siriosa 2000

oakland join the impact rally
a late report.

so, yeah, it was last saturday. i wanted to put pictures up on my flickr account before i blogged it. and then there was work to be done with the pictures. writing down what the signs said, cropping out extranea. you know.

when i came home after, i told b.h.e.: "i feel better." the passage of prop 8 had filled me with sickly sadness, and the rally was a positive thing to do: add my body to the numbers, make a showing, take a stand. just like the old days, but without the tear gas.

there were a couple of counter-protesters across the street. i'm going to assume they chose that spot on advice from the (somewhat bored) police. a steady stream of rallyers kept them company, holding signs to mock them. a row of people faced them on "our" side of the street, with their signs.

i probably devoted more space to that aspect of the rally than it deserved, but the cheerful mockery my allies delivered made me happy. best not piss off teh gays: we know how to bring the snark.

native american two-spirits ceremonially opened and closed the rally. drumming. chanting. saging. many fine speakers. a little troupe of multidenominational (though all apparently christian) ministers, who led us in song. (yes, including holly near's anthem, "gentle angry people.") several newlyweds.

it's completely true that we've come a long way in the 40 years since stonewall. the demand for full civil rights was just a distant dream, then. as wanda sykes said in las vegas, "we are not gonna settle for less. instead of having gay marriage in california, no! we're gonna get it across the country."

may it be so.

Labels: civil rights, join the impact, marriage equality, oakland, rally