tribune: Thousands protest gay-marriage ban:
SAN DIEGO – Frustration and outrage over the passing of a ban on same-sex marriage intensified in San Diego yesterday as thousands of protesters took to the streets and vowed to continue the fight for equal rights.
An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people marched from Hillcrest to North Park behind a giant rainbow flag in protest of Proposition 8. The measure, approved Tuesday by 52 percent of voters, overturns the state Supreme Court ruling in May that legalized gay marriage.
“I don't want anyone to take away my right to marry,” said Ken Hagen, a University City newlywed who marched down University Avenue alongside his partner, John Young.
Chants for equality were sometimes drowned out by drivers honking their horns in support of the passing crowd.
Signs waved and bobbed in the air with slogans such as “We Shall Overcome” and “Not Gay, Love You Anyway.”
Sacramento Bee: Thousands at Capitol rally back continuing fight against Prop. 8
S.F. Chronicle: Backlash against Prop. 8 growsMore than 3,000 opponents of Proposition 8 roared their approval Sunday as speaker after speaker exhorted them to fight to restore the right to same-sex marriage.
The rally on the west steps of the state Capitol, one of several anti-Proposition 8 protests around the state, set the stage for renewed opposition to the measure on Tuesday's statewide ballot.
"This fight is not over," Elana Metz, Oakland-based organizer of the Sacramento rally, told the spirited crowd. "We will demand our human rights."
With an estimated 3 million vote-by-mail and provisional ballots still left to be counted, Proposition 8 was leading 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. It amends the state
constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
This article, at its end, mentions that some LDS services in the Bay Area were moved on Sunday to avoid conflicts.The backlash against the state's new ban on gay and lesbian marriage intensified over the weekend, with thousands of people gathering around the Bay Area and California during mostly peaceful protests.
Supporters of same-sex marriage questioned whether they had done enough before Tuesday's vote on Proposition 8 and expressed hope that it would be tossed out by the state Supreme Court. They also promised to take the issue back to the ballot.
About 2,500 people gathered on the Capitol steps Sunday afternoon after a noisy, three-hour rally against the marriage ban. About 400 assembled outside Oakland's Mormon Temple, forcing Highway Patrol officers to temporarily close two Highway 13 ramps to protect the marchers.
"I didn't see it coming," said Joe West, who traveled from San Francisco for the Sacramento demonstration. "It was like a punch in the gut. We worked so hard to bring change in this election, and then this happens."
"If I'd known if was going to be so close, I would have made more phone calls," added Brendan Bishop of Sacramento.
That, to me, is a real violation of our First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. Which is actually in the Constitution, unlike any "right to marry."
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For more information go to http://whatisprop8.com
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7 comments:
where were all these people before the election?
Smugly thinking they had this thing in the bag, if you ask me.
I noticed that before the election, the tone of my exchanges with No on 8 friends was a defiant, "we'll wait and see who wins" sort of attitude while we Yes on 8'ers fought tooth and nail to make our voices heard.
As soon as Prop. 8 passed, their gloves came off, and the once-interesting debates became all-out vicious attacks. Heck, I got raked over the coals by my No friends for saying we Yes on 8'ers should keep the gay community in our prayers, since they're experiencing some real loss.
Again - so much for equality, tolerance and compassion, huh?
does anyone know what the voting percentage was in the bay areas?
I heard san francisco was 50% of registered voters.
Does anyone know anything about this?
e - not sure, but here's the secretary of state's official election map on Prop. 8: http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/props/map190000000008.htm
I don't know how those numbers compare to the counties' overall number of registered voters, though.
Sorry, that link got cut off. It's http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/props/map190000000008.htm
And it cut off again. Anyways, that ending after the 8 would be .htm
Can you imagine if Prop 8 had failed and all the "Yes on 8" people took to the street in protest? It's mind-boggling how people can accuse those who voted yes on 8 of being intolerant because it singles out a specific group... and now they're singling out a specific group.
From the Mormons Stole Our Rights site: "How, then, did Proposition 8 become law?
THE MORMON CHURCH."
Yes. Forget that people VOTED on the issue. The blame must lie with the fact that MEMBERS of a church (not the church itself) donated money to support a cause. They make it sound as if Mormons went door-to-door and offered people $100 to vote yes.
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