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This Could Be Our Skyline, In a Couple of Decades
Immediately after the event, SFGate.com's headline regarding tonight's Prop 8 protest read: "Angry Crowd Protests Prop 8."
Except in actuality the crowd wasn't angry.
First off, the attitude of the protesting crowd -- by all accounts and supported by their own article -- was overwhelmingly good-natured. This sensationalized headline has nothing to do with its article, nor does it accurately describe what actually happened.
Second, the actual article says that two (2) guys shouted at the protesters. That's better than par for most protests. Especially a protest that is semi-spontaneous and containing well more than 1,000 people. And the crowd -- both as described in the SFGate article and witnessed by this site's writers -- wasn't angry.
So... this misnomer of a headline isn't really a representative description of what actually happened at this event. Apologies for being a bit caustic -- but between this and claiming that the number of protesters was only 1,000 -- the entirety of how this story was presented by SFGate seemed so off that something needed to be said.
Were you in the protest as well? What did you see? What did you think? How do you think this movement is being perceived? And where do you think it is going? Tell us in the Comments section.
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The "angry crowd" thing sounds like the Chron's production department playing headline-adjective roulette. There was some lowlevel anger and general pissedoffness, but walking the whole way to Dolores Park and watching the rest of the march come in, there was far more shock/sadness/dismay than anger, diluted by a lot of collegiality. Hard to get angry when you're surrounded by tens of thousands of agreeable people, getting smiles, waves, cheers and honks from everyone you pass, and the march is going through the friendliest part of the state for this sort of thing.
Also, just as the dynamics of street protests go, this one lacked the elements which get people's blood up. No visible antagonists, no roving PAs/bullhorns to keep chants going, no supplies of noisemakers. So things stayed a bit quieter. I was a bit relieved when on the edge of the Castro a couple of fairly talented guys arrived with marching drums and kept a rhythm going in their vicinity (plus they were pretty good drummers.)
Lots of handmade and no-on-8 signs, though. Nice job of planning on that part.
One of the most positive and strong protests I have participated in, by far. Peaceful insistence: yes. Enthusiasm, pride, display of love and affection: absolutely. Anger, not so much. This was a passionate and positive crowd. And huge.
Also, something the article doesn't report, is that a large portion of the original crowd did the entire march again, after leaving Dolores park... we marched all the way back up Market street to city hall where there was another demonstration.
I would like to note that the SF police were really great tonight, in my experience. I never felt threatened or bullied, never got a disapproving look or stare. It was apparent that they were there to make way for us.
i didn't notice any anger. the protest was so huge that i only experienced a segment of it, but from my perspective it was peaceful. we blocked traffic, but most of the cars seemed sympathetic. i think it was an awesome effort given that the organizers had no money and the idea only came up 3 days ago.
KQED has picked up and is reporting the 1,000-person attendance number. Shame on them for not verifying a news story in their own back yard.
The protest was peaceful, but people are angry (rightfully so!) They question of where this goes next is the important. Marching in San Francisco is NOT enough.
It was a peaceful and productive display of anger.
jancarmen, other local media FAILs include:
KRON
KTVU
KGO-TV
KNTV
At least some of them changed the total to 5k, so they're not totally lock-stepped but still clueless. One even went so far as to say the protest dwindled to a few dozen in the castro. Well no duh.
Boycott Utah
Boycotting Utah won't help. It's just mean.
It may be mean, but so was the other side.
I would advocate a single, focused boycott - not of the whole state but of something like Sundance. Utah gets a lot of great press for being so open-minded and shit for that festival, and now we know that the leading political force in the state not only doesn't stand for those values, but is actively trying to reverse them nationwide. A boycott of Sundance, or move of it to Vancouver (say), would send a strong message.
@ RinconHillSF
That wouldn't help anyone. Rather, we should boycott those who actually helped Prop 8 = http://www.protectmarriage.com
There're good folks in Utah as surely as there are good folks anywhere.
The people we should hold responsible are those who actually pushed this bigoted piece of legislation through.
I think a boycott of Utah, especially their $6 billion ski industry, is an excellent idea. It worked against Colorado in the 90s.
There's always going to be collateral damage in any war, and the Mormons must learn they cannot export their hate to California.
Let the boycott begin now.
Whatever. I was there and I was pissed off.