Sometime between now and June 3, an email will be sent out from the California Supreme Court announcing itās made a decision on the Prop. 8 lawsuits it heard earlier this month. Twenty-four hours later, that decision will be announced. When Proposition 8 passed last November, gays and lesbians took to the streets in a spontaneous, free-flowing outpouring of anger that spread across California and the nation. This time, they wonāt be taken by surprise.
Two ad hoc groups, Day of Decision and Meet in the Middle, are planning demonstrations to respond to the Court, no matter how it rules. The two groups, their different strategies and purposes are useful snapshots of where the gay political movement is today. Unsurprisingly, neither demonstration is being putting together by any of the usual gay political groups. Also unsurprisingly, they both mainly exist as Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. What is a surprise is that one of them actually seems to have a plan.
āDay of Decisionā is the sort of broad outline of a protest you expect. Created by Robin Tyler, a marriage activist whose been married more times (to the same woman, Diane Olsen) than we can keep track of, the event is really just a vague idea: After the Supreme Court announces its decision, gays and lesbians should make themselves visible. Tylerās organizing partner Andy Thayer explains the value of DoD by saying, āBy organizing now, we are also sending a message to the Court that people are watching what they do, and that if itās a bad decision, our community will not go softly into the night. We will react with a justified anger at one of the worst, and most cowardly court decisions of our era. If we win, these actions will be celebrations, and an attempt to push the momentum of a California victory to other states and regions.ā
Meet in the Middle has a narrower, though more organized focus. Organized by Robin McGhee, the mother who was booted off her childās PTA committee after they discovered she had marched in a Prop. 8 protest, in conjunction with the Courage Campaign, Meet in the Middle is asking gays and lesbians and their allies to meet in Fresno, California, the Saturday after the Supreme Court decision is announced. Why Fresno? Organizers explain that theyāll be making a subtle dig to Day of Decision:
How about we take this to the next level?
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āAfter the Prop 8 decision is handed down, people are going be looking for some kind of public release of whatever emotions result from the verdict ā good or bad. Chances are, somebody will get the bright idea to march on the Capitol ā because thatās what we always do.
Capitol marches have been done to death. Theyāre predictable. Theyāre boring. The news coverage of them just bleeds together into one big, uninspiring, droll.
Letās do something different. Letās meet in the middle of CaliforniaāFresno.
While we spend our time protesting at state capitols and marching around our gay ghettos, middle America is systematically stripping us of our rights at the ballot box and theyāre doing it with impunity most of the time. While weāre off marching in SF, LA, and Sac ā communities that supported us or came darn closeātowns like Fresno, who vote 65-70% against us get off without clearly seeing the results of their ballot bashing.ā
So, which approach is right? Should gays and lesbians step out from their workplaces and have a spontaneous Howard Beale moment come Judgment Day or should they pack up the Mazda and head to the hinterlands to take the Prop. 8 battle to unfriendly territory? Or is there such a thing as too much protest?
If thereās been one sustained criticism of the initial outbursts of protest following Prop. 8 it was that activists were marching in circles, quite literally. Organizers of protests casually accepted routes that took them through abandoned streets, far from anyone who actually disagreed with them and while groups would inevitably refuse to stop marching and did ultimately travel to areas where there were people to see the march, by the time they got to wear they were going, they had significantly dwindled in size.
At the same time, these protests were undeniably effective. Even if they only merited a 30-second mention on the evening news, spontaneous marches make for interesting news. And as we say here at Queerty, when it comes to gay rights, thereās no such thing as bad visibility.
On the other hand, Meet in the Middleās plan is smart on a number of levels. First, it gets gays and lesbians outside their comfort zone and also gives them a chance to work together, even if itās just to organize a road trip to Fresno. Protest marches are not just about visibility; they also serve as giant networking sessions for like-minded people. By putting the march in a city that overwhelmingly voted for Prop. 8, the LGBT community is responding to attacks that it only protests from the safety of their own homeāthough, to be fair, Los Angeles County voted for Prop. 8 as well.
The question is, where do we focus our energy? As weāve written here, we believe the Supreme Court is likely to uphold Proposition 8. Thereās a plan for the day after that decisionāand the weekend after that, but where do we go after the crowds have gone home?
InExile
Fresno is a very redneck town, you feel like you are in the deep south bible belt. Fresno is full of mega churches and surrounded by farming communities and tractor dealers as well as feed and pesticide dealers. This town with only one gay bar is absolutely the perfect place for a large demonstration, the people there will not know what hit them and it will be big news! For any of you planning to go there, be careful, it is full of religious right wing nut jobs that are as backwards as it gets. The idea of bringing the protest to a place where gay people are forced into the shadows is brilliant! Lets hope this is just the beginning!
boarderthom
Compare and contrast; one of my high school english teachers drilled that into my head.?Compare and contrast: Slave rights and gay rights; the contrasts are easy, the comparisons are profound. Slaves could not get legally married either. They could not create and sign contracts, and what is marriage mostly (legally speaking) but a huge contract with thousands of rights and responsibilities.?Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke there last year saying, “That just like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races, laws against homosexuality are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic and inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion, and respect for all.”?Apartheid: A system of laws applied to one category of citizens in order to isolate them and keep them from having privileges and opportunities given to all others.?Stop gay apartheid.
MadProfessah
I’m down for the Meet in the Middle concept….
Chitown Kev
Yeah, we are planning on doing something in Chicago whenever the decision is announced. The nice thing about the Boystown neighborhood is the feeling that we are around allies. What would be hilarious is if we had some rowdy Cub fans joining us if there is a baseball game that day at Wrigley.
kevin (not that one)
I love Meet in the Middle’s plan. As a San Franciscan, I’ve always believed that our demonstrations accomplished very little other than face time on the 10PM news. The only demonstration in the Castro that has made any news nationally lately was the spontaneous one to run out the theocrats who picked the wrong time to convert us to heterosexuality.
Also as a San Franciscan, I’ve seen time and time again haters, bigots, and anti-choice right-wing Christian fundamentalists (Catholic and Protestant) invade our city to put on big displays and shove their beliefs down our throats. This has happened for the last 5 years with the March for Life, it happens when the theocratic Evangelical folks put on their youth cult fest at the baseball park, and it happened earlier this month when busloads of Slavic homophobes were bussed in from Sacramento to harass same-sex marriage supporters in front of the CA Supreme Court building. Our city is targeted by the rightwing as one of their places to “make a stand”. We are a rightwing, homophobe freak magnet.
Frankly, I think a little payback is in order. I say lets get every queer we can to go to Fresno and let’s have one big love fest. I know Fresno isn’t the best town in the world to be gay in, but that’s why it’s more important that we meet there.
And I won’t lie. 65-70% of those folks voted to strip away my rights. 65-70% of people in Fresno think I’m a second-class citizen.
They need to see the faces of the people they are hurting.
One last thing: This event happens on Saturday. Well, what comes after Saturday? Church day. You can better believe that we will be condemned from the pulpit quite strongly the day after this event.
So, my thoughts are: since we have all of those people in the same place at the same time – maybe we should plan on sticking around and pick a few especially dastardly anti-gay churches to picket? We already know they’re going to preach hate on Sunday, so let’s show up outside and make a non-violent, peaceful stand for justice.
Just a thought.
Jeff
I find it stupid that they AREN’T doing anything. Mostly because all the Religious and Conservative YES on 8 Supporters have calls to action out sending emails and calling the Supreme Court.
This is why we alsways lose. We are much too”nice” and way to disorganized and lazy”
kevin (not that one)
BTW, here’s a handy flier to print, copy, and pass out to people whose religious beliefs stand in the way of recognizing the wonderful, loving, decent, and equal person you are! (I didn’t make it, but thought I would share).
http://epistle.us/hbarticles/hbflier.html
Flyers are a great way to keep the conversation going and make your point known, that is if you can find someone who will take and read it.
Attmay
I’m praying for riots if the courts don’t toe the gay line.
Bruno
Where do we focus our energy? On other states where it’s not actually possible to strip & return a suspect class’ rights every year at the ballot box? Seriously, I think this is a no-win situation in California until enough old homophobes die off. At least, that’s what the CA SC seems to be telling us.
EchoMark
In addition to rally/protest plans, I volunteer with a group that’s already working on tactics to change the minds of those who supported Prop 8.
Vote for Equality, the LA Gay & Lesbian Center’s organizing arm, is already canvassing voters door-to-door in LA County — which accounts for a quarter of all the voters in CA. We have one-on-one conversations, ask voters open-ended questions that get at the root of their opposition to equal rights for LGBT folks, dispel misconceptions, and ‘come out’ on their doorsteps to tell them why this is so important to us. Most importantly, the data is being collected so that we know what messages are most effective.
Their next canvass is in Pasadena this Saturday:
http://snipurl.com/e323l
If you live in/around LA, you should come check it out…I changed two voters’ minds at the last canvass!
Ben
@Attmay: Cool. How’s your front lawn sound?
Brian
I’m on board with having a visibility event in Fresno. I grew up in the Central Valley, about an hour from there, and now live in L.A. When I started volunteering with the Prop 8 campaign, I asked if I should consider spending some weekends at my mother’s house and supporting the Central Valley No on 8 effort. They told me absolutely not — the strategy was to win in the urban areas, and not waste time in enemy territory. And how did that work out again?
As a lawyer and someone who has read all of the parties’ Supreme Court briefs, and many of the amici briefs, I have to say something that I’m sure will upset people. We shouldn’t protest the Court. We shouldn’t call them “cowards” just because they disagree with us. A majority of the Court found our way last year based on the existing Constitution. The Constitution has now been changed. The precedent on revision versus amendment is overwhelmingly against us. The Justices could feel constrained by that and rule against us because of their view of what the law requires — without being cowardly or homophobic. They deserve our respect, the same respect the Yes on 8 people didn’t show last year when the Court went our way.
The idea that people are planning to “protest” something that hasn’t happened yet is really troubling. What if the Court’s opinion expressed sympathy for us and said it wished it could throw out Prop 8 and finds the Yes campaign reprehensible, but also finds that we need to look for a political solution because there’s no support for tossing Prop 8 as a matter of law. What would be the basis of a “protest” then?
The fact is, we shouldn’t be in this position at all. An effective No campaign would have resulted in a win. We started off with a 17-point lead and ended with a 4-point loss. Just because the Court probably isn’t going to invalidate an election does not make it evil or worthy of protest. We don’t need scapegoats. We need change.
Chitown Kev
@Brian:
You need the change the Constitution. Well, overturn Prop 8 first…and I think the Court’s outrage will be a portion of their opinion.
Bruno
@Brian:
The point is, we all know that the revision argument has value. If the court decides to strictly rule based on previous judicial matters, then we can ultimately say they weren’t brave enough to create a new and additional standard for what constitutes a revision. They have it in their power, and we all know it. They’ve likely just grown timid after the reaction to their own court ruling re: Marriages last year. And timidity we can’t, and shouldn’t, condone.
Jeff
Jeff
What if the Court’s opinion expressed sympathy for us and said it wished it could throw out Prop 8?
I’d say it was just paying lip service because IT CAN THROW OUT PROP 8.
Seriously at this point its too bad that the economy sucks and life is hard or else I’d say that we should all move to someplace civilized. Like New England and see how these states like it whgen Gay Revenue is pulled from them.
They want out taxes. THEN GIVE US OUR RIGHTS!
Chitown Kev
@Bruno:
Yeah, they did bring up the fact that there was no precedent for the revision argument that our side was making. First thought that popped in my mind was, “Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t set the precedent.”
And I’m all for a Great Migration to New England.
DaveO
Why are they going to Fresno? Why don’t they go to East LA?
Dudous Migratorious
Fresno…ahhhh a combination of ‘Deliverance’, ‘Grapes of Wrath’, and ‘Easy Rider.’ What a great place for gay people to be surrounded by hatred and ignorance. Go Bulldogs! Not.
Jeffrey
It would be great if everyone could get to Fresno, but the distance makes it very difficult and expensive for a lot of people and that makes for a small turnout. Also, what are we going to do when we get there? Someone said they need to see the faces of the people they are hurting. I agree. But when we are in a large group at a protest rally, we cease to be individuals that they can get to know. We become an ‘angry mob’ that is easy for them to dismiss and can even make them feel justified in hating us. We are just seen as violent, angry, and dangerous. That doesn’t really help us win them over in Fresno, I don’t think. I am not saying I am against protesting–quite the contrary–but I am not sure that taking an angry protest (which it certainly and justifiably will be if they rule against us) is the way for them to get to see the nice people that they have hurt. We have to look at what we want to accomplish with our reaction to the Court ruling. Protesting in the usual places will get the media attention and show the world that we are pissed off, which I am all for. If we want to really show them how mean they are in Fresno, why don’t we come up with a really novel way to do that? Something besides a protest rally.
Why don’t we do a massive cleanup of the town, or plant some trees to commemorate the death of civil rights protections in California? Or something else really offbeat that will really derail their little brains in a big way. Kill them with kindness. It will get a lot more publicity and maybe stop them in their tracks.
Jeffrey
InExile said they are rednecks–Let’s throw em a monster truck rally with free beer. Give em free boxes of ammo and NASCAR trinkets on the way in. That would make their heads spin around like Stevie Nicks between verses of “Stand Back.”
Bill Perdue
@kevin (not that one): Thats a very good idea. And a self=defense squad is in order.
vernonvanderbilt
@Jeffrey: Let’s not give them ammo, please. They’d only turn around and use it against us.
Ian
@DaveO: I hope you’re not just saying east LA because its mostly black and some latinos. That’s just racist. I think that if you want to go to a place that is close to LA and that overwhelmingly voted yes on prop 8 you should head to Orange County (which is mostly white and some latinos)
rogue dandelion
@Ian: homophobes come in all colors.
I think this meet in the middle thing a bit off- sacramento, LA, and the OC, along with San Diego also voted for 8. basically anywhere but the bay area and SB is a fair place to go to yell at bigots
Andrew Triska
@Jeff: Migration to New England? For God’s sake, don’t do it! It’s cold and there are too many affluent scarf-wearers and quaint-yet-rustic boutiques over here. I’m heading to California the first chance I get!
Bruno
@Andrew Triska:
Don’t expect to bring your legal marriage with you.
Daniel
EDUCATE,ADVOCATE,TOWN HALL MEETINGS,VOLUNTEER,LISTEN and RESPOND outside the areas where we have support.
PROTEST and MARCH in areas where we and our supporters have the most accessibility to be there when it happens. There is power in numbers.
I work with and for the older, wealthy population who oppose our rights. When we have LARGE, 25,000 people demonstrating (like we had after prop 8 was passed) and there was much discussion among them when they read about it in the newspaper and saw it on the news.
THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY!
Allison
The OC! by all means THE OC! let me be the first to welcome ALL! We have terrific weather, not too many rednecks, but a plentitude of bigots and religious zealots demanding freedom of religion and freedom of speech (only for themselves, to be sure!) We offer a delightfully bigoted police department. And, our school district is enjoying a brand spanking new lawsuit from the ACLU! š Both of our most basic forms of government here in Newport Beach are tied in court arguing homophobic lawsuits against them. We are a cornucopia of homophobe convictions! Oh, please can I not extend such a warm and hardy welcome from The OC that could temp so many? The days leading to the Prop 8 vote were a sorry place here. We few stood against so many on the roadsides with our scrawny signage whilst they bused in their Nazi Youth Groups. Oh, please will you not come and show your support, your solidarity here! We deserve it in countless ways and on many different levels!
Aj
@Brian: You miss the point of the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality rally in Fresno. This rally will happen win or lose in the Court decision. This is about a grassroots movement looking to move beyond the borders of CA (regardless of whether we have marriage equality here or not) and demanding Federal protections and Civil Rights — for all of our brothers and sisters around the country who enjoy much less than we have as GLBT citizens in CA, with or without marriage equality. This rally will be as much about networking, organizing and moving forward as anything else — very little of it will be devoted to protesting the court’s decision if we lose. It’s about changing the hearts and minds in the country regarding GLBT civil rights — from the ground up.
Jason
Some of you are asking “Why Fresno?”. Here is why Fresno. We are tired of Middle American values ballot bashing us at the poles. If you have ever been to the Central Valley you will notice the church on every corner – it is the Bible Belt of California. We’re here to say “enough is enough”, not only do we want marriage equality recoginzed at a federal level but we want full equality including putting an end to the “Defense of Marriage Act”, “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”, & the inclusion of transgendered people in “ENDA”.
A couple of weeks ago I was at a conference where Cleve Jones was speaking. As he was speaking he said “I believe if we demand everything now, we’ll get something eventually”. (to add my note – eventually will come sooner than later) If we don’t start making our demands that we will no longer live as second-class citizens, we won’t be heard.
Some of you are also thinking to yourselves, “Fresno is too far!”. Fresno is 3 hours from LA & 3 hours from SF. There will be buses leaving that Saturday morning from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento & San Diego. The cost is only $10 per person to help cover the cost of snacks. There will be information on the website later this week about reserving your place on a bus – it will be first come, first serve.
Okay – I’ve said my peace. š If you have any questions you can contact the organizers through the website.
Have a good night!