Sit down…this is a long one.
It was a beautiful, clear day in Los Angeles on November 4th, 2008. We’d had some rain, so the sky was bright blue with magnificent, white, fluffy clouds that make you want to ride a magic carpet up there. Here is the photo I took right outside my house…
I walked around the corner and waited for a mere 30 minutes to cast my votes. As I walked away from my polling place, hopeful and eager, I got a little choked up at the thought of casting my vote for a candidate that I actually believe in. Ever since I first voted I’ve simply voted for the lesser of two mediocre evils and I feel so proud to have been able to choose someone who is shattering my generation’s rampant apathy. (Actually, I might have voted for Bill Clinton as an incumbent. I have a vague memory of filling out my first ballot as an absentee California voter in my sorority’s dining room. Kirsten, could this be true?) In any case, this is the first election where I was really informed and had opinions based on my own beliefs and ideals. I felt the weather was perfect for the kind of day it turned out to be. Yes, my guy won and it was sweet!
The bitter turn took place at about 10pm after teaching my last class of the day. I turned on NPR only to find that Proposition 8 was winning. I was surprised. Everyone I know, almost, was voting NO. When I arrived to a computer I immediately checked in on the county by county results. It was true…most of my dear state was Green, including my home county of Los Angeles. Let me restate that. My HOME counties up North (San Francisco and Contra Costa) were Yellow. My current county was Green. Because many votes had not yet been counted, I ended the evening hoping that I would wake up and the margin would flip, but, alas, it remained 52% Yes on Prop 8. In California!? *sigh*
On the evening of November 5th, at about 8:45 we heard some faint yelling?, chanting?, PROTESTING! We figured out that is was the Prop 8 rally moving East on Sunset Blvd. As they drew closer and closer to RJ’s house, we took off running down the street to join them. The demonstration was peaceful, except for the loud chanting of “What do we want? EQUAL RIGHTS. When do we want it? NOW!”. We marched around Hollywood for about 2 hours before RJ and I returned home at about 11pm. When we got home and turned on the news, the reporters were trying very hard to spin the protest as violent, but for the record, I was standing about 20 feet from the “violence” and it was what I would call non-violence. One idiot did decide it was a good idea to jump on top of a police car, so of course, he was arrested, but I do not call that violence. We all actually sat down in the street in front of the police blockade to show that we came in peace. Just before I left the demonstration, a second group of enthusiastic protesters joined us at the intersection of Hollywood & Highland. Suddenly the group doubled in size and we celebrated the solidarity. Here is my amateur video of the two groups coming together. I’m no filmmaker, but it will give you an idea:
And here are some photos of the protest in action…
Have you ever seen me with such a stern face? I was a little fired up!
I am certain that not everyone who reads this post (I know you’re here, reading silently) will agree with my position here, but this cause is very near to my heart because I have numerous loved ones that this proposition discriminates against.
Now, several days after the results of the election I am happy and sad and frustrated and hopeful. Hence, it was a bittersweet election day in my home state of California.
We took one awesome step towards change, and now we have several more to go. Hooray for Obama! Good luck, dear Sir, you’ve inherited a major mess, but I believe in you and this country with all my heart…
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Yes, I think we all voted absentee in 1996. We were living the Pi Phi house at the time, so the dining room memory would make sense. I have some vague recollection of arguing with someone on the smoking bench who was voting for Dole. I can’t remember who. I do remember being excited to vote for Clinton because we were too young to vote in 1992. And then I remember I was on the steps of Smullin a few years later when Monica-gate broke and I was so disappointed in Clinton. So yes, it is nice to finally have a president who we can be hopeful about…
I had to defriend a girl from high school on Facebook because she was such an ardent Yes on Prop 8 person. And she lives in Utah. What an ass. It’s not even her state and she’d post these hateful messages every day. So she got the Facebook boot.
I will stand up and say that I am reading not so silently, my dear friend. And although we’ve come to think differently about certain things since we were 4, I love you just the same.
It makes me sick to see so many people displaying such hatred for their fellow humankind. I am disappointed that we cannot manage to disagree in a loving way. We truly are mere mortals.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
And, no, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a stern look on your face. 🙂
Just FYI, this protest that I joined was filled with people holding their fingers in the peace sign over their heads and many couples, heterosexual and gay, holding hands.
I wholeheartedly agree that showing hatred toward others is NOT ok, whether by singling out certain groups and placing blame (as some protesting against Prop 8 has done), or by taking away a right from a group of people you don’t understand.
For me, it is confusing why people who voted for Prop 8 care so much about something that doesn’t effect their lives in the least. By allowing a group of people to share in the beautiful union of marriage, we spread love…
And, I do know about myself, that when I am concentrating hard I get a very intense look on my face ~ which is definitely what was going on in the picture above. 🙂
Ali,
I wasn’t implying that the protest you joined was embracing hatred at all. In fact, I’m most disappointed with the behavior of Prop 8 proponents.
I understand your point-of-view, I just don’t agree with it. Again, I haven’t come to this conclusion based on hatred for the gay population. Nor, have I decided upon it without endeavoring to understand the enigma of sexuality. In fact, I struggled with homosexuality myself. My struggle compelled me to research the subject and many others, for that matter. I was led to the Christian faith. I wasn’t led to a specific church or specific people (who will always let us down), but to Jesus, himself. Jesus, a man and God who has not been done any favors by the disgusting behavior displayed by people who claim to follow him.
To your point about spreading love by allowing homosexuals to marry, I totally understand where you’re coming from. I guess my specific response to that would be too lengthy to include here as I would go into what I believe love to be and how it intersects with truth and how there are, in fact, absolute truths. If you’d like to talk about it, let me know. Meanwhile, I’m sorry to have upset you.
Peace.