(There was over 1,000 people at the rally today which was entirely grassroots driving. Great speakers, diverse, lots of energy and support. Really impressed. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
At 12:30 today there was a huge rally at City Hall in Austin in opposition to Prop 8, which was an amendment to California's constitution that prohibits same-sex marriages. The proposition passed on election day with 52.5% of California voters in support; many attribute its passage to out-of-state financial influence, including at least $14 million from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons).
Protests were held nationwide at 1:30 EST today at city halls in hundreds of cities, including all across Texas. I'm a terrible estimator of crowd sizes, but I can comfortably say there were well over a thousand people decked out with signs and shirts in front of Austin's own City Hall this afternoon. This group was large and diverse: there were many members of the LGBT community and a lot of straight families and other supporters.
Unfortunately, there was very little local media coverage present. I saw KXAN arrive almost an hour after the event started, and heard that there were some folks from the local Fox affiliate there. A guy next to me was calling all the stations but not getting much response. Otherwise, I didn't see much - certainly not the big line of news trucks nearby that I expected (apologizes to anyone overlooked; this is simply an account of what one person observed). However, there were tons and tons of people snapping photos that will likely end up online soon, so perhaps it's a triumph of citizen journalism. Be on the lookout for these - including my own flickr photo stream.
The organizers lined up a great set of speakers for about an hour, including a lesbian couple who were married in California and now face the prospect of their marriage being nullified, a ten year old with lesbian parents, a gay man who was not protected under the law when his longtime partner was killed by a drunk driver, and many others. At one point, we were all led in a vow to fight to overturn Proposition 8 and to be "out and proud". After the conclusion of the program, the crowd was really fired up. Many people left at this point, but many others still at the City Hall Plaza began waving signs at passers-by, most of whom waved and honked in reply. At about 2:00, a spontaneous march began. Several hundred of us walked all the way to the Capitol, then on an improvised route around downtown on 5th and 6th streets, Congress Avenue, and other areas for about an hour. There was absolutely no MSM coverage of this portion of the event. We were shouting "Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right!" and "What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want it? Now!" all over downtown - drawing cheers, waves, and honks from motorists. Throughout the entire event, I did not see a single counter-protester or endure a harassing comment. At most, there was an occasional disgruntled-looking driver.
Austinites should be proud that the local protest at our City Hall drew such a massive response from queers and straights alike who support equal rights for all and have pledged to fight Proposition 8.
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