National Day of Protest: done my part today

[torquill]

I just got back from the local anti-Prop 8 rally (in downtown Walnut Creek). That was a fun experience.

I got there shortly before 11, when it had been going for a half-hour; the crowd steadily grew until 11:30, when I estimate there were about 600 people surrounding the intersection at Walnut Creek City Hall. Lots of creative signs were waved: from "Where's our separate drinking fountain" to "Married 8 years, no Mormons were harmed" to "Don't be scared, it's only love" to "Why do you have to be gay to believe in equality" to the classic "I want to vote on YOUR marriage". The honking drowned out conversation at times, and only a few people waved the wrong finger at us... most were quite supportive. (Someone noted that it seemed like all the people with dogs in their cars were honking their support. There were lots of dogs at the rally too.)

We had one quiet guy with a cross show up for a little while; he was smiling at the lady with a large red heart that stationed herself next to him and they chatted a bit. Late in the rally one "Yes on 8" sign showed up and disappeared not long after. There were no boos or hisses at disapproving drivers; they were largely met with silence, even the guy who sat in the left-turn lane and repeatedly yelled, "sick, sick, sick!" I called out, "We love you!" It seemed like the thing to do.

I was waving at cars that honked and found myself being waved back to by hopeforyou in pure_agnostic's Prius. I though they might be coming to join the rally, but they were just on their way through.

By 12:30 the mob had shrunk, and when I took my leave at 1 we were down to about 20 people. I honked the car's air horn as I went past on my way home.


Heh. I was hunting through Google looking for a "We All Deserve The Freedom To Marry" sign to use for an icon, and came across this article. Imagine my surprise when the second picture has a great shot of mikz, the second bloke from the right. Well, hi! :)

Comments

[pure-agnostic.livejournal.com]

All 4 of us (me, starry_sigh, hopeforyou and the little one) were all there from 10:30 through 12:00. We were just leaving when we spotted you. Sorry we missed you there. I had a sign which said "Churches Can Stay Out of Politics Or Pay Taxes!"

A bunch of our cohousing neighbors went there.

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we were there since 10:30, on the corner opposite yours. We were just leaving when you saw us. What you couldn't see was a sign saying ♥ > H8 that pure_agnostic was holding onto on his side of the car.

[doktor-weasel.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great turnout.

TPM linked to a gallery of pictures from the San Francisco rally. Some great signs in there.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=178952&l=3d1f3&id=830415312

[brunnhilde.livejournal.com]

Glad you guys are doing this! However, Walnut Creek? Sounds like Oakland (three places: near the Mormon Temple, in Chinatown, and along International Blvd) and SF Chinatown would be the better places to bring people face-to-face with their hypocrisy.

[brunnhilde.livejournal.com]

PS - I am in Indiana, or I'd be pushing hard for it.

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

I think you would be surprised how many "Yes" dollars came out of Contra Costa County. Far more than Chinatown in SF. We got our share of middle fingers and downturned thumbs out there, which means we weren't entirely preaching to the choir. And WC, like Concord, was completely littered with "Yes on 8" signs before the election.

Walnut Creek is the home of a lot of the borderline voters, too -- those who figured it didn't matter to them, or voted "Yes" because it sounded good, or didn't stand up because they thought other people would. The vote has woken them up, and this rally keeps the issue in their eyes and minds.

I might also mention that WC was a lot safer than in front of any Mormon temple -- for them and for us.

You're in Indiana, but there were rallies all across the country yesterday. I know of ones in Miami, Pitsburgh, and Portland OR; I wouldn't be surprised if there had been one in Indianapolis.