Why the Prop 8 Protests Matter

This viral activism is in stark contrast to the “No on 8” campaign – where people relied on political leaders who failed us in waging a statewide effort. My first involvement with “No on 8” was in July, right after the San Francisco Pride parade. The campaign had just collected thousands of postcards at Pride, and our task was to call these people and recruit them to volunteer. But a lot of people come to SF Pride from across the state, and all the volunteer activities were in San Francisco. It was a lot to ask someone who lives in Monterey or Santa Rosa to come table at a Farmer’s Market in San Francisco for a day.

I asked the campaign why they couldn’t just get people to do “No on 8” activities in their own communities. They didn’t have to wait until the campaign could afford to open offices in other parts of the state. Online groups like MoveOn have perfected the model of using the Internet to connect like-minded activists to each other – and get them to meet in “offline” locations to push their political cause. My suggestion was ignored. Now we see spontaneous efforts – organized online via social networks, without any “leaders” – to lay the groundwork for a future Proposition campaign to restore marriage equality.

November 15th was a massive “Day of Protest” against Prop 8, and we predictably had a huge rally in San Francisco. But we also had nearly 2000 people in Sacramento, a whopping 12,000 in Los Angeles, 5000 in San Diego, 2500 in Santa Rosa, and over 1000 in Downtown Ventura. And it wasn’t just a statewide action – 12,000 took to the streets in Seattle, 5000 in Boston, thousands in Chicago, 1000 in Albuquerque and even a rally in Peoria. Prop 8 hit a nerve felt past California’s boundaries: during a presidential election that gave millions hope, one of our bluest states voted to take away peoples’ fundamental rights. People are upset, and want to get involved.

Now Prop 8’s fate is in the hands of our state Supreme Court – who must decide if the greater good (equal protection under law) is worth telling 52% of California voters they can’t eliminate marriage rights. Peaceful protests can give judge the resolve to do the right thing. Unlike George W. Bush – who said he didn’t “listen to focus groups” after 2 million people across the world marched against the Iraq War on a single day – I believe that our justices will take these protests seriously. Which is why they matter so much.

Paul Hogarth is the Managing Editor of Beyond Chron, an alternative online daily newspaper, with whose permission this article is republished.