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Twenty Reasons to Join the Impact

November 11th, 2008

Information on Join the Impact, a coordinated, nation-wide series of demonstrations, available here.

1. The Archdiocese of San Francisco contacted the Mormons last June and asked for their help in supporting Prop 8.  The Catholics and the Mormons managed to put aside their vast theological differences for the sole purpose of opposing us.

2. Their votes were informed by religious beliefs, which by their nature can’t be reasoned with – passionate beliefs that unite people to fight tirelessly for a cause they believe in; namely, defeating us at the polls.

3. Regardless of how you feel about the issue of gay marriage, and if it’s time has come, or if other issues should take precedent, or if we should even desire a broken-down institution like marriage, this fight is not really about gay marriage.  It’s about the fact that we are not recognized as full citizens by our own country, and by a large number of Americans and their organized religions. This issue is about whether or not gays get counted as human. Like the ban against gays in the military, it is a concrete example of institutional discrimination. We are the bottom of their barrel, we are their scapegoats, and marriage is simply the most current landscape for this battle, not the battle itself.

4. You may not want to get married, but you deserve to have the choice.

5. Regardless of how you feel about marriage, the fact is that for whatever reason, for a ton of reasons or for no apparent reason at all, THIS IS THE ISSUE that is now galvanizing thousands and thousands of people, both gay and straight, and we need to stop scolding from the sidelines and ride this passion as far as it will take us, right now, today, because passion cannot be manufactured, because it is organic and all-too-often temporary, and because this particular battle will affect countless other issues in ways that we cannot even imagine today, issues that you may feel more strongly about. This is a stepping stone, the next stone in our path. Take the step.

6. You will be participating in history, instead of merely observing it.

7. After four days of protests in California, Governor Schwarzenegger publicly encouraged us to keep fighting.

8. After five days of protests, forty-four members of the California legislature, more than one-third of our lawmakers, added their voices to the chorus calling on the state’s highest court to overturn Prop 8.

9. After five days of protests, Keith Olbermann added his own emotional voice to our fight.

10. Our anger is giving other people permission to join us, and after Saturday’s protests, others are bound to follow.

11. The fight over Prop 8 has already fallen off the front pages of most non-California newspapers and news sites. A coordinated, nation-wide demonstration will return that issue to the front pages.

12. The longer our anger lasts, the more people will ask themselves why we are so fucking angry. We want them to be asking themselves this question, every single day.

13. You will see, at these demonstrations, high school and college kids who don’t have any plans to get married any time soon but know what discrimination looks like when they see it.

14. Seeing them will give you hope for our future.

15. You are straight and you want to show your support in some concrete way.

16. You are not straight and the demonstrations will be filled with single dudes of every conceivable gender.

17. Gay weddings with free bars.

18. You spend too much time in front of your computer. Alone.

19. And instant messages don’t count.

20. Because we don’t have the shared religious beliefs to unite us against our opposition. Because the only passion that we have that could possibly counteract that unreasonable passion is our concern for each other.

Filed under: Prop 8, gay marriage | 7 Comments »

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