There’s An Ugly March Coming To My ‘Hood
If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know I get annoyed with the street closures and “take overs” of City Hall grassy areas by marches for (insert country name here) Independance Days, or Stop The War marches, etc. But I just heard of a march that’s coming in a couple of weeks that really gets me pissed.
It seems the “Bible Thumpers” are getting their panties in a twist about the courts recently allowing gay/lesbian marriages in California, and they managed to get a proposal on the November 4th ballot that will overturn this ruling- Proposition 8. A vote “Yes” on the proposition is a vote against equal rights for gays, and there is a very vocal “Say Yes to Proposition 8″ group that has been giving me headaches with their ignorant and deceiving radio, tv and print ads, featuring quotes such as
“Future generations will be affected if we don’t make a stand…” Huh???
“Children will be taught that marriage is between any two adults, regardless of gender” Yeah, so what?
“Churches may be sued over their tax-exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriages in their religious buildings open to the public” I would love to see nothing less, and they can start with Roger Mahoney and his band of protected pedophiles
“Ministers who preach against same-sex marriage may risk being sued for hate-speech and risk government fines” Yeah baby- now we’re talking!
Then a poignent e-mail was sent to the downtown mailing list today, and I could just feel the persons actual concern for his safety- it must suck to be hated so much for being who you are. The author explained that there will be a march to protest gay marriage on November 2nd, and it will be closing the streets around the City Hall area and filling the streets with nasty, hateful, ignorant people (EDIT: the bold words are my words- not the letter writers). The information from the actual Police Special Event Permit application are as follows:
11/2/2008 Say Yes to 8
TIME: 12:00 PM - 5:15 PM
ASSEMBLY: Corner of 1st Street and Main Street
ROUTE: Main Street north to Cesar Chavez then west on Broadway
north on Ord west on Hill then South on 1st Street East.
CONTACT: Save Marriage & Family Coalition
Huang, Yu Nancy
626-388-7520
I will conclude with the text of his message, and I hope to hear that someone is going to organize some sort of friendly get-together along the march route or something- this might be the first march I actively attend. Of course no one is going to change these “Yes on Proposition 8″ peoples minds- they are clearly way past reasoning or logical discussion. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a shame, but religion causes most of the huge problems in this world- at least not keeping religion as a personal matter and trying to force your views on other people… ok, off the pulpit for now 
===================================================================
Neighbors,
I need your help. I’m very worried about a march that is scheduled on
November 2. My hands are actually shaking as I type this. Many
straight people don’t understand that the Yes on 8 campaign occurs as
a very violent proposition to gay Americans. It scares me to think
that there will be people marching through my neighborhood who think
that my life isn’t equal to their life. They believe this so much
that they would go stand on the streets and march hoping that other
Americans vote to remove my civil rights. I can’t explain the fear
involved in just imagining this happening. But it’s a reality, so I
must do what I can to make sure it doesn’t happen.
I just called Nancy and asked her not to organize this march. I invited her to sit
down with me and my church minister. She said she would take my phone
number and get back with me. I asked her why she wants to march to
remove my civil rights. She said that she wasn’t marching to remove
anyone’s civil rights. She said she was marching to save the children
and traditional families. Save them from WHAT?
I don’t know who actually subscribes to this email list, but if anyone
can help me enroll her not to do this march, I and hundreds of other
gay downtown residents would certainly appreciate it. I know there
isn’t a way to MAKE HER STOP MARCHING and I’m not suggesting it. But
as O’Bama believes, we can at least talk with her. Maybe a straight
person out there who can better articulate my position of free for all
– even the gays might give her a call.
Anyway, together I would appreciate Downtown citizens standing up for
all of us. United we stand. Divided we fall.
As much of an inconvenience all the parades and such seem to be, this just reeks of social prejudice and intolerance.
I was talking to my wife the other night, mentioning the fact I cannot wrap my head around why this is such a big deal here in the US. The ads on television are unreal, particularly the one with the Pepperdine professor talking about the threat of kids being taught same-sex lessons and the panic stricken mother standing there in disbelief after her daughter told her they learned at school that a prince can marry a prince.
I suppose living in Canada all those years gives me the background to not understanding the uproar. Since 1999 same sex couples received the same benefits as traditional married couples, and in 2005 became the fourth country in the world to allow same sex marriages.
But back to the reason for your post, I understand the requirement to give equal opportunities to all groups and parties, and if Yes on Prop 8 people want to parade and rally than I guess they should be allowed to. What I don’t understand is the intolerance, and blatant disrespect toward other human beings.
I am very grateful to be a US resident (not a citizen just to clarify) but how in the world do people stand up and say this is the greatest country in the world when a parade such as this is going to march through the downtown core of the second largest city in America?
I’m done
October 21st, 2008 at 3:42 pmMay I have an “Amen” for Brother Brian
October 21st, 2008 at 3:52 pm“religion causes most of the huge problems in this world”
Ain’t that the truth…
October 21st, 2008 at 5:49 pmBrother D, thanks for stopping by…
All us confident straight guys get it- what’s up with the folks that just don’t live and LET live…
October 21st, 2008 at 5:57 pmTrust me Brian,as someone who is a citizen and has grown up in the good ol USofA, I, too, do not understand the uproar, and am just as disgusted as you are….I think another component I feel is ashamed and embarrassed that this mindset still exists in this day and age with a large segment of the population in my country. But then again, this is the same country that voted in a blithering dolt as President the last two terms, so I really shouldn’t be too surprised.
Sista Lola
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:53 amA friend of mine forwarded me this email from her sister in Orange County:
Yesterday I was driving home from somewhere,and I passed a swarm of Yes on 8 sign waivers. It’s a California proposition to overturn the legalization of gay marriage in this state. It made my blood boil, and they were uncomfortably close to my house…staking outa big four way intersection during rush hour. I thought about Josh driving through any minute on his way home from work.
Soooooo, I raced home and painted a giant sign that said “proud mother of a gay child, stop the hate”. I drove down to that intersection with my still wet sign sign and defiantly positioned myself front and center. Little by little, other people showed up with freshly painted signs denouncing intolerance….and eventually “the haters” packed up their signs and went home.
We need people like this woman to line the parade route and shame those damned hate mongers.
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:15 amLi- thanks for sharing that story. It’s incidents like that that get me, I guess angry is not right word, but as others have said, more embarrassed than anything.
I really hope we “No on Prop 8″ folks can come up with SOMETHING (peaceful) to do on Nov. 2nd during the march. I think calling the march organizer, Nancy, is an exercise in futility- I wonder what those narrow minded people would do if they found out a loved one or close friend was gay.
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:31 amWell Eric I feel your pain in terms of closures. I came back from Glendale earlier today and ended up in your neighborhood - what a mess. Streets closed everywhere, buses acting like they are the only ones on the road, a skateboarder weaving in and out of traffic (don’t get me started) and drivers like me frustrated with a street blocked off every other time we turned around.
A little insight into permits and parades … H was at a city meeting for work last night and has gotten to know some officers really well. Apparently many businesses are frustrated with all the parades and closures but the city will not say no to any of the permit applications for fear they will be singled out. So instead they say yes to almost all the parade/rally permits and deal with the mess. It seems as though many of the police are just as frustrated as we are.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:36 pmHey, Eric, thanks for your support against proposition hate. A counter-protest is being planned and Pamela should have the low-down on it. I know that Celia and maybe even Wonton will be there!
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:39 pmJoe- I hope you know I’d support you and your brothers and sisters… hate sucks in any form.
I’ve heard about a rally at Pershing Square, and I saw Ginnie sent out an e-mail saying she wants everyone to meet at 1st and Main, which is better for me as it’’s my hood. I think I’ll participate for once.
And yeah Brian, I was coming home from Metro and almost could not WALK across Broadway at 3pm- I still don’t know what the hell it was, but there were helicopters and tons of closures. I appreciate the low-down; I can see the cities point that if they deny a request they leave themselves open for lawsuit. On BIG closure last year- from Olympic to
Temple on Broadway, for Stop The War, had less than 200 marches and the police were PISSED as the march even started late. Thos are the stupid ones- at least have some people turn out if your gonna’ make a mess.
It will be interesting to see how many haters come on Nov. 2nd… I really want to see who these haters are.
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 pmI wrote a comment in blogdowntown on Monday in a comment thread in which you were a contributor that the signs were going up to notify the public about today’s traffic closure. Eric almost immediately replied with a brief comment outlining the route of today’s protest against police brutality which is probably another reason why the police were so angry. By the time the march got down here at 5th & Hill, the protesters had dwindled to about a hundred and were easily outnumbered by the police, who were probably needed to protect the marchers from irate motorists caught in the traffic jam.
I’ll be looking for you on November 2. Maybe we can march under the banner of Straight Men Against Regressive Thought.
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:19 pmVery SMART Dennis!! It’s great to see all the “No on 8″ support from the bloggers. Seriously, keep me posted as to what’s going on as I’ve heard of at least 2 groups forming for Nov. 2.
LOL- march against police brutality! I thought there was an extremely large police presence.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 am