LOS ANGELES - Spurred to action by California voters' passage of Proposition 8, a GLBT civil rights group has called for a peaceful nationwide protest on Saturday.
Beginning at 10:30 a.m. PDT, members of the GLBT community, their families and supporters will take to the streets in all 50 states in what could be the largest simultaneous protest rally since the civil rights movement of the 1960s demanded - and won - social and legal equality for African-Americans. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have pledged to descend upon city halls, courthouses, state capitols and Washington D.C. in order to make their voices heard.
A listing of local gatherings may be found at a website established by organizing group Join the Impact. The site has welcomed more than one million visitors in the week it has been online, a Join the Impact member told GAYVN.com.
Proposition 8 is a ballot measure calling for the amendment of California's state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. It was proposed by social conservatives in response to the state Supreme Court's declaration in the spring that marriage discrimination violated the California constitution. California voters approved the controversial ballot measure Nov. 4, and outcry in the GLBT community was swift and strident. The amendment already faces court challenges.
The concept behind Proposition 8 and similar measures in other states including Arizona, Florida and Arkansas also faces growing nationwide civil unrest among gays, lesbians, transgendered people and their families and supporters. In the less than two weeks since the election, peaceful rallies in support of same-sex marriage have erupted in several states as the media has analyzed the results, voter patterns and the political, religious and financial underpinnings of Prop 8 and its brethren.
The message is clear, according to Join the Impact: Discrimination based on sexual orientation is no less heinous than discrimination based on race, gender, age or religious affiliation.
"Let's move as one full unit, on the same day, at the same hour, and let's show the United States of America that we too are united citizens equal in mind, body and spirit and deserving of full equality under the law," rally organizers urge on Join the Impact's website.
Organizers stress the rallies will be peaceful demonstrations.
"We stand for reaching out across all communities," Join the Impact notes in its mission statement. "We do not stand for bigotry, for scapegoating or using anger as our driving force. Our mission is to encourage our community to engage our opposition in a conversation about full equality and to do this with respect, dignity and an attitude of outreach and education. Join the Impact, as an entity, will not encourage divisiveness, violence or disrespect of others, and we do not approve of this.... [W]e will continue to encourage debate from all sides of the conversation provided it is civil and respectful."
The rally scheduled for Los Angeles is expected to draw more than 20,000 people to City Hall. Scott Boardman, a veteran of the gay adult entertainment industry, has organized a satellite rally in Pasadena, Calif., for industry members and others who may not wish to get lost in a larger crowd. The Pasadena rally is expected to take place in front of City Hall, but Boardman said All Saints Episcopal Church next door has offered its property as a rallying point if City Hall objects. Attendees also are welcome to park in the church's parking lot, he said.
