J's drawing of the National Equality March

We spend 9 days in Washington DC early October to attend the National Equality March. Though the march itself was amazing, it was the stories around the march that really brought it to life for me.

@flygirlaviation -”barging it” in a hybrid car w/3 people and a dog to DC from Santa Cruz.

DADT Protest, Washington DC Oct 10, 2009

She is by far one of our most passionate straight allies - not knowing where she will sleep in DC and/or how she will get home. So committed to just being a part of history and the fight for LGBT rights.

Others on the street, who tell their stories of marrying friends to allow them access to our country because they are not allowed to marry the one they love.

Sitting with 100 people at the Madisson Hotel in DC watching CNN as we listen and react together as President Obama addressed the group at the HRC dinner just blocks away from us.

Sitting with 1000’s as Robin McGehee (Meet in the Middle for Equality) and Kip Williams (One Struggle One Fight), 2 grassroots activities that have been key participants in bringing this march to reality, welcome the crowd to the Nations Capital. The effort of these two individuals in California have been so significant in our fight for equality.

Being invited to stay in the home of a family in DC that we didn’t know and being welcomed by them in a way that some of our close family won’t do.

Marching with my 10 year old daughter, hearing her small voice amplified as we chanted with the crowd, her small hand in a fist in the air as she shouts, “what do we want? equality! when do we want it? now!”

Dianna <3 Rudi at National Equality March

Those moments and each person makes this community destine to prevail in this fight for equality. It may not be this year or next, but we are raising awareness, showing our intolerance, showing our love.

@JustMarriedUs: We r 2 ppl who love each other.Care 4 each other.Work hard.Pay taxes.Why r we less worthy of equal rights under law?

Thanks to everyone that has supported us in this journey. We love you all.

Filed under : Family, Political, prop 8

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Tuesday Morning, 10:00 AM: I will be meeting the OneStruggleOneFight.org group at the Courthouse at 10:00 AM for a peaceful street blockade. They are coordinating with an interfaith group of clergy, and are acting in the spirit of nonviolent resistance. Look for their large sign “SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL” and join us!

Information given to me by Molly McKay of Marriage Equality (marriageequality.com). 

Here’s a rundown of all of the activities in San Francisco — please spread the word far and wide.

ON THE  NIGHT PRIOR TO THE RULING:

- 7:00pm to 8:30pm: Interfaith Prayer service at Grace Cathedral  (1100 California St). All peaceful loving people are invited to come  together for this service, no matter what their position on the  court case may be.  For more information email rstringfellow@clgs.org

THE DAY OF THE RULING:

- 8:30am to 9:15am: Service/Blessing at St. Francis Lutheran Church  (152 Church St, across from Safeway).

- 9:15am to 10am: March from Saint Francis to Civic Center Plaza.

- 10:00am to 10:30: California Supreme Court steps (400 McAllister St) Everyone is invited to stand with us on the steps to receive the  ruling.  If you are a couple that married, or wanted to marry and  will speak to media, please email your name, contact information,  phone number and story to media@marriageequality.org.  Please bring  your families and allies with you.

- 10:30am: Circle of Care at Civic Center Plaza. If the marriage ban  is upheld, a group of Bay Area clergy and congregants will engage in  nonviolent civil disobedience immediately after receiving the ruling  go to www.onestruggleonefight.org for details.

THE EVENING OF THE RULING - COMMUNITY GATHERING

Emceed by Stuart Gaffney, John Lewis, Lawrence Ellis, Molly McKay  and Davina Kotulski

- 5:00pm to 6:00: Pre-March Rally at SF City Hall (speakers include  Terry Stewart, Kate Kendall and others)

- 6:00pm to 7:00: March to MLK Memorial at Yerba Buena Gardens (4th and Mission, next to Metreon). Follow http://twitter.com/stop8dotorg for live updates from the march.

- 7:00pm to 8:30: Post-March Gathering at Yerba Buena Gardens,  (speakers including Rev. Amos Brown , music, and next steps) For more information visit www.marriageequality.org <http://www.marriageequality.org/  or dayofdecision.org

THE WEEKEND AFTER THE RULING:

- Meet in the Middle for Equality in Fresno: http://www.meetinthemiddle4equality.com/

- Saturday: March from Selma to Fresno, meeting at 6:30am and kicking off at 7:50am Buses leave from San Francisco - join your fellow love warriors for  a road trip for justice you will always remember!

- Saturday: Rally in Fresno; warmup at noon, kickoff at 1pm

THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS:

- Marriage Equality USA, The Courage Campaign and Equality  California are canvassing with voters and running TV ads.

- It’s more important than ever for us to have conversations about  how marriage equality personally affects us. Visit  marriageequality.org; couragecampaign.org, eqca.org and stop8.org  for tips and opportunities to get engaged in your local area.  In all our actions, we will remember that making peace must start  within our self.  Each of us must stay committed to be non-violent  and a stand for the fairness, love and justice we want to see in the  world.

Filed under : prop 8

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The Prop 8 Oral Arguments on March 5, 2009: The “peaceful” rally, as stated by most of the local news stations, was a very different experience for me. After watching channel 2, 4, 5 and 7 news I couldn’t believe some of the stories they chose NOT to cover.

Sign reads: Dan White was a hero for killing a queer

For example, how about the bus loads of Ukrainians that were brought in from Sacramento with massive “Yes on 8″ signs and scripts/instructions that they were given to say to anyone that would engage in a light debate. What i found most interesting about this group was that they mostly engaged with the young teens/adults in the crowds. When i approached the older men (40-60 age range) with questions of my own, i literally got NO RESPONSE. I found it strange at first, but then realized that they really didn’t have any depth of knowledge on the issue and so anything outside of their script was not something they were prepared for. The young men in that group were much more engaging but all they could say was hateful things about fags and that gay people were going to hell. They also then kindly reminded me that if i was gay i could not have children. They also insisted they would never have fags as kids because, well, it wouldn’t be allowed. I found this group fascinating because it took so little to get 100 of them together with big signs and scripts and have such a presence at this rally. The only thing unclear to me was if this group of young men and a sprinkling of adults had been paid to be there. I couldn’t get that out of them. They even were organized to block the views of those talking on the courthouse steps with their massive signs while the rest of us with small “I DO” signs stood behind. Brilliant!

I just wondered why the ”No on 8″ side hadn’t organized as well. We have more then a handful of organizations that we are all pouring our money into and yet, there was no clear presence of any of them. Why? I’ll leave that topic for another blog post.

The next “Yes on 8″ group was church organized. They had red shirts that said something like, “Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman” along with small white tabloid size signs. They handed out to anyone interested the red T-shirts and the signs - another smart move since the shirts were so loud. This group was about half the size of the first group. They were a bit more respectful, also engaging in dialogue with the opposing side, but with some emotion in the conversation unlike the above more organized (potentially paid for) group.

Lastly, there were the normal, unorganized group of “Yes on 8″ individuals that were few and far between. They clearly put themselves in the middle of the organized group for safety reasons, but stood quietly with their signs.

The debates were not always respectful, there was a lot of yelling, cursing, and even physical contact with many of these people. The police got involved in at least 5 altercations that i was also involved in. I was hit, and hit a few people back. Signs were ripped out of peoples hands, and the emotions were beyond boiling point for most of the day.

Amazing that the Mormons were not visibly present, unless they actually were indirectly via the organized group…

Below are some of the faces of those people along with their messages:

Man quoted as saying okay if kids commit suicide if gay

Ukrainian Yes on 8 Teenager - Hates Fags

Yes on 8 Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman T-shirt crowd

Now, on the “No on 8″ side it was an eclectic group of unorganized individuals that more than tripled the presence of the “Yes on 8″ groups, but because of the lack of one voice, it appears to be much smaller of a group. The one visual that stands out for me during this entire day was a single woman with her “I Want the Freedom to Marry” sign, standing in the center of the “Yes on 8″ crowd, often standing with silent tears running down her face as individuals were yelling at her. She was the most beautiful presence at that rally.

SF Prop 8: Ashley Rojas stands alone

SF Prop 8 Oral Arguments Rally

There were also the young kids from King Middle School in Berkeley that were as strong and bold as any seasoned activist. They were heard and felt throughout the rally as they yelled at the “Yes on 8″ groups with a passion that was so refreshing to see.

Filed under : Political, Uncategorized, prop 8

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