Meet in the middle for equality: update

On Saturday May 30,take a road trip to Fresno for Meet in the Middle: take the discussion to the heartland where the battle must be fought. Check the website for facebook and twitter connections, carpools, etc.

Faith leaders are invited to march from Selma to Fresno in honor of the great rights movements of the past. . To march, please meet at the Q Street lot, behind Fresno City Hall, at 6:30am for individual, organizational and media check-in for transportation services to the Selma to Fresno March starting point - please, RSVP for the march in advance.

California Faith for Equality (CAFFE) is sponsoring a "Faith Tent" at the Rally. They are making a broad invitation for faith communities to bring literature for the tent. Church brochures, event flyers, general info and action Items - everything welcome. Help show the media that religious people support marriage equality. To find the Tent look for the blue and orange logo for CAFFE.



Update: the long hard slog to repealing 8 begins on a march from Selma to Fresno.
Photo LA Times

Notes from the march

Well, it wasn't a huge crowd, 5000 people at most? The vibe was suprisingly positive: not angry, more resigned, but resilient. There were all sorts of people there, although overall the group skewed a little older. It was very well organized, as these events have been here. The crowd was polite, though noisy, and the cops were respectful and effective. We marched to the hall of justice for a short rally.

We marched with the Episcopal Cathedral and wore purple Cathedral t-shirts. You can see in the picture that the Cathedral marches with a big banner that says, "love to each of you". BP is the one holding the rainbow flag behind the banner. You can't see her, but you can see the flag. (Click to enlarge).

During the march, we saw someone we know, a young man named C. who we met at party a couple of months ago. BP caught up with him to say hello. "Oh, wow, " he said. "this is so cool, is this your church? "

BP looked at me. "Why, yes," she said. "It is now."

The Cathedral is holding an interfaith service of "consolation and determination" on Monday night. Our friend C. might go.

We got a great letter from the Dean today that read in part,

This ruling creates two classes of citizens. As such, it goes against the core American values of equality and justice for all, and it violates our Christian commitment to respect the dignity of every human being. The clergy and Chapter of Saint Paul's Cathedral continue to call for one relational standard to apply to all people, a standard rooted in the core Christian values of fidelity, mutual regard, and life-long commitment.