updated to add: if you attended a rally in your state either alone or with your family, please post links to your flickr sets and/or blog posts in the comments below (be sure to include your city/state) so I can link to you and your photos/words. The family that fights assholery together gains my utmost respect. To quote my girlfriend, Bjork, all is full of love and no one has the right to change that.
a few more photos, here.
GGC
43 comments:
AWESOMENESS.
I WAS THERE TOO.
XOXO
I was in Minneapolis. You and lesbiandad.net inspired me to get out there. I put up my photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/missemish/
Amazing. YOU'RE AWESOME! Both of you. Love love LOVE.
If been said, but it deserves repeating... Your passion is awesome!
I'm not from CA. I'm not even living in the US at the moment, but I've been so fascinated by Prop 8. It seems so ridiculous, to put it mildly.
After reading you past posts, I did a little research on WHY someone would support it and couldn't find conclusive answer. Not one.
"Protect marriage..." How?
"Keep your kids safe..." From what exactly?
"Religious belief" Gay people aren't asking a church to recognize their marriage, just the state.
Even though I can't fight the issue, my thought are with you and those that can.
This is GREAT!!
I went to the Rally here in Orlando and am so glad I did. At the same time that it felt great to be there and be a voice, it made me just as infuriated that more of my friends were sitting at home doing nothing, and I know that they would be moved to action if they saw how much this hurts people. When you see everyone standing together it feels so awful to know that millions of Americans woke up on the 4th with every intention and hope of denying another human being their rights. I just can't wrap my head around it.
You and your family are great role models.
Set of photos here
Be sure you put your pictures at the flickr group set up for Join The Impact. all of the participating cities have been adding their sets and the images all in that massive collection will blow your mind.
I spent a good while combing through your shots on Flickr last night, but had a migraine and nothing particularly clever to say. I still don't, but couldn't not drop some love on your blog. You are indeed awesome. Archer may not have any idea what's going on now, but just think: you're raising him with consciousness and compassion, and at the same time the country is progressing (a step and a half forward and one step back is still progress, however excruciatingly slow). So by the time he's thinking independently about this, hopefully the country will be at a better place, and things like marriage bans will seems as wrongheadedly foreign to him as segregation has to us our whole lives -- we know it existed and still lingers, but man, really? And he can say that his parents were a part of that. That he was a small part of that. Very cool.
I'm ashamed to say my own state (Arizona) passed a similar measure, as you know. I come from a pretty severely divided household, politically, so I was initially afraid to explain any issue to my son for fear of him stirring up trouble. And besides, how can he possibly understand the complexities of the issues? But I realized, most issues (like this one) aren't complex at all, really. That's actually helped me a great deal -- distilling the issues into six-year-old-ese gets to the core of really anything. And he does get it, to an amazing extent. Kids pick up anything.
And he did stir up trouble. Two days after the election, he marched into my mom's household (very Republican), and demanded "Why didn't you vote Rock Obama?!"
yay!! or should i say....hhhaaaaayyy!!!! lol!!
from your pictures, it looks like we were marching at about the same time and at about the same place, at least for part of the time. had i seen you, i'm sure i would have run up to you all crazy, like "i read your blog i read your blog!!"
and you would have been like "um, you're a crazy person."
but then my friend jack would have handed you a "you are beautiful" sticker and all would have been well. because when a cute little boy hands you such a sticker, all is well with the world.
it was a great day, yesterday.
I so wish I could have been there. My sis-in-law was though.
Good for you and Hal for taking the kids. One day, they'll love seeing those pictures.
De-lurking to say thank you!
During the election-season, I started realizing that a lot of the mommy-blogs I read were turing redder and redder (and angrier and angrier). Some sites I read daily have been deleted from my reader altogether because I still can't put aside the awful feelings evoked by some of their more virulent posts even now that they're back to writing about their angsty toddlers.
It's nice to find like-minded mamas out there!
I'm not from California, so I wasn't there. However, I was hating it from afar (or New Mexico). Fighting with my husband and his family about it and not understanding why it's so important for that right to be taken away from someone. I wish I could be in California to support your efforts, because the truth of the matter is this should never even have made it to a vote. It's a sad state when people spend so much energy to take away something that everyone deserves to have if they want it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/Igraine120/Prop8Rally051.jpg
Hello from New York!
Amazing you all are. Lovely photos. Kisses on all of your cheeks!
So cool you were able to take Archer and Fable! I couldn't possibly haul three kids to the one locally but we did pile in the car and drive by slowly honking and cheering on the folks, which spawned a great converstation with my 4 y.o. At first she giggled about "Boys marrying boys." Then she got serious nodding her head. "Yeah mommy, a daddy should be able to marry a grandpa if he wants to."
excuse the typo, *conversation.
I love the Jesus sign, awesome.
Went to the New York protest as a wedding gift for my friends who had to relocate their wedding (next weekend) from LA to Connecticut. It was amazing. So many families, both gay and straight, which totally rocked.
very proudly protested here in atlanta, ga. this is the beginning of something very, very big.
San Diego had a great rally, at least 20 thousand! I wrote about it here. http://wonderspot.net/2008/11/15/love-not-h8/
I love this and that you are spreading the word. I went to the rally in Reno, NV and it was at 5:30pm because of construction and permits, etc BUT it was so moving and so worth it.
I posted about it here http://www.mcginnessclan.com/2008/11/recognize-love.html
thank you for the photos and sharing all of these other people's posts and photos.
You know, I'm not sure I would have gone if I hadn't been keeping up with your blog. (Pretty randomly, too, for a childless 23 year old.) But I just couldn't sit on my ass and do nothing. I live in Brooklyn, so my boyfriend and I went to the NYC one and it was truly inspiring.
I haven't put my pics up on flickr yet, so no links yet.
I took video in Los Angeles.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RutCarter
GGC~
I've never commented before (tried a few times but always felt like a gushing schoolgirl). I have been reading your blog religiously for a while, I've read your book, and now it's finally time to tell you how much I adore you. I marched for the first time in my life Saturday. I know in my heart this is right, and your willingness to put your time and voice behind what moves you to action, inspired me to do the same. Please don't diluite or silence yourself for the hurt feelings which may come from speaking your truth. The hurt feelings of those being denied their basic rights are more important. The majority will always have a voice. We need yours.
Peace~
Karen
Here is a picture of me before I left for the Providence, RI rally (I went alone, while my other half stayed home with our sick kids).
[IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/flapjack69/IMG_2426.jpg[/IMG]
Sorry this should work!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/flapjack69/IMG_2426.jpg
Peace~
Karen
Karen? I love you. Thank you. You're beautiful. I'd love to post this on my blog.
Rebecca (May I?)~
Thank-you! You may post it wherever you like. Did I read a long time ago that 'Noble' was on your short list of names for Archer? My youngest son's name is Noble (Otis is his middle name, for our love of Otis Redding). After reading that Archer's name was inspired by Kahlil Gibran, I fell in absolute love with it! Both your children are adorned with exceptional names!
Much love and peace to your family and other loved ones~
Karen
Yes! Actually "Noble" was a strong contender for Fable had she been a boy! Love love LOVE the name. Love. Good taste you have there, mama. And thank you!!!
We marched here in Kansas City. It turns out my seven year old isn't interested in Civil Rights if they are in direct competition with his computer time.
We had a good conversation about marriage being a promise and how we believe as a family if a person wants to make that promise and keep it, they should be able to.
I don't have a blog and I forgot my camera. But I swear we were there. The men's chorus was beautiful! And the people honking as they drove by. It gave me hope for my own little backwards part of the world.
Dangit, I wanted to go to the rally in Santa Barbara. I really wanted to. But at 9 months pregnant, my feet, my bladder, and the rest of me rebelled like you wouldn't believe. So, I rewrote a letter to the editor instead which I'm going to send off today. Does that count?
We went to ours here in Pasadena and though my 2 and 1/2 year old tantrummed her way through the moment of silence, I was super proud to take her to her first protest rally.
Love the photos!
http://cluelessbuthopeful.blogspot.com/2008/11/standing-with-us-on-side-of-love.html
Palm Springs Protest Rally 11-13-08
http://joeyelissasophia.blogspot.com/2008/11/her-first-protest-rally.html
Flickr Set
http://flickr.com/photos/elissalerma/sets/72157609220752173/
I was in Chicago. We had thousands of people. It was chilly but spirits were high. We marched and closed down traffic on Michigan Ave and other major streets. The protest felt very visible to me and was extremely positive. I blogged about it here.
Also, photos here.
Here you go! Photos from NYC's rally.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/568750758WyyqBv?vhost=good-times
Those are some great signs.
love those signs!
I appreciate all of your enthusiasm and effort, but I just have to say... I would do ANYTHING to preserve traditional marriage. I like seeing 'bride' and 'groom' on my marriage certificate, I like differentiating the sexes - we are NOT "Party A" and "Party B". Why should we be told we are wrong? We ARE unique - as are the gays. They prefer same-sex partnerships. And that's what it is. A partnership. I agree that all partnerships/unions/marriages should be with the same rights, federal AND state - but let the heteros have 'marriage' and the gays have Civil Union or Civil Partnership. I agree that your partner should be your 'right of survivor' benificiary -we do NOT want to 'take' anything from you or put you '2nd class' - you are human, as are we. Don't project your hateful or hurtful comments onto all of us. There may be a few bad apples on both sides. But there are so many of us that want everyone to be happy and we'd love to fight some of your battles side by side. If it's just that you want the same benefits, we'll stand by your side! But don't take what defines us. Make what defines YOU. It's okay to be different. It's okay to be unique. It's okay to leave everyone with dignity.
@ anonymous,
I don't know that gay people prefer "partnership" as much as that's what they have to use it because that is all that is available to them. As a heterosexual person who fell in love with another heterosexual person, I do not feel as though we are UNIQUE, as you said. People have fallen in love since the beginning of time. There is nothing new or unique about wanting to merge your lives, be it in the sense of family or finance.
Also, I am curious about something. You said that you would do ANYTHING to preserve "traditional" marriage. Does that mean that you are calling your lawmakers, demanding that they restore marriage to its original form? In other words, when you are kicking committed gays out, are you asking your lawmakers to make divorce between straight couples illegal? I love how the "preserving traditional marriage" folks always overlook that one. My mother in law is a fine example of that. She beats that "it is an abomination to marriage" drum all the time, but feels like divorcing my husband's father and remarrying was not only her right, but totally cool with God because she didn't love him anymore. I absolutely love telling her that, according to the traditional definition of marriage in the Good Book, her 20 year marriage to her second husband is adultery. Then I remind her that my husband, her son, was married before me and, even though that marriage produced no children, according to the rules she is using to keep the gays out, my kids are bastards.
So, anonymous, I think you are RIGHT! I would comment further, but I need to go pack up my husband's, I mean man I've lived with and produced illegitimate kids with, and send him off to a woman he hasn't seen in a decade.
Now, to the comment I came to leave I intended to before ole anonymous caught my eye.
Good for you, GGC, for instilling in your child a passion for the Constitutional rights of everyone. I live in a very rural part of Oklahoma, so I don't get my kids to near as many events like this as I would like. We still make some in Oklahoma City, but not as many as I'd like.
As MLK, Jr., said, "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
I didn't protest because I live in MA and marriage is equal and open to all here. Has been for a while. MA has the lowest divorce rate in the country - and after gay marriage? STILL the lowest! Imagine that, no damage to hetero marriage!
I was at the protests in spirit, but I am also thankful I live in a state that is progressive enough to have not batted an eye at the decision of the MA Supreme Judicial Court.
This country has a long way to go... thank your for speaking out and standing up!
we were there in portland, or!
That's so great that you did that.
Archer looks so serious - like he's really taking it all in.
Thank you for doing that.
I know I'm super late commenting, but I wanted to share this song, which I've been listening to when I start feeling sad about Prop 8 (which is a lot): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsQ6vy9PB08. Gorgeous and brings me back to the love behind this fight.
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