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Central Subway Ground Broken
So what's the deal with the next round of Prop 8 protests? Oh, we are so glad you asked.
The next big one in SF is this Saturday at 10:30am at City Hall. The organizers put out a call for help -- they need folks to put up flyers, among other things. So, if you've got some spare time, what worthier cause could there be?
There's also a protest brewing on Friday at 6pm outside the Chron. Those protesters think the Chron under-reported the size of protest crowds. We're dubious about picketing the Chron -- seems like kind of a waste of energy, right? Okay, fine, they under-reported the crowd; but is that really our biggest worry right now? It just feels like a distraction, is all.
And that brings us to our even BIGGER concern: when the official no-on-8 campaign imploded after the election, it left behind a power vacuum. And now that vacuum is crammed with tons of grassroots organizers, many of whom are working independently and failing to join forces with each other. Everyone wants to be in charge of their own little campaign, nobody knows what the other organizers are planning, they're failing to share resources, and all we can see are missed opportunities for us to unite behind one strong solid message or goal.
Are we protesting Mormons? Or Catholics? Or newspapers? Are we running a boycott, or supporting lawsuits, or soliciting donations, or making noise? Do we even know what we're doing, or are we just jerking off?
For crying out loud, look at how many organizations are asking for help. Why are there so many? We're all on the same side, so why do we need to have fifty redundant protest websites? We're spreading our resources so thin that they'll be too diluted to maintain their cohesion.
So please, organizers; start working together. Merge your efforts. Don't be a Hillary Clinton -- know when it's time to stop trying to run the show yourself, and throw your support behind the bigger campaign. Take directions from the larger organizers, even if that means you won't be the biggest fish in your small pond. Don't let this turn into a power-grabbing clusterfuck. We saw what that looks like when we were volunteering inside the official campaign, and we don't want to see it again.
Man, you know whose example we should really be following right now? A community organizer's.
Disclosure: SFist_Matt is the guy behind Stop8.org, a hub that collects info on all of the various anti-8 efforts.
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Our leadership was non existent, I think that all of these grassroots organizations springing up is fantastic, it is empowering so many different people who may not have gotten involved otherwise.
The two gay democratic clubs our elected officials, and our national organizations could not come together and create a strategy and as such we ran the worst campaign in the history of gay rights, and so all of these groups will compete and the ones with the best message the most organized will attract the most support, and we will rally around them, but in the mean time we have visibility and organizing and motivated people taking a stand, I don't see the problem.
Good points ... when the Howard Dean campaign went up in flames with a scream in Iowa, he turned his campaign organization into an organization that helped educate and provide some funding to supporters (like me) to get more involved in their communities ... whether it be community organizing, neighborhood associations, running for city council, county supervisor, school board, dog catcher, whatever ...
I would encourage people that are very fired up to get more involved in their community ... join the neighborhood group, join one of the political groups (Alice B. Toklas or Harvey Milk Club might be the most appropriate, but there are many to choose from). As Howard Dean's campaign mantra went, YOU HAVE THE POWER!
http://www.democracyforamerica.com
"when the official no-on-8 campaign imploded after the election, it left behind a power vacuum."
Then how come it seems like a lot more is getting down now than ever got done BEFORE prop 8 was passed?
It seems if people had been this fired up prior to the election, prop 8 would not have passed.
I did some outreach in the Castro prior to election day and I ran into person after person who could not seem to care less. A lot of jokes were made.
I'll bet there are fewer people making jokes now. It's all fun and games until you're stripped of your civil rights.
I know my experience is merely anectdotal, but I was truly surprised by some of the reactions I got.
really, picketing in front of the chron? agreed, it's a waste of energy
Great opportunity for Mark Leno to step up, take the reins, and build his resume for a run at Governor ... :) just brainstormin', I have no idea what his political goals are
One suggestion is that the groups need to coalesce into one giant organization and work together. Nothing can be accomplished if everyone just wants to go off into their own little group and do their own thing. Everyone needs to work together and share information.
Yes, that's the point I'm trying to make -- work together, share information.
And also: take instructions from leadership.
It's hard for organizers to do that -- everyone wants to be THE LEADER. But sometimes you have to stand aside and take orders; otherwise the movement just gets ripped into pieces. From where I stood, that's EXACTLY what crippled the official campaign before the election.
Of course, in order for that to work, there needs to BE a leadership. Which there currently isn't.
All Americans should move to Utah, elect an all-gay state government (there are only around 2 million Utahans now), enact gay marriage and cause a new Mormon diaspora.
I meant to say "All gay Americans" in the previous comment
The no on 8 campaign imploded before the election. That was the problem.
We need NEW leadership, NOT by Equality California. Let's see who emerges.
Besides consolidating resources, there's another small thing that needs changing...
STOP CALLING IT NO ON 8
Messaging, people. It's all about messaging. Framing the message. Putting it in a context that gets the point across in a way that inspires people to support your effort. Prop 8 is done, finito, dead in the water. All these efforts are being lazy and hanging their hat on some weepy, poor me, guilt ridden idea that continuing to call it no on 8 is functional. It's a cognitive disconnect. MOVE ON.
This is about equal rights. This is personal. This is our lives. This is about discrimination. It's about tyranny of the majority. It's about constitutional integrity. Reducing the argument it to a proposition number is like quoting scripture. MOVE ON.
Btw, where is the HRC in all this?
Um, protests may make people feel good, but now is the time to ORGANIZE, get it together, and use all this energy to DO SOMETHING, not just fucking protest.
Hey I get it - it sucks what happened. But there was a lot to do for no on 8 and if as many people that came to protests in Safe SF had been precinct walking Out There, we might not have seen this pass.
So be pissed, but be constructive. And look forward to doing something, not just throwing rocks at Prop. 8. The election is over and it's time to tackle the challenge in a new way. Doing the same thing over and over again and thinking you'll get different results is the definition of insanity.
PS: 10 million little facebook groups do nothing, nothing nothing. one group to serve us all, and to DO SOMETHING not just put up an online badge saying "me pissed."
What group can I throw my support to in this fight for our civil rights?
Please give me AN idea here.
That's just it. There IS no group to support. That's why there's a vacuum with a million jostling organizers, but no one leading the way.
Grassroots folks are great, but they can't lead a movement. The experienced people at HRC, EQCA, or NCLR have research, mailing lists, money, focus groups, and political clout. But they are doing nothing with this groundswell of support.
The HRC is literally at a spa right now. It's such utter bullshit.
This is already a power grabbing clusterfuck.
From the candlelight vigil to the Friday march, this movement looks like a retard rodeo. We can't do anything without having a slap-happy string of rock stupid supervisors schlepping along. We have a couple dozen different messages on our signage and buttons. We have costumed crusaders showing up at serious demonstrations each fighting for B roll, only reinforcing the stereotypes that got the proposition passed in the first place.
And there is still no real indication what actual recourse we should pursue beyond flash mobbing this or that government building, newspaper or place of worship every Saturday afternoon.
We need one person leading one team executing one plan that brands and delivers one message if we are going to see equality in our lifetimes. We need to get out of San Francisco and get into Fresno, Modesto, Chico and Orange County. We need to centralize the fund raising effort, humanize the issue and - for fuck's sake - change the message.
They won because they were organized. It has never been enough in a democracy to be right. We must also be good.
Politics is serious business people. Matt's call to stop fucking around is well timed and sorely needed.
Give the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) a shot. Save up your pennies and sign up for the NGLTF's "National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference that happens in Denver on January 28th.
From a NGLTF email I received today:
If the injustice of writing discrimination into state constitutions has spurred you into advocacy — or if you want to ratchet up your skills — I hope you'll consider signing up for our National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change that starts on January 28 in Denver.
Link: http://www.thetaskforce.org/events/creating_change?msource=anger2acte1&tr=y&auid=4217044
Also, they sent a link to a "Anger Into Action Declaration" that you might consider signing ...
Link: http://www.kintera.org/c.qkIWKaMZIxF/b.4746361/k.29E1/Anger_Into_Action_Declaration/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?sid=141090275&msource=anger2acte1&auid=4217041
I like Stop8.org. Simple and to the point.
By comparison, let me copy, in its entirety, the mealy-mouthed, useless email we got from No on 8 when it won. Clearly this crew is NOT the leader of the next fight:
"This has been an incredibly difficult week for Californians who are disappointed in the passage of Proposition 8, which takes away the right to marry for same-sex couples in our state. We feel a profound sense of disappointment in this defeat, but know that in order to move forward we must continue to stand together as one community in order to secure full equality in California.
In working to defeat Prop 8, a profound coalition banded together to fight for equality. Faith leaders, labor, teachers, civil rights leaders and communities of color, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, public officials, local school boards and city councils, parents, corporate law firms and bar associations, businesses, and people from all walks of life joined together to stand up against discrimination. We must build on this coalition in order to achieve equal rights for all Californians.
We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight. We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss. We know people of all faiths, races and backgrounds stand with us in our fight to end discrimination, and will continue to do so. Now more than ever it is critical that we work together and respect our differences that make us a diverse and unique society. Only with that understanding will we achieve justice and equality for all."
Okay, show respect to your opponents, fine. But now is not a time to be proud of your coalition. Now is a time to be furious at its failure, and to take specific action to reverse it!
Like I said, we need new leadership. Let's see who emerges.
One suggestion is that the groups need to coalesce into one giant organization and work together. Nothing can be accomplished if everyone just wants to go off into their own little group and do their own thing. Everyone needs to work together and share information.
Agree with that last statement, but I don't necessarily think there needs to be one central organization running the show (nor, frankly, do I think such an organization could exist and be effective given the sorry state of CA political leadership).
I think this kind of grassroots-level self-organizing is a positive thing. We're two years off from the next vote. There's plenty of time for many of these groups to form, merge, and die off, each experimenting with different messaging and organizational strategies along the way, before it's time to gear up for the 2010 push.
What we do need is coöperation and information sharing. The Web's an excellent place to do that.
We need one person leading one team executing one plan that brands and delivers one message if we are going to see equality in our lifetimes. We need to get out of San Francisco and get into Fresno, Modesto, Chico and Orange County. We need to centralize the fund raising effort, humanize the issue and - for fuck's sake - change the message.
Again, I disagree with that ONE person comment--if such a person exists, they will rise out of the fray naturally. If they don't, we don't need to invent them.
What we do need are the millions of Californians affected by this division getting out and communicating with the areas mentioned above. As long as we stick to navel-gazing and don't reach out to our opposition, we're always gonna be stuck in these 51-49 battles. But if we're aggressive and convivial in our approach, we can start to establish the same kind of cultural consensus in the inland regions we have on the coast.
bluecanary, your anecdotal experience is interesting and a little shocking. It's so hard to imagine that people in the Castro didn't care. That's so sad. Jesus, people, PAY ATTENTION!
I don't have any great ideas about how to reverse it. It's gonna be a lot harder than just getting 51% no votes would have been.
What's with this "2 years off from the next vote" thing, and all the "repeal: 2010" nonsense. When was the last year we didn't have an election in June? Guess what, there's a special election in 6 months! Let's repeal it then!
IMHO I think this call for organization is another one of the "hillary clinton" moments you claim to be arguing against. The community and the larger group of Californians who want a repeal are far from agreeing that we even need a centralized message, let alone deciding on which message that might be or who will lead it.
I think these massive disorganized protests may seem chaotic, and I understand why people might worry that they could be more productive. But they're building support faster than the No on 8 coalition did in the 6 months leading up to the election.
The only thing to fear, again IMHO, is that the steam will blow off before a plan has been formed (by whoever or however many people form it).
Meantime, Dennis Herrera and the lawyers at the ACLU and NCLR have already taken on and begun working on the first fight: the Supreme Court. If you want to support someone or some thing right now, support them in their effort to argue the case for repeal.
It's not either or!
20,000 people marching on City Hall won't stop them from winning the case, as far as I can tell it will only encourage them to fight harder!
Right?!!!?
josh, good points. Herrera et al aren't fighting this for the money so they need, and deserve, encouragement and support.
First, I would be astounded were the California Supreme Court to allow Proposition 8 to stand. For purposes of equal protection, the homosexuals are a suspect class in this state and the California Supreme Court would be trashing civil rights law as we know it by declaring that a simple majority vote to amend a constitution to deprive a minority of basic civil rights is A-OK. If it's that easy, I'll immediately set about authoring a proposition to have all Mormons rounded up and ejected from the state.
Second, No on 8 was a badly run campaign stuck in a left over 20th Century, lesbianese ghetto mentality that failed to address the reality of life as we know it outside the Castro. Where did all the money go? Certainly not to interesting or effective television advertising, that's for sure.
Third, protesting in San Francisco is mentally retarded. I mean, why? Sure, I went to the candlelight hoedown in front of City Hall, because if you're a homosexual and you live in San Francisco, it's just what you do. However, the minute Sophie Maxwell declared that "we shall overcome", I wiped the barf off the gay marrieds in front of me and fled into the night. Luckily I was out of earshot when that singing wedding lesbeing took to the podium. I mean, what was that?!
Fourth, it's really a waiting game now. We must wait for the Supreme Court to make a decision and then, if they do indeed piss in our punch bowl, we need to take to the streets and start collecting signatures to a.) allow the gay wedding, and b.) to ban the Mormon.
Fifth, we do need to boycott all Mormons, all the time. Sorry folks, I don't care what the California Supreme Court ultimately says, Donnie and Marie hijacked my constitution and tried to force their nasty Wonder Bread and lime flavored Jello agenda all over me. For that and that alone they must pay a steep price. An example must be made here and I can't think of NICER people who deserve to wear giant "P"s all over the place than the Mormonlandians. Shame on them!
here's another effort to add to the list
http://www.couragecampaign.org
No on 8 lost, but I never felt it was disorganized. I thought the TV ads were Good. I thought the energy was good.
It was a simple matter of demographics. Eventually gay marriage will pass, and people will look back and say "wow we finally got it together and ran the campaign the right way"
What actually will happen is older anti-gay people will start dying off, and younger people will grow up being more receptive to gay people.
NO on 8 was an awful campaign. Sorry, BUT I don't agree with the NO on 8 campaign that avoided showing lesbian and gay persons and same-sex couples in its campaign. The people who voted YES on 8 never identified whose lives they were affecting with their votes. I know that pointing the finger now seems unfair, but I did write NO on 8 when the first television ads began to air voicing my concerns about their ineffectiveness. I even donated money to NO on 8.
The LGBT community has lacked strong leadership for a long time. I agree with a previous post. We could use someone like Harvey Milk right now. He put LGBT people front and center in the fight against Prop 6 (a ban on LGBT teachers in California) back in 1978. He toured the state and debated the Prop 6 proponents on their conservative turf.
Newsom should have been out there debating Prop 8 proponents on their turf instead of preaching to the choir in San Francisco.
The best thing that came from this Prop 8 result is the hope that the LGBT community and all people who believe in equality and fairness are galvanized.
I agree and disagree. I think the grassroots movement is extremely important. These protests aren't going to change anything over night but they aren't meant to. All they are doing is keeping awareness on the issue. Something we desperately need.
We can't allow this issue to get over run as time slips by...we need to stay front and center. People need to see that equality isn't just a weekend thing or something we do when we are 'angry'. They have to see it weekly until the wrongs are righted. These protests keep that awareness.
At the same time we do need a national figurehead like Milk that allows people to put faces to the struggle. Someone that others can rally around but not hand everything over too. A spokesperson.