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I’ve been wondering why everyone hasn’t switched to conference calls — the format is fine, and it circumvents the troublemakers whose sole purpose is to disrupt and deny others the opportunity to speak, listen, and learn:
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Dennis Hof, owner of the BunnyRanch brothel in Mound House, Nevada (east of Carson City), made the following offer in an August 3, 2009, press release:
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No, darlings, not Anna Duke, as in Patty Duke (who, by the way, is appearing live, along with Bruce Vilanch, at the Castro screening of Valley of the Dolls July 20th), but Annie Duke, a seriously-hot redhead who is, apparently, A Very Big Name Indeed in the world of live, sit-down poker (as opposed to the sit-down but not-so-live video poker yours truly enjoys, very, very much, even while plonked down just yards from the usually awful local country-western cover bands on the downstairs stage at the dearly-departed Fitz at 3:00 a.m., trying to decide whether or not to keep the high pair or go for the outside royal, while a very nice, but unbearably longwinded unemployed trucker on disability tells yours truly, a saintly-polite, empathetic smile and nod ever in place, his long, long life story).
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Backstory:
Feds Search for Another Would-Be Obama Assassin, June 5, 2009
Feds Catch Nut “On A Mission” To Kill Obama, June 6, 2009
We’re still very much relieved they caught him, but at the same time we’re bugged that he’s being set up for an insanity plea (just as Scott Roeder is). Murray hasn’t actually entered a plea yet, but it’s clear his parents are doing everything in their power to set the stage for it, with a big assist from the prosecutor in the case.
Before we get to the story about Murray’s court appearance, what I want to know is what church he belongs to. No, not because I’m looking for a reason to slam any particular sect (not even Mormonism), but because if he can be connected to a church, and if he shares any of his obvious (to us) religion-based insanity, then it’s not legally insanity at all.
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Applications roll in for brothel’s
male prostitution jobsThe madam of a rural Nye County brothel says the applications from men who want to be prostitutes are starting to roll in.
Bobbi Davis, owner of the Shady Lady Ranch about 125 miles from Las Vegas, said she has received about 25 telephone calls and 10 men have sent in their pictures and other information.
But some of these men don’t understand they are not going to be servicing “the most beautiful women,” Davis said. The man will have to work with any woman who picks the man from the lineup, Davis added. …
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Oh, sure, there was a little sense of fair play involved, but in the end, it all came down to money. Of course.
Nevertheless, this is a most interesting breakdown of what it took to get domestic partnerships passed in Nevada, and then get the votes to override the veto of the Worst Governor in America.
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How anybody ever let him out of their sight in the first place is beyond us (see “Feds Search for Another Would-Be Obama Assassin,” June 6), but whatever — we’re just glad they nabbed him:
Man accused of threatening Obama
arrested in NevadaFederal agents have arrested the man who went to a St. George bank and allegedly made threats against President Obama.
Daniel James Murray was arrested Friday at 7 p.m. in Laughlin, Nev., by the U.S. Secret Service and Las Vegas police, said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service. Wiley said agents and police apprehended Murray in the parking lot of the Riverside Casino without incident.
Terry Donaho, director of security at Riverside Casino, said Murray was never inside the casino. Neither Donaho nor the Secret Service gave further details.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah filed a criminal complaint Thursday charging Murray with one count of threats against the president of the United States. …
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Backstory:
Adulterous, Twice-Divorced Worst Governor in America Determined to Veto Nevada DP Bill
Jim Gibbons is Being a Whiny Baby Re Obama (And, Oh, Yeah, He Vetoed the DP Bill)
Senators in Nevada have overridden Governor Jim Gibbons’ veto of a domestic partnership bill, the Las Vegas Sun reported Sunday.
Senators agreed 14 to 7 Saturday on the controversial bill that offers gay and straight couples limited guaranteed benefits associate with marriage, including matters such as community property and responsibility for debt. Private business would not be required to provide benefits such as health care to the domestic partner of an employee. But many employers do voluntarily provide such benefits to domestic partners.
“The only way for our state to treat its citizens is as equals under the law,” Jan Gilbert, a lobbyist for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a group in favor of the bill, said in a statement. “This was a resounding rejection of the governor’s intolerance and it is wonderful to have something to celebrate.”
. . .
Nolan said he received many “ugly, vulgar and threatening messages” from opponents of the bill.
. . .
Assemblymembers now get to decide if they will join in the override. The chamber’s original 26 to 14 approval falls short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor’s veto by two votes. Two members – one Republican, one Democrat – were absent during the original vote, but neither appear supportive of the bill.
Good on the Nevada Senate!
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As expected, the Worst Governor in America vetoed the Nevada domestic partnership bill today. There’s still the chance of an override by the state legislature, but don’t count on it.
Meanwhile, as
As we said, it was dumb of Obama not to meet with Worst Guv — and now it’s even dumber of Worst Guv not to meet with Messiah Prez. Why? Because if Worst Guv were serious about wanting to “discuss the economic difficulties facing the state’s tourism industry” with Obama, he’d can the hissy fit and actually meet him, even if only for “a handshake and a hello.” (Heck, I’d feel lucky if Obama would just flip me off; at least that would mean he was aware of my existence.)
But noooooooooooo, Sonny Jim’s widdle feelers are hurt. Wah.
But then, you already figured Gibbons doesn’t actually give two poops about the “the economic difficulties facing the state’s tourism industry,” or he would have signed the bleedin’ DP bill!
What a maroon. I mean, moran.
Related:
Harrah’s Advocates for Nevada DP Bill; State Gaming Industry Fears Gay Boycott, May 24, 2009
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The appeal Harrah’s is making certainly does have to do with the very real fear of a gay boycott — but truth is, Harrah’s was already a very gay-friendly destination before the Nevada DP bill ever came up. The company has been marketing to gay and lesbian tourists for a long time (this page at Paris Las Vegas is typical), and just scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index (the only gaming company to do so, and for the second year in a row).
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No matter what anybody thinks of Worst Governor in America Jim Gibbons (and you know what we think), when you’re the President of the United States, and you happen to be going to Las Vegas for a Harry Reid re-election fundraiser (more about Hapless Harry in a moment), and the governor asks for some face time with you, you don’t say no — especially when you’ve built your entire campaign legacy on “reaching out” to your (allegedly) ideological opposites.
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Before we get to the story, click the picture of Boozy McBlingBling at left to learn all about the alleged waitress-assaulting Nevada governor who’d like to send “tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals” to Iraq as human shields, and why the Las Vegas Gleaner calls him “a mentally and emotionally unhinged narcissist, liar, thief, con-man, hypocrite, assaulter and slut [and] ignorant homophobe.” Which is nothing compared to what Wonkette calls him.
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Hey, Mike Huckabee! Has Matthew Fox earned his civil rights yet? Or does getting choked to death count? Should he have actually gotten his skull cracked?
This is what comes of homophobia — and, apparently, self-internalized homophobia — and, as if it couldn’t get any worse, the confessed murderers are claiming “gay panic”:
Former West Michigan teacher
murdered in Las VegasPolice in Las Vegas are investigating the murder of a former West Michigan teacher.
They found Matthew Cox dead inside his home on Monday.
Officers arrested two teenagers in connection with his murder and say he knew both of them.
Cox taught music at Hopkins High School before moving to the Las Vegas area a few years ago to work as a choir teacher there. …
Matthew Cox’s mother says suspects
are trying to justify son’s murderGetting ready to head back home to Michigan, Matthew Cox’s mother is sickened by allegations that her son had innappropriate relations with a 17-year-old student turned murder suspect.
“Every child that has ever worked with him knows he would never do anything to them, never. That is disgusting,” said Debra Armstrong.
A Henderson Police report says 17-year-old Juan Aguirre told them Cox started to get sexual in the hours before the alleged murder.
Aguirre’s 18-year-old brother, Jose Delatorre, also arrested in the death of the Basic High music teacher.
According to that report, the teens were getting a ride home from Matthew Cox. When Cox pulled up to their mother’s apartment, the report says both boys strangled Cox for approximately 10 minutes. …
It was at that same apartment, that police say these two brothers dumped Cox’s body before stealing electronics. The mother of both suspects is accused of helping them abandon Cox’s car at a nearby casino.
“Never in a million year would my son have done anything with this kid. …”
Also mentioned in the police report, is a statement from one of Cox’s friends. She tells police, that Aguirre recently told Cox he was gay.
The report also states that Cox told his friend, if he weren’t a teacher, he would have pursued a relationship with Aguirre.
Meanwhile, Cox’s mother says, she has no doubt her son mentored Aguirre outside of the classroom. In fact, she says he told her he spent time with the 17-year-old and was trying to help the teen through troubled times. …
Brothers confess details of teacher’s death More details have been released in the murder of a local high school music teacher. Matthew Cox was found dead inside his home last week by a friend and two teen brothers were arrested in the case.
In the police report, 18-year-old Jose Delatorre and his 17-year-old brother, Juan Aguirre, confessed details to the police regarding how the teacher was killed. However, News 3’s Collette Wieland explains that the young suspects told police that they didn’t mean to do it. …
On December 20, the 32-year-old Cox picked up Basic High School student Juan Aguirre and his brother Jose Delatorre and took them back to his house in Henderson.
The brothers told police in the report that they played video games with Cox. Before leaving, however, they say Cox went upstairs with Juan. Juan says that while they were alone, his teacher became sexual with him and made him feel uncomfortable.
When Cox drove the two boys home, he parked in front of their house. There, Jose reportedly hit Cox on the right side of the head and Juan began to choke him. The boys say they held Cox for about 10 minutes before he stopped moving.
The boys say they bound Cox’s hands and feet with a tie before Jose drove them back to Cox’s house, where the two teens stole his electronics. The brothers left Cox’s dead body on his couch and Juan says he kissed his teacher’s cheek before they left. The teens say they didn’t mean to hurt him, they just wanted to rob Cox. Juan also told police that their mother helped them to hide Cox’s car at a local casino. …
Well, which is it? Did they kill him because Aguirre was “uncomfortable,” or because they wanted to rob him?
No, I don’t have any sympathy for these killers, no matter their ages, and no matter how confused Aguirre sounds. “Gay panic” is a myth — and no amount of guilt over your own homosexuality justifies murder; if it did, every gay person in the world would be justified in murdering any heterosexual with the claim of “straight panic.”
At least Nevada includes sexual orientation in its hate crime law; now we’ll have to wait and see if the killers are actually charged with a hate crime, or whether they succeed in blaming the victim for his own murder.
The downside? Nevada isn’t shy about sentencing people to death; the state orders a higher percentage of capital criminals to die than Oklahoma — or even Texas, believe it or not. (That doesn’t necessarily mean more death-row inmates are actually executed in Nevada; it means a higher percentage of convicted criminals are sentenced to death.)
The good news is that Nevada also has one of the highest “reversal rates” in the nation, meaning that (again, by percentage) more death sentences are overturned before they can be carried out.
The bad news is that Nevada has such a high reversal rate because it also has a disturbingly high error rate; i.e.:
A study of death penalty errors … shows more mistakes are made in murder cases in counties where juries impose the death penalty more often.The study by the Columbia University Law School, a follow-up to a 2000 report that found a high reversal rate of capital cases in Nevada and many other states, compared 10 counties with the highest death-sentencing rates with the 10 counties with the lowest rates. Clark County, among the top 10, is used in the analysis.
The study found the top 10 counties had an average error rate of 71 percent at the first and last appeal stages. Eight of the counties put a total of 16 people on death row who later were found not guilty.
The 10 counties with the lowest death-sentencing rates had an average error rate of 41 percent; none was sentenced to death during the study period and later found not guilty. The error rate means the percentage of cases overturned on either direct appeal to the state court or during the federal appeals process. The error rate does not reflect the final outcome of such cases as those retried following a court ruling. …
That’s from 2002 (the rest of the article is worth the read, too), but I’m not aware of any more recent studies.
It almost sounds like a true dilemma: If a hate crime is a hate crime, it should be prosecuted as a hate crime — but what do you do when you’re 100% anti-capital punishment, and you know the hate-crime charge could lead to the death penalty, especially in a state willing to hand out death sentences all too freely?
But it’s not a dilemma — and don’t let the right-wingers bucking hate-crimes legislation trick you into thinking it is. The problem is not in additional penalties for bona fide hate crimes; the problem is in the existence of the death penalty itself. Until the barbaric practice of state-sanctioned murder is abolished once and for all, we cannot control the “punishment” meted out by individual states; nor can we allow much-needed hate-crimes legislation (which is not limited to sexual orientation, but must include it) to be thwarted.
In short, keep hate-crime laws intact — just lose the death penalty.
Is that so hard? Only the United States and Japan are the two holdouts amongst western countries to implement capital punishment; every other nation that still puts its own people to death is either Third World, controlled by a fundamentalist theocracy, or both. (Even Rwanda — Rwanda! — has banned the death penalty.)
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As thrilled as we are to hear that X-thousand people came out in San Francisco and New York and Chicago for Saturday’s nationwide Proposition 8 protests, we’re even more impressed by the smaller cities and towns where a hundred people, or just a dozen, gay and straight, braved brutal climates, of both the environmental and the anti-gay varieties. It’s not easy to stand on a street corner and absorb the hate even when you’ve got 2,000 people on your side; we can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to do the same thing when your group numbers a few dozen — or just a few.
So, let’s look at a quick rundown of the best numbers I could find for the “big” protests, and then take a moment to appreciate some brave souls who took up the mantle of equality for all in places you might least expect anyone to do it.
The Big Protests: 2,000 People or More
New York - ? (I’ve heard everything from 4,000 on up.)
San Diego (20,000+)
Los Angeles (”12,000 is a conservative number”)
San Francisco 7,500 (various sources)
Seattle, Washington (3,000 to 6,000)
Washington, D.C. (5,000+)
Boston (+/- 4,000)
San Jose (2,000)
Chicago (2,000+)
Phoenix (2,000)
Salt Lake City (2,000)
Santa Rosa, CA (1,700+)
The Pretty Big Protests: 1,000 People or More
Sacramento (1,500)
Raleigh, North Carolina (1,400)
Dallas (1,200+)
Atlanta (1,200)
Philadelphia (”easily surpassed” 1,000)
Orlando, Florida (+/- 1,000)
Las Vegas (1,000+)
Long Beach, CA (1,000+)
Irvine, CA (1,000+)
Good Turnouts: Under 1,000
Minneapolis (700+)
Ventura, California (600)
Santa Cruz (500+)
Palm Springs (500+)
St. Louis, MO (500+)
Escondido, CA (+/- 500)
Good Turnouts Considering the Political Climate and/or Weather
Chico, California (500)
Pomona, California (400+)
Honolulu, Hawaii (+/- 400)
[A rally on Maui was also planned.]
Asheville, North Carolina (+/- 400)
Napa, California (400)
Boulder, Colorado (”hundreds”)
Oklahoma City (”hundreds”)
Madison, Wisconsin (”hundreds”)
Cincinnati, Ohio (”hundreds”)
Springfield, Missouri (”hundreds”)
Fresno, California (”hundreds”)
Boise, Idaho (”hundreds”)
San Antonio, Texas (”hundreds”)
Charleston, South Carolina (”hundreds”)
Lake Worth, Florida (”hundreds”)
Ithaca, New York (”hundreds”)
Portland, Oregon (”several hundred”)
Albuquerque, New Mexico (”a few hundred”)
Rochester, New York (”a few hundred”)
Detroit (200-500)
Albany, New York (300+)
Reno, Nevada (300)
Pasadena, California (+/- 300)
Olympia, Washington (+/- 300)
Charlotte, North Carolina (200+)
Syracuse, New York (+/- 200)
Modesto, California (+/- 200)
Fargo, North Dakota (+/- 200)
Wilmington, North Carolina (+/- 150)
Smaller Groups in Places That Should Surprise You
Several dozen protested in downtown Anchorage Saturday afternoon. …Alaska was the first state in the nation to constitutionally ban gay marriage, back in 1998, when voters approved the change by a more than a two-to-one margin.
About 25 gay rights advocates held up signs in front of Fairbanks City Hall…Voters in Alaska approved a ban on gay marriage 10 years ago.
An Army wife organized the gathering in Fairbanks, which started at 9:30 a.m. and involved waving signs in front of passing motorists on Cushman Street.
One sign read, “Love is love.” Another: “Equal rights for all.” A man held a sign saying, “I am Sarah Palin’s gay friend.”
Kristen Magann, the organizer, described herself as heterosexual, happily married and a believer that sexual preference should not determine civil rights.
“I want to make this message heard,” she stated in an e-mail, “that all people no matter their sexual orientation should be allowed the same rights under the law.”
More than 100 people rallied on the corners of East Magnolia Street and Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham the morning of Saturday, Nov. 15, to protest California’s recent ban on gay marriage.Chants of “It’s about love not hate,” and “Hey mister president, what do you say, don’t hate families because they’re gay” filled blocks of downtown Bellingham during the two-hour protest. …
The protesters in Bellingham were outside the Federal Building from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. A smaller group continued the protest outside the Bellingham Farmer’s Market after noon.
The ironic marquee of the Empress Theatre on Virginia Street served as an appropriate backdrop to a Proposition 8 protest Saturday night.On one level of the marquee, the Empress Theatre advertised an upcoming gay and lesbian night, while one line below it advertised the Latter-day Saints Concert series.
The Saturday concert was what prompted about 75 people to gather in front of the theater chanting and demanding a return of same-sex marriage rights that the passage of Prop. 8 eliminated.
Solano County is the only Bay Area county where voters approved Prop. 8.About 75 people showed up to a Fairfield rally organized by Fairfield High School student Crystal Nievera, 16.
“Not everyone voted yes on 8 (in Solano County),” said Nievera, who feared a small showing based on what her Facebook group told her.
The protesters met at Fairfield City Hall and marched to Solano County Municipal Court, where they would be more visible on busy Texas Street.
The young organizer invoked the spirit of slain Fairfield councilman Matt Garcia, a strong supporter of youth before he was gunned down in September at age 22.
“This is why today, I’m trying to make a difference,” Nievera said.
Toni Pinck stood quietly next to Chauvin, holding a “No on Prop. 8” sign. Her son was married in San Francisco Aug. 15.“I’m here to show support for people that are still fighting for their civil rights,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to vote for Proposition 8 if it weren’t for people who fought for the woman’s right to vote many years ago.”
Marina Martinez and Evelyn Iraheta, also Tracy residents, were married Oct. 24 in Stockton. They said they thought their neighbors were supportive of their marriage before Proposition 8 was introduced in June, until the “Yes on 8” signs began to appear. …
Demonstrators also took to the streets of Salinas against Prop 8. The Salinas march happened to take place on the same day an event at Hartnell College called for the strengthening of families.. . .
The latest returns in Monterey County show the Proposition 8 race was much closer, than Santa Cruz County. No on 8 collected 52% of the total vote.
Young gay students, middle-aged white and Latino couples and community activists came together Saturday on the city’s streets to protest passage of Proposition 8. …“We are here because we need to remind people we live in a nation under civil law and Prop. 8 forces some to live according to the religious views of others,” said Randall Lopez, an organizer with the Inland Empire Human Rights Coalition, which held the local protest. …
On Saturday morning, about 30 people gathered in front of Colton City Hall to kick off the rally. …
Nicolas Daily, 19, of Redlands, who described himself as a gay black man, stood high on the steps urging the group to join him in singing “Let it Be” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”
“I honestly just want people to know this is not going to go away,” he said. “We are going to be out here until we get our rights.”
Cherie Stevens, Mother of gay son: “We want our son to have the very same rights as his straight brothers.”Cherie and her husband were among a group of 60 individuals at the Bonneville County Courthouse who all wanted to make their voices and opinions heard. They say our country was founded on the idea of equality and will now just take some time before this rings true for everyone.
Jamee Greer took charge of a sizable crowd that united and protested Saturday in favor of gay marriage rights, a group pulled together in Missoula by the Internet and text messages.He gave the group its marching orders, announcing the rules of the road, as the protesters carried signs and prepared to march from North Higgins Avenue to the Missoula County Courthouse.
“This is about basic human rights and civil rights not being met here at home in Montana,” said Greer…
In Missoula, Brian Cook wore a picture of his 21-year-old gay son, Andrew Sullivan-Cook, who was in Dallas marching with Join the Impact protesters. “I’m here, not only in support of my son’s rights, but it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Cook. “Even if my son wasn’t gay, I’d be here.”
Cook said his daughter, and 15-month-old grandson, would be marching in Dallas alongside his son.
About 65 people are gathered in front of Grand Forks’s Town Square this afternoon to protest the passage of Proposition 8 in California…The group first came together at about 12:30 p.m. in front of Grand Forks City Hall. The protest is part of a nationwide event in 300 cities, according to jointheimpact.com. The Grand Forks event is scheduled to run until 3:30 p.m.
At about 1:30 p.m., the group left their spot in front to move to Town Square at the corner of DeMers Avenue and Third Street.
Horns were honking for several hours early Saturday afternoon, supporting about 120 gay rights activists with signs and flags who were protesting the recent approval of California’s Proposition 8. …There were many supportive honks throughout the afternoon, said John McClelland, president of the Stonewall Democrats of Denton County, a gay and lesbian political organization.
Jack Harnstrom and Jon Hill have been partners for 14 years, but when California was set to vote on banning same-sex marriages, the Duluth residents raced to Palm Spring, Calif., to be wed.Their wedding ceremony was Nov. 3, a day before California voted to take away that right. On Saturday afternoon, the couple joined about 75 others at a gay rights rally against California’s Proposition 8 at Lake Avenue and Superior Street in downtown Duluth.
More than 120 people lined the street in front of the Federal Building Saturday afternoon to protest the recent passage of a California ballot proposal banning same-sex marriage.Signs reading “Stop the Hate” and “Equal Rights for All” attracted honks as passing motorists showed support. The crowd stretched nearly a full block along West Michigan Avenue.
They were among about 100 people who attended the rally in front of MSU Auditorium.Organized by MSU Alliance of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgendered and Straight Ally Students, the protest was one of hundreds that took place Saturday nationwide.
Among the nationwide turnouts Saturday was a gathering of about 40 people at the corner of Main and University streets in Peoria. The group protested the decision that affected an estimated 18,000 California couples seeking the legal distinction. …“This is a more conservative area, and we know that. Everybody knows someone who is gay. A lot of times it’s just not talked about. But we still participate in the homeowners’ associations, or neighborhood watch groups. … We buy Girl Scout cookies from neighbors’ kids.
“I do what I can to support my neighbors and their families. Why not support me and my family, my relationship?”
University students and Champaign-Urbana families took to the streets Saturday to protest the recent passing of Proposition 8 in California which bans gay marriage. …The event in Campustown was sponsored by the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resources and was organized by Brooke Elliot, senior in Education, and Virginia McCreary, graduate student.
Elliot said they planned a protest on campus because many people were not able to get to Chicago for its protest. …
About 80 protestors stood on the corners with colorful signs. Some cars driving down Green Street honked in support of the cause.
At 1 p.m. the protestors had a moment of silence which was broken by a car honking in support of the protest. The protestors then marched down Green Street to Fourth Street and back again shouting their message and waving their signs.
The protestors were met with little resistance.
On two occasions, groups of students walking past the protestors made remarks in opposition of the protest.
One worker at Potbelly Sandwich Works opened the door as the protestors were walking past and said, “Good job guys!”
Every time a car honked, they cheered. A group of about 20 people stood at the corner of Main Street and Jefferson Boulevard in downtown South Bend on Saturday, waving signs in support of same-sex marriage. …“It sets a precedent,” said Mandy Studdard, who helped organize the South Bend rally. “People say ‘If the rest of the country doesn’t want this, why should we have it here?’ We’ve got to set a different precedent. That’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
About 50 people protested in Jackson outside the state capitol…“[W]hen people see protests happening around the country, they’ll understand that this isn’t just an issue that’s happening somewhere else, this is an American issue happening everywhere, because it affects all of us,” organizer Brent Cox said.
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
A mixed group of students and local activists marched in protest today as part of a national day of action against the passage of California’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.Nearly 100 students and residents joined for a march from the drill field around campus and back chanting slogans, bearing signs and waving and cheering at passing cars.
“We’re in southwest Virginia, we want to improve the LGBT community’s visibility and we want people here to know we exist,” said organizer Tami Grossman.
About 35 people gathered in front of Greenville City Hall on Saturday afternoon to protest voter passage of California’s Proposition 8, a referendum that reversed a state supreme court ruling allowing gay marriage. …The group protested peacefully and without incident, displaying signs and flags representing gay pride. They sang songs of protest, led by Georgia Winfree, of the group Someone’s Sister, then marched together along Fifth Street where an occasional passing car honked in response.
In Macon on Saturday, more than 50 advocates for Join the Impact, an international organization supporting equal rights for people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, protested the California Proposition 8 vote outside City Hall.Protesters waved signs reading “What Would Martin Do?” “Fight the H8” and “Would You Rather I Marry Your Daughter?” …
“Today’s protest is a small piece of the puzzle,” said Alex Webb, organizer of the Macon rally. “This started off as an online movement and has become a national and international phenomenon. There are people in London standing with us right now … standing with us against our treatment as second-class citizens, standing for equal rights for all.”
150 people came out on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon to show support for same-sex marriage and solidarity with gay and lesbian people in California. …Protesters gathered at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway with signs that advocated equality under state marriage laws for all people. The event began at 1:30pm and also featured remarks by local activist Kitty Lambert and New York State Assembly member Sam Hoyt.
Standing on the steps of City Hall, more than 70 gay men, lesbians and their supporters yesterday protested a California vote banning same-sex marriage and called for all states to provide civil marriage “equality.” …A steady stream of drivers crawling across usually crowded Main Street honked their horns in support of the crowd. Many drivers yelled out “Yes” and “Way to go” or waved their fists in solidarity. For at least the first hour of the demonstration, no passers-by said or did anything in opposition to the gay-marriage cause.
“Westchester is a very, very affirming place to live,” said Scott Havelka of Rye Brook, interim executive director of The Loft, a gay community services center in White Plains, which supported the rally.
About 100 supporters of marriage equality for same-sex couples stood in a steady drizzle outside Burlington City Hall on Saturday to register their disappointment with the outcome of the Proposition 8 vote in California Nov. 4.Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force field director Robyn Maguire rallied the crowd, insisting that Vermont could do better than California.
“We want Vermont to reclaim its role in this important civil rights issue,” Maguire said. “It’s been eight years and it’s time for us to move forward. Now more than ever does Vermont matter.”
Gay marriage proponents united Saturday in grass-roots protests around the country — including one in Market Square. …“It’s a matter of equality,” said Forest Stone, a Portsmouth resident, as she stood in the rain Saturday among nearly 100 other sign-touting, umbrella-gripping demonstrators.
Like dozens of others, Stone and her 6-year-old daughter Annalie both held bright signs facing traffic in front of the North Church, while some people in passing cars encouraged the efforts with honks and shouts.
The Protest That Touches Us the Most
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
“We’re small but mighty,” said protest organizer Jennifer Rowe today.Rowe, along with Amanda Zuke, Kyle Cardoza, Liz Laplante and two other concerned citizens, gathered outside Sault Ste. Marie’s Civic Centre to protest the recent adoption of California’s Proposition 8, outlawing same-sex marriage.
“We’re here to show our support for those in the United States who are fighting to get same-sex marriage recognized and for human rights across the board,” Rowe told SooToday.com. …
“The battle may have been fought and won in Canada to allow people to marry whoever they want, but being respected just as another human being is still a problem,” said Rowe. “There’s still a long way to go in some cases.” …
Rowe says she’s already started planning something to happen locally in support of Join the Impact’s fight.
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