Just got home from the march in Silverlake. It was such an incredible feeling to be with that crowd of people all out for their rights. There didn’t appear to be any disturbances tonight and I didn’t even see any pro-8 people out there. All in all a great night.
I also spent some time thinking about the question of “why protest, why now?” and “Isn’t it better to play nice and bring people over with love and logic?” and came to a realization. These protests are not just about prop 8. Prop 8 was the last straw in a long line of injustices and discrimination. All along we have (mostly) played nice. We get put on TV shows as the comic relief, the funny gay gay that always has something witty to say. Of course he also never has sex, that just wouldn’t be funny. We get wedding invitations to Antinor01 plus guest. You know damn good and well what my fiances name is. We’ve been fired, disowned, excommunicated, beaten, killed, arrested, condemned by the religious right to Hell and had numerous other indignities visited on us for nothing more and nothing less than being gay. It was only 5 years ago that SCOTUS finally said…“you know, you can’t arrest people for having sex with another willing and consenting adult.”
No more. We’ve had enough of the game of playing nice and hoping our ‘betters’ will maybe give us some rights and respect. My entire life I’ve played that game, I’m not a confrontational person. But this is the line in the sand. I’ve had it. We will no longer play along and beg, now we demand to be treated as equals. As full citizens of this country. Our civil rights should not be subject to the whims of the majority. That is not what this country is about.
As it said on a number of signs and tshirts tonight…
NO MORE MISTER NICE GAY.