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SAN FRANCISCO—On Nov. 7 a march and rally took
place here to protest the passage of Proposition 8 on the California
ballot, which sought to outlaw marriage equality for gays and lesbians.
The march began at Civic Center during rush hour and worked its way to
the Castro, the heart of San Francisco’s gay community, with a final
rally at nearby Dolores Park.
The march brought Friday rush hour traffic
almost to a halt on San Francisco’s main artery, Market St. Reports
indicate that there were anywhere from 15,000 to 25,000 people in the
streets.
The sidewalks were jumping with young people
who had traveled to the city from other parts of the Bay Area, and for
once the mainly white Castro district was bursting at the seams with
Black and Brown people.
There have been rallies in other cities. West
Hollywood, which is LA’s principle gay community, held a very spirited
march, and there was a rally in Salt Lake City to protest the Mormon
Church’s massive fund-raising efforts and organizing drive to support
the so-called "traditional" family. As we go to press,
nationwide protest rallies and marches have been planned for Saturday,
Nov. 15.
During the run-up to the elections,
unfortunately, the "No on Prop. 8" campaign stayed out of the
streets and depended almost completely on the Democratic Party.
Now the media have been reporting something
that many white Democrats are beginning to parrot—Black people are to
blame for the passage of Prop 8. According to their rhetoric the
historic numbers of Black people who came out to vote for Obama (though
still only 10 percent of the electorate) were so backward and bigoted
that they single-handedly eliminated rights for the gay community.
We must be clear when we say that Black
people are not to blame for the passage of 8! The blame rests in large
part on the "leadership" of the Democratic Party, which did
not wish to come out wholeheartedly in favor of same-sex marriage, and
thus break up the "coalition" they maintain with more
backward forces. Just as the capitalists need white supremacy and sexism
to divide the working class, they also need homophobia.
Let’s not allow the bigoted Democratic Party
and their friends in the media to get away with blaming this outrage on
Black people! Hopefully, the strength and spirit of the current rallies
will inspire the gay and lesbian community, especially the youth, to
organize themselves into a mass movement independent of the Democratic
Party.
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