Friday, January 9, 2009
City Even Though You’ll Be Hung Over from Drinking in Solidarity Tonight
Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:49 PM
The gays want you to wake up in time for a rally and march that begins tomorrow morning. The Queer Ally Coalition, spawned from the anti-Prop 8 protests in November, is planning Seattle's contingent of a national day of protest against the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 measure that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
Click the poster for a larger image.
Marchers in 100 cities nationwide aim to gather 1,000,000 petition signatures that call on Barack Obama to uphold his pledge to gays during the presidential campaign. "I'm running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all—a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters,” Obama wrote in a letter to the LGBT community. “It's wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans."
Amy Balliett, who amassed the nationwide protest on November 15 by founding Jointheimact.org, writes in an email, “We will hold him accountable with his own words, but cannot expect him to listen without showing him how vast our numbers actually are."
But unlike the November 15th protests (which drew 10,000 people in Seattle), this event is gathering less steam—and it's unclear just how vast those numbers will be. The Seattle Department of Transportation estimates only 500 will attend. And a Facebook group founded in late December has only 207 members thus far (in contrast, the Seattle anti-Prop-8 Facebook group gathered 1,000 new members a day). “If there is a smaller turnout it’s not a fizzling of that energy, it’s a focusing of energy,” says Eli Steffen, 24, treasurer of Queer Ally Coalition. “It’s not about coming out one time [after Prop 8 passed] and shouting; it’s that you come out again and again and celebrate with your community.” The Queer Ally Coalition's priority is building a diverse LGBT movement.
“We wanted to show that our community is more than middle-class white men, and that is what we saw on November 15,” says Steffen. “That was shown by the fact that the only non-white person who spoke was a straight man.” Speakers tomorrow, he says, will represent Entre Hermanos, Democracy Insurgent, a Muslim student group at the UW, and others.
Where to go and what to do: The crowd will congregate in the south plaza of Seattle Central Community College beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 10. Sign the petition there. At 11:30 a.m., the crowd will hightail its gay ass down to Westlake Center for speeches, bands, Sylvia O. Stayformore, and a hodgepodge of gaiety.
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He can keep his DOMA. After Rev. Warren, we're better off not taking anything from this charlatan.
Or--dust yourself off after the insult of the Reverend Warren invite, prove that you have a political brain in your head and can take lumps as well as victories while keeping your eye on the prize, and see where you are in four, or eight, years. Ahead or behind?
I'm still gonna be out there marching tomorrow, reminding Obama, whom I still support, of his promises, and that I'm marching for me, for him, and for all of us.
If you don't show up, how can you complain if you don't get what you want, 'Gay America'?
It's a little known fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. pouted like a spoiled little bitch whenever he didn't get his way, and that's exactly how the Civil Rights Act got passed.
"...pouted like a spoiled little bitch whenever he didn't get his way"
I guess I was wrong.
Dan IS our MLK.
Look up peace in the dictionary - you won't find it in the Middle East since I don't know when in recorded history.
Heck, half of the Old Testament is wars.
I will not be there
Every one in America knows that queers are militant on the issue, now is the time for education and strategy that builds real co - operation ..... and REAL strategy not just more old leftist babble
And as we all know, gay issues will be part of the 50 items they rant about
get there early for a front row seat.
Way to go. Is this best you can do? At least someone is trying to create popular queer movement. But as you did with Allyship, you condescend to mock us, ridicule our organizing. And for what? Because after only 4 weeks of organizing they can't re-create the national hysteria that led to November 15, and can't make the same numbers as that sunny day? Oh, and for the audacity of taking a strong stance against racism. For fuck's sake--at least these guys know that Entre Hermanos exists.
Inferiority complex, I think.
Don't beat up your boyfriend either. It won't heal the wounds.
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