LGBT community and supporters demonstrate in support of marriage equality

On March 4, the eve of the California Supreme Court hearing on the legality of Proposition 8, 5,000 people marched from San Francisco’s Castro district to City Hall to demand the repeal of the reactionary, anti-gay ballot measure. The next day, hundreds of people gathered outside the court to watch a live feed of the proceedings taking place inside a courtroom that was filled to capacity.

On Nov. 4, 2008, Proposition 8, a ballot measure that amended the state constitution to define marriage as only a union between a man and a woman, passed by a narrow margin. The result effectively denied same-sex partners the same rights enjoyed by heterosexual partners. It was an all-out assault on the gains LGBT people have won in California and across the country in recent decades.

Before the passage of Proposition 8, the leadership of the mainstream LGBT movement pursued a strategy that avoided militant mass action Instead, they opted for a strategy geared toward the Democratic Party that used benign commercials by famous actors and politicians while sidestepping the struggle against LGBT-bigotry.

This strategy left many in the LGBT community disillusioned and filled with anger. Their disillusionment quickly turned into action in the wake of the adoption of Proposition 8 as people took to the streets in the tens of thousands to demand equal rights.

The battle over the proposition is now being fought in the arena of the capitalist courts. Whether the California Supreme Court makes the right decision remains to be seen and will depend on the strength of the movement demanding equality. The lesson from the passage of Proposition 8 should not be lost or forgotten. The ruling class will use every tool in its arsenal to deny us economic and social justice unless working and oppressed people take action in defense of our own rights. The LGBT movement must remain in the streets if we hope to win back our rights. All progressive and revolutionary people should join the LGBT community in the streets in the coming months as the battle to repeal Prop 8 continues.