Demonstrations of support

There have been protests up and down the state of California since the passage of Prop8. This weekend, over 10,000 people crowded into the Silverlake district of LA. Over 10,000 in San Diego's Hillcrest district. Smaller satellite protests have occurred at the Mormon Temples and Catholic Cathedrals. The protests have for the most part been very peaceful and positive, with only a couple of altercations reported. Given the number of people involved, I think that is quite impressive.

We attended a small protest on Sunday at our local Mormon temple, with about 150 people. (Most of our group did not know that the Mormons don't have Sunday services at the temple.) There were gay couples and straight allies, and lots of middle-aged or older people. We did not block the gates, and shouted and sang protest chants for about an hour with colorful signs. The vibe was very positive and the signs generally were too (the worst was probably "A nice bigot is still a bigot"). THe police were there in force but mainly stood aside watching us.

At the end of the protest while we were breaking up, a man left the temple and walked up through the group and paused at the far side. He was dressed very nicely with a dressy vest and tie, as though for a wedding, although his tie was untied and his collar undone. One of the reporters interviewed him, and a silent crowd of protesters gathered around with their signs. "This is just about families," he said, in an interview later shown on the local TV news. "We just want what's best for our families."

"What about my family?" asked a young man's voice from the crowd, not angry, but surprisingly gently. "This is my husband. What about us?"

The Mormon man looked a bit befuddled and didn't have an answer for that.

My hope is that after this week, the protests will have done their job: showing that there are a lot of us, and we are hurt and angry. Then it's time to get to work.

Meanwhile, there is a new effort to have demonstrations around the country as well as California next Saturday so that we can come together one more time to demonstrate our strength. This is important because the pro-Prop8 forces have already announced that they intend to build their coalition to prevent marriages in New Jersey and New York. We must stop them. Go to

          Jointheimpact.com

and look up your state. Come out and join us! (You can recognize me by my sign, at left). Be patient with their site, as they are migrating to a faster server today.