some good news on the equality front

I've been so busy writing about Prop 8 that I haven't had time to acknowledge some good news regarding another Cali ballot initiative.

Prop 4, which would have required minors to notify their parents before getting an abortion, was DEFEATED 48% to 52%.

Also, in Colorado, a constitutional amendment that would define life as beginning at the moment of conception--which supporters hoped could lead to a legal challenge to Roe v. Wade--was soundly defeated 27% to 73%.

Hooray for women's rights!

8 = hate

This happened on Monday, before the election. But I just read about it now and it made me so angry it deserves its own blog post!

Two arrested in street fight over Prop 8 in San Mateo

This is what happens when bigots get emboldened--a 6' 2", 250-pound man beats up a 17-year-old girl.

A 250-pound dude? What could he possibly feel threatened by from this 17-year-old girl, other than her existence?

hope and fear

It's been a whirlwind few days, and I've been able to post only brief updates since election day, so I want to take a moment to tell you what a wild ride I've been on since Tuesday.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did not vote for Barack Obama. I'm a third-party gold star, and I feel that it's very important to vote for a left-wing third party alternative to the two mainstream parties when such an alternative exists. I voted for the *other* African-American candidate on the ballot (the fact that I can say that is pretty historic in itself) Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party.

That does not mean I was not happy to see an Obama victory. You can't help but be moved when you see people crying, cheering, dancing, and running into the streets--for a US presidential candidate??? When has that ever happened? Certainly not in my lifetime, and, I think, probably not ever in this country. When a political event can lead people to march spontaneously to the White House gates, something important is going on.

I watched the election night coverage with my roommates and a few friends from my class. I must be honest--since it had started to look very likely that Obama would win, I was much more concerned with the Prop 8 returns.

We were all waiting eagerly to hear Obama's victory speech (which took place about an hour after the California polls closed) when I decided I couldn't take the suspense any longer. I went online and started looking at the Prop 8 results. I wish I hadn't. It was passing by ten points then, and even though more urban, progressive counties hadn't reported in yet, I realized we were going to lose.

I suddenly felt incredibly isolated. Everyone around me was happy, excited, full of joy and hope. It was a night of victory for them. Obama was about to speak, and I didn't want this joyful, historic event to be marred by the thought that, at that very moment, my rights were being taken away.

Obama gave a fantastic speech. Even I teared up a little--more at the reactions of people in the crowd than at what he was actually saying. But the joy had been sucked out of the night for me. I actually cried a little before going to bed. This was the hardest I had fought for anything since...well, probably since around the time of the last election. I had given my time, my energy, and not a small amount of my money to this campaign. What's more, I was fighting not for someone else's rights (which I have done with great passion countless times over the years) but for my own. It really hurt to lose.

The next day, Wednesday, I was pretty depressed. I considered calling in sick to my internship, but decided the best plan was probably to just try to slog through the day. As it turns out, my boss at my internship was the one who told me there was going to be a protest that night in West Hollywood. I didn't think I felt much like protesting, but it was on my way home, so I figured I'd stop by and check it out.

The protest was supposed to start at 7pm. When I got off the bus at Santa Monica and San Vicente at 6:20, there were already probably 200 people there, crammed onto two corners of the sidewalk and waving signs at passing cars.

I've been to a lot of protests, and sometimes you just get a certain vibe right from the moment you get there. That vibe was telling me I needed to go buy a disposable camera.

As it got closer to seven, the crowd kept growing and growing. It was incredibly diverse in race, age, gender expression. A number of couples had their kids with them. The mood was not defeated. It was defiant and angry. At one point people ran into the street and started spontaneously marching down Santa Monica--I don't think anyone knew where to. The organizers quickly herded us back down a side street to listen to some speeches, but people were not in the mood for it.

I don't know whether the organizers' original plan included a march, but there was going to be one whether they liked it or not. While the speeches were still going on on the little stage they had set up, people started drifting back up to Santa Monica, and the next thing anyone knew, we were marching down the street. The crowd had swelled to about 5,000 now, and the cops had blocked one whole side of Santa Monica Boulevard blocked off for us.

There is something exhilirating about marching in the street, a particular feeling of power. There's also a certain special energy about night protests. The idea of being angry and joyful at the same time might seem contradictory, but that was exactly the feeling. No one felt depressed or defeated. People were furious, but we also felt empowered and hopeful. Perhaps it was some Obama overflow hope, but there was an incredible sense of defiance and pride in the crowd. People had signs and t-shirts reading "When do I get to vote on your marriage?", "No More Mr. Nice Gay," and a million variations of "No to Hate/No on 8." We were, shall I say, here and queer. Rainbow flags flew and a drag queen with Christmas lights on her fake boobs was singing a song I couldn't hear the lyrics to.

We marched along Santa Monica for a few blocks and then up a REALLY steep hill and onto Sunset. There is something pretty amazing about marching down the Sunset fucking Strip with thousands of people yelling "EQUAL RIGHTS!" while cars honk their support and people come out of restaurants to cheer you on. It felt like the Civil Rights movement. We whooped and hollered every time someone in a passing car honked or waved the "victory" sign out the window. Bus drivers honked at us. A dude driving a Ralph's 18-wheeler honked at us and leaned out the window to give high-fives. At one intersection there was an apartment building with someone on almost every balcony waving at us or holding a "No on 8" sign. We ended up marching all the way to Hollywood & Highland, which is about four miles.

By the end of the protest, we hadn't really gone anywhere specific (except for a brief stop at the CNN building to sit in the street and pound on the windows of the building to try to get someone to come out and film us, which they did not.) But something had changed and I felt about a trillion times better.

In the past day, something incredible has happened. Protests have been called or already held in San Diego, San Francisco, Orange County, Long Beach, Sacramento, and here in LA. After Wednesday's rally of 5,000, between 1,000 and 3,000 people showed up for a rally across from the Mormon temple today.

I signed a petition calling for the repeal of Prop 8 at noon today. I was signatory #74,851. Less than 12 hours later, there are now over 221,ooo signatures. A Facebook group called "Californians Ready to Repeal Prop 8," started yesterday, now has over 100,000 members, 134 discussion topics, 1,050 wall posts and dozens of photos and videos from around the state posted. At least two websites--Invalidate Prop 8 and Equality Action Now--have launched in the past day.

In less than two days, a movement has exploded into being. Maybe people were a bit complacent, thinking such a hateful initiative would never pass in crunchy California, and needed the shock to compel them into action. Maybe people were inspired by Obama's victory and thought "Why not us?"

The supporters of Prop 8 built their campaign on lies and fear. But despite their temporary victory, hope is alive in California, and growing. On Tuesday night, many Black civil rights activists saw the fruits of struggles they had started fighting forty, fifty, even sixty years ago. We are hoping for a slightly more compressed timeline.

obamania in nyc

Several of my NYC friends were in the right place at the right time on election night and have the pics and video to prove it.

Kitzie, Karen, Segnon, Ryan and JoAnna were watching the election at the office where I used to work, which is right off Times Square (a huge pain in the ass on New Year's Eve.) Karen posted some great pics here and here.

My friend Brian was in Harlem, and shot this great video of the ecstatic mayhem on 125th St. You can also read his election night account here.

additional Prop 8 protests this week

TODAY, 2pm: No on 8 will be holding a "press conference" at the Mormon Temple, 10777 Santa Monica Blvd.

Saturday, 11/8, 6pm: at Sunset Junction in Silverlake.  Will try to get some more details on this one soon.

prop 8 update--it ain't over yet

While most news outlets are reporting that Prop 8 has passed, the California Board of Elections has not officially certified the results of the vote.

Out of 10 million votes counted so far, the margin of victory for Prop 8 is just 400,000 votes. As of this morning, there still remained somewhere between 3 and 4 million absentee, provisional, and mail-in ballots to be counted.

While it's statistically unlikely that these ballots would tip the scales to defeat Prop 8, it's not impossible. The No on 8 coalition is currently focusing its efforts on making sure that the Board of Elections counts every ballot. Basically, the campaign is holding off making a final statement admitting defeat for at least another 24 hours.

Three separate legal challenges to Prop 8 were also filed today, based on a fairly nuanced point of constitutional law that nonetheless could potentially result in Prop 8 being ruled illegal. More on that later.

On less than a day's notice, at least 5,000 people turned up for a rally and march against Prop 8 tonight. I'm going to write a separate post about it, because it was an amazing, beautiful and spirited event--what better occasion to mark my first protest in LA? I took a bunch of pictures on a disposable camera, which I have to find a place to get developed. I also took some dark, blurry, crappy pictures on my camera phone once the disposable was full. Here are a couple:


We stopped at the CNN building in Hollywood and made a bunch of noise, but unfortunately no one came out to film us.

This was during a spontaneous sit-in while we were waiting for the cops to let us move. This super cute little girl was there with her mommies (seated and standing behind her) and having a blast.

E-Day

12:45 am: With 62% reporting, the Yes on 8 side is still ahead 52% to 48%. It will be a narrow margin, but it looks like Prop 8 will pass. I'm quite tired now, so I'm going to bed now and will update more in the morning.

11:50 pm: With about half the precincts reporting, Prop 8 is currently passing 53% to 47%.

9:30 pm: Still too close to call on Prop 8. With about 10% of precincts reporting, Prop 8 is currently winning. BUT most of the early-reporting precincts are in rural, more conservative areas...so it's still very much up in the air.

8:20 pm: McCain is currently conceding defeat, although he seems a bit more gracious about it than his fans do. As the California polls only closed a few minutes ago, no word yet on Prop 8. Will update shortly.

2:33 pm: Done with volunteer shift, which was overwhelmingly positive.

I left the house at 10 am to take the bus to MacArthur Park, the designated meeting spot for my geographic area...only to wind up at Roger Williams Baptist Church on Adams & Ellendale...5 minutes from my house. But no complaints, really. This was primarily a USC student polling place (since Ellendale must have the highest density of student housing on the face of the planet) and the response was overwhelmingly for No on 8. We also got a good response from the "community members" (ie. mostly older Black residents of the neighborhood). The poll workers were really friendly and a couple of them even quietly told us they were voting No.

Best moment so far: one my first conversations was with two young African-American women who were not USC students. When I approached them, they both said, "Yeah, of course we're voting no!" and then one of them said, kind of quietly, "This is my girlfriend." As they walked away one of them briefly put her arm around the other's shoulder. It was a really sweet moment and a nice reminder that, hey, that why we're doing this, after all.

9:39 am: I am back from voting No on 8 (oh, yeah, and for president and stuff)!

Weirdest thing about voting in California: the scan-tron type paper ballots, which require insertion into a weird contraption to which plastic cards with the ballot contents are attached. I know this ensures accurate voting, but it was a little confusing for someone who's used to the clunky old New York voting machines, which look like a relic from Edison's lab.

My polling place (in a church--also weird) was pretty crowded, and as it's in a primarily Black neighborhood, people seemed pretty darn excited.

I'm off to volunteer for No on 8, but I'll try to post more updates throughout the day. Also, stay tuned for tonight, when I'll be attempting to live-blog the California election results.

GO VOTE!!!!