As LGBT people around the country await the California Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Proposition 8, around 40 activists set foot on a five-day march from San Francisco to Sacramento to call for its repeal and to build solidarity with other communities.
|
The march stepped off from Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco’s Castro district March 25 and ended on the steps of the Capitol building in Sacramento March 30. Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation participated in the march and provided logistical support.
Walking through the rural Delta region, the activists were welcomed by farmers and workers in towns such as Locke, with a population of 80 people.
Locke resident Connie King, 87, expressed her solidarity by recounting a story of her struggle against anti-Chinese racism in Locke. She recounted how new white residents of Locke removed the toilets from old buildings in the 1970s because “they did not want to sit on toilets previously used by Chinese workers.” She left her house in the middle of the night and placed all of the old toilets in her front lawn, where she planted a garden in each. King’s message was clear: When people encounter bigotry, it is their duty to fight back in whatever way they can.
Santa Cruz student Joya, 16, told Liberation, “Separate is not equal, and that applies to marriage equality and beyond.” Richard Aviles, an 18 year-old student from Los Angeles, led chants such as “Up with the people, down with the system!”
Joya and Aviles were only two of several marchers representing a new layer of young activists in the LGBT movement who are ready to fight not only for marriage equality but for full LGBT liberation.
At the closing rally, comedian Kathy Griffin expressed her solidarity with the LGBT community’s struggle for equality and made an analogy to the overall struggle for workers’ rights. Referencing the movie “Norma Rae,” Griffin carried a placard with the word “union” crossed out and “marriage” scribbled above it.
Andreah Shorter, an African American activist with the group “And Marriage for All,” called on the LGBT community to stay united in the face of racist divide-and-conquer tactics, saying, “We’re much better than any fool tactics they will use to turn us against each other.” The right wing had used misleading and exaggerated voter turn-out data to shift the blame for the passage of Proposition 8 to the shoulders of the African American community.
All the marchers took the stage to close the rally. In front of her fellow activists, Janine, an anti-war and LGBT activist from Oakland, called on the crowd to take it to the streets with massive civil disobedience if the Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8.
“We want Prop. 8 repealed. When the laws start controlling you without protecting you, it is time to disobey those laws. When simply being yourself becomes an act of civil disobedience, it is time to take it to the streets. We never had a choice to not be political in our lives. Politics were thrust onto us and into our relationships, and we are at a crossroads.
“We have two choices. We can obey these laws and live out our lives and be quiet and silent. Or, we can disobey. On decision day, if Proposition 8 is upheld, I will be in the streets doing civil disobedience and getting arrested. Anyone want to join me?”
The marchers answered with a resounding “yes” when their hands and fists went into the air. The march to Sacramento was reflective of the new level of militancy and energy in the struggle for LGBT equality that emerged in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8.
The PSL calls on all progressive people to join the struggle for marriage equality. Join us in the streets before, on and after the day the Supreme Court reveals its decision on Proposition 8. Whatever the outcome, we will be among those in the streets refusing to be silent in the fight for full LGBT equality.
