As I wrote last night, in the wake of the stunning verdict by the voters of California to amend the state constitution to remove the rights of same-sex couples to marry -- to actually eliminate the same rights under the law that heterosexual couples have -- we have seen a truly passionate and angry response bubble up from the ground in opposition to the passage of Prop 8.
For three straight days, we've seen massive marches in the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco. This just doesn't happen here. It's amazing to watch take place but there's a danger that this anger won't be harnessed and converted into a longterm marriage equality movement. Our opposition is already moving to invalidate all the legal same-sex marriages that were performed between June and November and Tony Perkins is trying to marginalize the protests as "anti-family rioting."
Determined not to let the passion that people are feeling about this dissipate, the Courage Campaign (for whom I do some work) today launched a Repeal Prop 8 effort. From Rick Jacobs, Chair of the Courage Campaign:
We are witnessing the birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement -- the civil rights movement of the 21st Century. Organized from the bottom-up by thousands of ordinary people just like you in the last 48 hours, this people-powered phenomenon is exponentially growing by the minute, online and offline. [...]Movements are visceral and popular, often borne of outrage and anger. What we are witnessing on the streets and online is a community of people who have come together to say: "These are our lives. This is our time. This is unacceptable."
This is our moment to stand strong together -- gay and straight -- and say that we refuse to accept a California that enshrines bigotry into our state constitution. Please pledge your support now to repeal Prop 8 and restore marriage equality to California -- then forward this message to your friends.
Please sign the pledge to support Courage Campaign's effort to repeal Prop 8 HERE.
As Jacobs said on a conference call with supporters last night (you can listen to it HERE) the goal here would be to get a new initiative on a 2010 ballot. I suspect if we could get it on the June primary ballot, which is likely to draw progressives out in droves to pick a gubernatorial nominee (yes, Arnold is finally up in 2010), that would be ideal but I expect the strategy will be rolled out in the coming days. This is a crucial first step toward making sure the passion that people are feeling about Tuesday's result manifests into real change down the road. Also, please join the Repeal Prop 8 Facebook page.
Mayor Gavin Newsom was on MSNBC earlier today to discuss the passage of Prop 8 and it became clear to me that -- assuming restoring marriage rights is going to be a 2010 fight -- that this issue is going to be central to the governor's race. Newsom is already positioning himself as a contender, using his fame as the guy who unilaterally legalized same-sex marriage in San Francisco four years ago as a launching point, and now this result makes Newsom's leadership on the issue newly relevant. We could literally have a Democratic primary for governor hinge on who is MOST supportive of marriage equality. How refreshing that would be.
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