Don’t listen to the drivel that protesting doesn’t work. A) We feel better, and more coalesced, when we express our collective anger, and B) The protests did sway the public. 8% of those who voted Yes on eight have changed their minds. We only lost by 3 points.
The Protests Worked
November 25, 2008
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Posted by Preston
What Would Harvey Milk Do?
November 23, 2008This one brought tears to my eyes. I was a teen in the 70s. I don’t remember knowing about Harvey Milk and feeling hope. I wasn’t self-identified enough to relate. I do remember Sergeant Leonard Matlovic, and I do remember the Briggs Initiative and Anita Bryant making clear that some people out there hated people like me, a message I had already received on the playground. But I remember realizing there are people out there… like me.
I am afraid to see the movie Milk. I know I will be crying and sniffling through the whole thing. The message is too timely.
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Posted by Preston
Gay Intolerance in the Castro
November 20, 2008A quick comment about that video of gay people screaming at Christians in the Castro as the police escort them away. It sounds like many people are disturbed by it, saying that gay people are now incredibly intolerant and dangerous.
- They come weekly. They stand at the center of the Castro and sing and hold Jesus signs and we tolerate them doing that like we tolerate all the wonderful nuttiness in San Francisco, even though their only purpose there is to be in other people’s faces. I’ve stepped around them many times to get to the pharmacy they stand in front of. We are generally tolerant, and that applies to the nutty Jesus people too. They are just part of the local color.
- They came just after our loss on Prop 8. They provoked. They got the reaction they were looking for. They got driven out. They didn’t get hit or bloodied. They got teased by a man dressed as a nun and yelled at and escorted safely away.
- I believe the unnerving sound you hear on the video are whistles. Do you know why gay people carry whistles? Because we are regularly the subject of attacks. We have volunteer patrols of gay neighborhoods to try to keep ourselves safe. It hurts my heart to hear commentators appalled that gay people are shown defending themselves and their neighborhoods, when gay people are regularly bashed by “Christians”.
- Gay neighborhoods are a sanctuary. Look at a map of the US. In how much of that territory are gay people assured we can just be who we are? Give us our few blocks of San Francisco, LA, New York, Boston, Chicago, Provincetown, and Key West in peace. Oh, and we want peace everywhere by the way… not to minimize that.
- Finally, a group of yelling drunks at 2am when the bars close is not a movement or a cultural zeitgeist. I belonged to a fraternity, I know.
Special thanks to the SFPD. They clearly acted in a calming and professional manner. I can’t imagine being a cop in our eclectic city. Thank you!
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Posted by Preston
8 Marriages
November 19, 2008From the protest in San Francisco last Saturday.
She had eight husbands and I can’t have one?
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Posted by Preston
Day Without A Gay
November 19, 2008The people who brought us the Join the Impact protests have called for a Day Without A Gay.
On December 10th all gay people (and supporters) are to Call In Gay to work and go volunteer instead. No gay hairdressers, teachers, air traffic controllers, or Senate office managers!
Kinda silly, kinda clever.
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Posted by Preston
Crimes of Protest: Premeditated vs. Passion
November 18, 2008Mormons are mortified that protesters get angry and do inappropriate things.
There are two types of crimes:
- Premeditated. These are crimes committed after rationally considering the timing or method of committing it, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension. Gay people feel Mormons committed the premeditated crime of working to steal our rights, and we can’t wrap their heads around why you would do that.
- Passion. Crimes of passion are committed because of sudden strong impulse such as jealous rage, heartbreak, or hurt. The angry protestors are committing acts of passion, particularly of passionate expression. This is inconceivable to Mormons, who cannot protest anything within their community. Because they don’t really get the concept of speaking out passionately and spontaneously (see Mitt Romney), they don’t react well. It confuses them.
So I say protest on. They want to be political, well this is politics. They will learn.
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Posted by Preston
Mormons Message to Losers… Submit To Our Authoritay*!
November 18, 2008The Mormon Church’s official declaration on the reaction to Prop 8:
“People of faith have been intimidated for simply exercising their democratic rights. These are not actions that are worthy of the democratic ideals of our nation. The end of a free and fair election should not be the beginning of a hostile response in America.”
So their idea of politics is: If we win, you must shut up forever.
Um, HELLO? Expressing your view, as forecfully and loudly as you feel appropriate, and trying to persuade others to the same view… that is politics. What America do you live in? (Oh. right.)
* A South Park reference.
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Posted by Preston
Nationwide Stop H8 Protests – Saturday Nov. 15
November 15, 2008Don’t miss your chance to vent your spleen on the Mormon Church today. Hey, they pissed on us… sword fight!! Keep it safe and sane, and when we’re done we go back to living our lives, and they’re still haters.
For protests around the US and the world see Join the Impact. (Local news last night said they are expecting 25 million people at the countless protests across America! 1 in 6 Americans sounds a bit optimistic, but will be good.)
[A post Protest note: I was surprised by the rally in San Francisco. It was much less hate-focused than I expected. Maybe one in twenty signs was against the Mormon Church, which I consider modest, under the circumstance. The focus was much more on where we are going.]
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Posted by Preston
Mormons are 80-90% of the Hate
November 15, 2008Mormons, in their Palin-esque innocence, ask why they are the central target of protest. From the best article yet on Mormon’s and Prop 8 see today’s NY Times:
Jeff Flint, another strategist with Protect Marriage, estimated that Mormons made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts.
…and 77% of the private money for Prop 8 was Mormon. Why target Mormons? Because Mormons are 2% of California, and 80-90% of the hate.
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Posted by Preston
