The Ryan Thomas Collection

This week past has been a roller coaster ride socially, politically and emotionally. Excitement for America’s new direction. Personal grief with the cruelty Californians (and Utah) displayed at the polls in voting against same sex marriage. Quickly picking up the pieces after the defeat and rebuilding. The week finished with a great feeling of exhilaration, liveliness, empowerment and hope. After Wednesday’s march through San Francisco, I felt revived and energized. It was as though the Prop 8 fall threw everything back into prospective and the only option left was to continue fighting for what is right. Thursday and Friday left me feeling more alive than I’ve felt in a long time. Rejuvenated and ready, I looked upon the new challenges that face us. The thrill of change that we, the People of the United States of America and California, are about to embark upon. We have the power and the motivation to change the world before us for the better; educate those who know not what they fear, but fear redefining the modern world. Our time is now and seizing it is the empowerment that has brought new hopes, new aspirations and a new strength to myself and thousands of San Franciscans who hit the streets of the city Friday night to demonstrate against the passage of Proposition 8, hereby known as H8!

Reading online commentary on the demonstrations that are being held up and down the state of California and in Utah, I’ve seen H8r’s make comments that these demonstrations are a simple display of poor losers. Other H8r’s said that the people have overwhelmingly spoken and to let it go. With 70% of African Americans voting in favor of Prop H8, another H8r said that these demonstrations cannot be compared to the Civil Rights Movement and racial equality. The marches taking place in California are not a display of poor losers, but rallies to show that the minority will not sit back and watch the tyranny of the majority unfairly rule.

We may have lost our right to marry in California, but we still have our First Amendment rights to protest and speak and they cannot take that from us.

The displays of thousands of Californians joining together this past week and this weekend are a sign of continued strength in the gay community. The Constitution did its job in May 2008 by granting equality and the work was hatefully undone. The fight is not over until that equality is properly restored. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans citizens have been fighting their entire lives. The internal struggle of discovering, creating and building an identity that strays from traditional social norms. The battle to openly live in a society that automatically puts you steps behind, but having the courage to be proud nonetheless. The opposition doesn’t realize that we’ve had the strength to endure mainstream tyranny each and every day of our lives. We haven’t backed down before and we will not back down now. Our time is now!

The streets of San Francisco were closed for a few hours yesterday. 18th and Castro was shut to traffic with a sit-in for hours beyond that. It isn’t the first time. It’s wont be the last time. H8 has fear on their side, we have justice, truth and right on our side. In the end, history has proven that H8 will lose.

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