| Saturday, November 08, 2008 |
| Forward, march |
Joe and I went to San Francisco last night to take part in the anti-Prop. 8 demonstration. I am not someone who tends to get involved in these sorts of things -- the goal of the march was to shut down traffic on Market St., and I teased Joe that if we had been driving in the city (as we had been on Thursday night) he would have gone bananas -- but I figured it was important to send a message, since the protest was guaranteed to get lots of media coverage, so there should be as many people there as possible. We gathered at the Civic Center at 5:30 and marched down Market St. to Castro, and then finished up at Dolores Park. The Mercury News estimated that there were 2,000 people, while this morning's Chronicle simply said "several thousand." (I think there were definitely more than 2,000 people, but crowds are notoriously hard to count.) Local blog SFist.com puts the number somewhere between 15,000 and 25,000. Let's just say there were lots of people there, 'k?
The story was at the top of all the local newscasts last night -- you can watch some footage here.
The coolest thing about the march? When we wound up at Dolores Park, Joe actually ran into a lesbian couple whose wedding he had performed on Monday!! They hugged him and thanked him for coming to the protest. That was really neat.
I found this fantastic letter online, written by a Vermont mom about eight years ago. Here's an excerpt (though you should read the whole thing; it's enlightening):
At the core of all your misguided beliefs is the belief that this could never happen to you, that there is some kind of subculture out there that people have chosen to join. The fact is that if it can happen to my family, it can happen to yours, and you won't get to choose. Whether it is genetic or whether something occurs during a critical time of fetal development, I don't know. I can only tell you with an absolute certainty that it is inborn.
If you want to tout your own morality, you'd best come up with something more substantive than your heterosexuality. You did nothing to earn it; it was given to you. If you disagree, I would be interested in hearing your story, because my own heterosexuality was a blessing I received with no effort whatsoever on my part. It is so woven into the very soul of me that nothing could ever change it. For those of you who reduce sexual orientation to a simple choice, a character issue, a bad habit or something that can be changed by a 10-step program, I'm puzzled. Are you saying that your own sexual orientation is nothing more than something you have chosen, that you could change it at will? If that's not the case, then why would you suggest that someone else can?
It's not a "choice" or a "lifestyle"; it just is. And those of us who are straight should accept it and move on. |
posted by 125records @ 2:14 PM  |
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| 4 Comments: |
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I am so proud of you and Joe! We watched the news last night and were very moved by the march.
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I just feel this is a little closing of the barn door. The protests and rallies should have happened before the election.
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I was at the Seattle one - super exciting and chill making - like Pride but with more subdued colors and allies along side. Super excellent that you were involved over there. (oh, and ironic that the verification word for this post is queen - someone in blogger has a sense of humor)
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Name: Sue
Home: San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States
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I am so proud of you and Joe! We watched the news last night and were very moved by the march.