Around the country today, at coordinated times, people took to the streets to protest the passing of Proposition 8 and other gay marriage bans across the country.
I’ve been in my Obama-victory haze and have admittedly not written as much about this as I should, other than recommending Olbermann’s comment on the subject.
But Karthika and I headed down to City Hall in Philly today to join the fun, and took some pictures on the way.
It’s always amazing to me to see the diversity at events like this. I absolutely love the energy, the straight parents bringing little kids, the older parents holding signs that say “Proud Father of a Gay Son.” The “str8 against 8″ signs were particularly prominent today. And despite the stupid coming from some sectors, people of all ethnicities were represented.
That’s the thing no one tells you about public protest, collective action, etc. How much fun it all is. I’m not happy that Prop 8 passed. But the response to it around the country has been amazing.
For those Obama organizers and volunteers who are genuinely befuddled as to “Now what?” I offer these events as an idea. Electing Obama was a beginning, not an ending. We still have much work to do.
And while I’m talking about Prop 8, I’d like to remember Duanna Johnson, a transgender woman murdered in what is all too common a manner. While we fight for marriage equality, we need to remember that not everyone’s life will be made OK by granting marriage rights.
We still have a way to go, indeed.
(more photos below the fold)
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I linked below to Little Light’s post, and I want you to please read it first, before I weigh in on this.
BFP wrote about this as well, and her post is also far better than mine. The two of them are an inspiration in so many ways, and I think more people should be reading them.
Police brutality is a feminist issue. I’ve written about it, oh, a million times. In addition, it is a progressive issue, a liberal issue, an issue for anyone who cares about civil rights and civil liberties.
Our freedoms are NOT granted to us by the state. They are agreed upon with the state, and part of the contract we’ve made with the state is that it will protect us and provide certain things for us.
I posted the First Amendment the other day in regards to Amy Goodman and other journalists’ arrests. It, in addition to the right of a free press, provides that people shall be allowed to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
This State has failed us. Instead of protecting us, it has gotten us into unwarranted wars that have weakened us and diminished our ability to protect ourselves (and that’s even allowing that war may sometimes be necessary, an argument I am not going to have here). Instead of providing for us, it has attempted to control our personal lives and allowed profit to take precedence over silly little things like health and shelter.
Protests at the RNC especially, but at the DNC as well, have every fucking right to go on. There is no need for a “free speech zone” or anything of the kind. As long as the protesters aren’t attacking people in the streets, they have a right to be there and be heard. They certainly don’t deserve being arrested, let alone being brutalized beforehand (and afterward, while in jail).
This is not getting the press it deserves. Which is ironic, considering that the press should be freaking out at its rights being trampled, the way they freaked out at the idea that Judith Miller might have to give up her high and powerful source.
Freedom of speech, in other words, is no longer the concern of the ones who are supposed to fight for it: the media. They are more concerned with access to power. It is up to us to preserve the rights that we handed over control of to some state authority. The police are here to serve, not to coerce and control.
