Speaking up, speaking out

[owlmoose]

Many of you have probably already heard about the nationwide protests against the passage of Proposition 8 on Saturday. At least one protest somewhere every state at 2:30 Eastern Time, Saturday, November 15th. The San Francisco event is at City Hall (of course), and I'm thinking really seriously about going. (Any locals interested in joining: ping me ASAP!)

I do wonder, though, about why now. Where was this outpouring of emotion and support two weeks ago, when it could have made a much more immediate difference? Dan Savage has a good take on why the reaction was delayed, but I still wonder. Of course, that raises the question of whether it would have made a difference. I think it would have, but who can say, really?

And I have to admit, late as it may be, it does me good to see how many other people are outraged by what happened to gay rights on November 4th. Momentum is shifting, and visibility can only help with that. Which is the main reason I am moved to join in on Saturday.

Comments

[furitaurus.livejournal.com]

Well, i don't know how or if it will change anything, but good luck to all of you. Is there any legal way to get the porposition overturned?

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

At least two lawsuits have been filed against the proposition, challenging the constitutionality of the amendment. From an article in the SF Chronicle:

They argue that the initiative, a state constitutional amendment, violates other provisions of the California Constitution by taking rights away from a historically persecuted minority group and stripping judges of their power to protect that group. The couples' suits contend that Prop. 8 makes such fundamental changes that it amounts to a constitutional revision, which can be placed on the ballot only by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

A lawsuit to block the amendment from the ballot on the same grounds was filed before the election, and the court basically said "if it doesn't pass, it doesn't matter whether it's legal or not; come back if it passes." So they're back. The court's response to the initial lawsuit very specifically did not mention whether they thought it was a good argument, so it's definitely viable. How viable, no one knows; I don't think there's any real precedent in California case law. But there's at least a chance.

I

[kunstarniki.livejournal.com]

Did you hear about the protest this week in NYC? It was held before the primary LDS temple in the city and drew somewhere between 4K and 10K demonstrators. (Depending on whose numbers you trust.) Thank goodness it was peaceful and dramatic.

I have read rumours that the proposition may have been unconstitutional. Is that going to fly?

Re: I

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

I did hear about it, and saw some great pictures. I hope the protests do stay peaceful; I've heard of a few isolated instances of violence and racial tension.

Regarding the lawsuit, see my response to Chris, above.

[i-iambe.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering "why now?" as well, and the problem I have with Dan Savage's argument is that I felt that the Proposition itself was an attack and therefore don't understand why people didn't take it as one. The other argument I heard was that people really didn't think it would pass and so spent more of their energy campaigning for Obama. Which in retrospect was short-sighted, this is California, Obama was going to get the Electoral votes anyway.

All that aside, the passage of the proposition has absolutely outraged and offended me far more than the original proposition did. I really didn't believe it would pass either.

I'm trying to decide which protest to go to. There are three in my immediate area here and a ton of choices if I head out to L.A.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Which in retrospect was short-sighted, this is California, Obama was going to get the Electoral votes anyway.

My impression is that a lot of Californians who threw their efforts into getting Obama elected were working on other states: phone banking (my friend who went to the Obama office in SF was making calls to New Mexico), traveling for Get Out the Vote efforts, etc. It does raise the question of priorities, though, especially once the national momentum turned so obviously in Obama's direction.