EDITED TO ADD: READ MINDY’S COMMENT IN THE COMMENTS. If you know her, you already know how brilliant she is. And she is.
About half an hour before I was planning to leave for the Anti Prop 8 protest here in Atlanta, it started to rain. It was already cold (for Georgia), windy, and gray.
I decided not to take the kids.
Cold is one thing, cold and wet exponentially worse. More than exponentially. I’d already taken them out for a walk, during which Josie was mostly hysterical and clearly cold.
So I left them with Jill and went by myself. I parked in the sneaky day care/church spot that was amazingly convenient and only half occupied.
By the time I arrived, it was well underway. There were a handful of young children, a modest number of older kids and young teens, a lot of college students, and a plethora of we indisputable adult types.
The sound left a lot to be desired, and gave me a sincere appreciation for the fact that seminaries teach ministerial candidates how to preach, including enunciation, projecting and not talking over laugh or applause lines.
Having said all that, it was awesome.
There were about 1000 people there, and speakers like Kathy Kelly, Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer, and Georgia’s only openly GLBT State Representative, Karla Drenner, got the crowd impassioned and excited to extend the fight to protect our families.
There doesn’t seem to be much media coverage yet, but my former work bud DJ Certified was on hand recording, and will doubtlessly podcast on the subject soon. Check out the crowd before my camera battery died:
I have 2 last thoughts on the nationwide protests against Prop 8.
First, I commend most of the protesters for keeping the message positive and invigorating. When we get ugly, we just make ourselves look bad.
I was appalled by the signs I saw that said things like, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!” On the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre, that made my stomach churn, and I only hope that none of the survivors or people who lost loved ones didn’t see those signs.
I also think we need to take care in how we express our anger and frustration with the role that religious institutions played in passing Prop 8.
There are substantial allegations that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons) may have violated IRS regulations on political activity by non-profit religious organizations, and the allegations should be investigated.
But vandalizing or threatening individual Mormon temples and Mormon people is flat out wrong.
It also reflects badly on our community, and makes people more committed in their belief that we don’t deserve to be treated with full equality. We are rightfully disappointed and angry, but we need to keep this fight in the political realm.
We also need to remember that not all members of that church necessarily agree with what the institution did. I’ve been a member of dozens, probably hundreds of organizations in my lifetime, and I feel quite confident that I could find something that I disagree with in each and every one of them. Affiliation is not mindless endorsement.
If you don’t believe me, check out my second-favorite Mormon blogger, Moosh in Indy, and her post on the subject — which was written while she was visiting California and sitting in the living room of her “cousin who has been with his partner for over 10 years.”
Follow me on Twitter 
I LOVE THE GAYS!
If I were a Californian I would have been a “No on 8″
But it wasn’t up to me.
Let’s talk about this.
WHO’S YOUR FIRST FAVORITE?
Hey Liza…Glad the rally was so good, and we wish we could have been somewhere, anywhere, where there was a rally/march/whatever!! The more I think about Prop 8, the madder I get, and we’re pretty darn far from having any kind of GLBT community around to share anger, frustration, sadness and disappointment. But, at least we do have lots of supportive people here who have also told us how sorry and sad they are to see that the proposition passed.
I read ‘moosh in indy’s’ post. I agree that it is never fair to generalize, to be violent, or to threaten other people. On an emotionally charged issue like this one, any community will have people whose behavior is just flat inappropriate. And there is simply no excuse for that.
However, I found myself becoming increasingly angry and frustrated with ‘moosh in indy’ as I read the post…
This is not simply a matter of two sides misunderstanding each other. And while it is not only the Mormons who were responsible for the passage of this initiative, numerous reports indicate that the support of the Mormon church tipped the balance–see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15marriage.html and http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/27/BAP113OIRD.DTL. Furthermore, the Yes on 8 campaign estimates that 40% of their contributions came from Mormons…an astonishing amount, given that the Mormon population in CA is estimated to be 2%.
The post by ‘moosh in indy’ made me feel upset, because it presented the issue without a full discussion of why people are so upset and angry…and thus, without a full recognition of the imbalance of power on this issue. OF COURSE there wouldn’t have been hordes of angry Christians parading through West Hollywood if Prop 8 had failed!!! The proponents of this proposition really had nothing to lose except for their belief in their own moral supremacy. If they had lost, I am sure that many of them would have felt disappointed and saddened…but their fundamental rights to legal and social equality would not have been subjugated to the will of a prejudiced majority.
A more accurate comparison would have been if there was a proposition on the ballot to take away the rights of Mormons to marry each other…and if the initiative had been disproportionally supported by gay people. You better believe that there would have been angry marches by Mormons in West Hollywood, Hillcrest, and the Castro if something like that had happened!!! Fortunately for Mormons, something like that could probably only happen in a John Waters film….
I appreciate that ‘moosh in indy’ is someone who is willing to publicly state that she did not support her church’s stance. We all need people from all faiths who will stand up for fairness and justice and publicly oppose discriminatory positions taken by faith leaders and institutions. And I appreciate that there have been numerous people of many faiths, including Mormons, who publicly stated their opposition to the proposition, fought against it, and donated to the organizations working to keep marriage legal.
But it’s not fair to compare the perspectives of the two sides here, without fully acknowledging that there was a fundamental difference in power, and that what happened in California was the mean-spirited stripping of rights from a marginalized minority. It’s not fair to simply divide it into two sides and say that the hate from both sides is wrong. Only one ‘side’ had their basic rights and equality up for a vote by the majority. And only one ‘side’ really had something to lose.
How could there be anything but anger and fury?
Glad you were able to protest. We were disheartened by the vote but I heard a gay black woman on NPR who had a lot of interesting things to say about the failure to work with the black and hispanic communities. It will happen eventually. And you’re headed to Milwaukee (where it is decidedly chilly). Call when you get here. Delighted you and Jill are moving.
Sandra