No on 8 – Taking to the Streets! Viva La Revolution! The Second Stonewall is Underway.


First they came for the Communists,
  and I didn’t speak up,
    because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
  and I didn’t speak up,
    because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
  and I didn’t speak up,
    because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
  and by that time there was no one
    left to speak up for me.

A large majority of people taking to the streets in California were NEVER involved in the ‘No on 8’ campaign. This is no longer a top-down, disorganized effort that some accused of being ‘colonial’ in nature. Let the people who voted ‘Yes’ for discrimination see the result of this ban–galvanizing and moving more people than ever before to come out for civil rights. This ban may just have woken the civil rights movement from its deep slumber, woken up people like me who could care less about marriage but LOATHE and CANNOT DIGEST the concept of putting minority rights to majority vote and taking them away.
The energy and enthusiasm is refreshing and exciting, save for the random acts of violence and scapegoating. Keep this up California – organize and join as many rallies as you can.

Record and put your videos and demonstrations on Youtube, Facebook, IReport.com and Twitter!

For blog entries, I suggest using the noonprop8 and repealprop8 tags.

What do we do Now? – Resources

TAX PROTEST

http://gaytaxprotest.blogspot.com/

Melissa Etheridge refuses to pay taxes. All LGBT and allies should also hold back taxes from the state of California till our civil rights are restored:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-06/you-can-forget-my-taxes/

Organizing Tools

http://kickingalion.wordpress.com/

They also launched for donations you can make in the name of the leader of the Mormon Church.

www.InvalidateProp8.org

Make a donation, in the name of the president of the Mormon Church, to support the legal organizations working to invalidate Proposition 8 and to fund grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. For every donation of $5 or more, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will send the following postcard to President Thomas Monson’s office in Salt Lake City, acknowledging your donation in his name

Look up your local businesses that supported the Yes on 8 campaign, WRITE LETTERS and BOYCOTT!!

Boycott these businesses

http://www.afterellen.com/node/39787

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?m2m2y2zd53m

Information on Protests

http://stoph8te.blogspot.com/

ANSWER LA

http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANSWERLA

http://www.queersunited.blogspot.com/

http://lezgetreal.com/2008/11/no-on-h8-protests-update.html

Main site: http://www.jointheimpact.com/
San Francisco: http://protest8sf.wordpress.com

Black LGBT

http://www.faithish.com/

Conservative Christian case for Same-Sex marriage
http://www.musingson.com/ccCase.html

Mormons

(Lets approach this in a ‘legal’ way rather than by showing hatred and intolerance).

March on Salt Lake City

Sign the petition to strip the Mormon church of its tax exempt status at http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com!

Get Sundance Out of Utah

customerservice@sundance.org, sio@sundance.org, programming@sundance.org

Dear Sundance Institute,

The LGBT community needs the support of the SUNDANCE INSTITUTE. I request that the SUNDANCE INSTITUTE move the film festival out of Utah.

link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j3xrKGCR3_Lr31cirVMS_5fY_8igD94ADR9G0

Top-down Orgs

No On Prop 8 — We Are Not Done

ORGANIZING ON FACEBOOK

Courage Campaign is expected to announce a 2010 ballot measure to repeal this so-called Constitutional amendment. Let this not be another top-down effort that alienates the core of the LGBT community and especially ethnic minorities.

To the ethnic minority gays that may feel vilified: Let’s stop being so ‘politically-correct’ and excusing particular ethnic groups for their pervasive homophobia. “The Bible says so…” is NOT an excuse for voting against civil rights. The predominantly white leadership of the No on 8 campaign and their inability to reach out to minority communities is not a reason to feel rejected by the LGBT community. Lets stop with the identity politics.

For the disgruntled No on 8 people – Stop pointing fingers at Gavin Newsom, stop deriding the lesbian couple who took kids for a ‘teach-in’ on same-sex marriage, and stop hating on ethnic minorities. Divisive politics does not help in coalition-building.

To those ethnic minorities that voted against sexual-orientation minorities, I don’t hate you and I will continue to fight along your side with zero expectations of any ‘favors’ returned. Civil rights are not tit-for-tat. I apologize profusely for any anger and hatred expressed towards Blacks, Latinos and other social groups for the Prop. 8 vote — the backlash was in pain and anger. People denied their rights hardly react with a ‘Thank you’ note. I will forgive and I will put this behind me because I believe in the power of education over ignorance, the triumph of love over hate, the promise of equality over discrimination and the inevitable victory of hope over fear.

This isn’t about marriage or kids or religion; it is about equal rights under the law, even if that equality means that everyone must have the right to suffer equally.

I will leave everyone tonight with part of a poem about election night originally posted here:

With one had we had given
And the other had taken away.
We’re all created equal
Unless, of course, you’re Gay.

It seemed we had learned nothing
For we continued to segregate
If you are born Gay
You may only date.

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