The Ryan Thomas Collection

After last week’s national march for same sex marriage equality, California’s Capitol Mall in Sacramento was host to further rallying and marching for gay civil rights. With the California Supreme Court’s announcement this past week that they will hear the case against Prop 8, the rally this weekend was pivotal in showing the Courts and the People the continued fight that Californians and Americans have. The battle continued throughout the day on Saturday on the steps of California’s Capitol Building.

Day in and day out since Election Day, the discussion of Prop 8 and general gay civil rights has hit news venues and shut down city streets; calls for equality and protection of a suspect class. The attention has been focused on getting Prop 8 out of the California Constitution. Nationally, the attention has been to show other Americans that we are all Americans, gay and straight, with the right to equal protection under the law.

On the steps of the Capitol Building, a gay married couple, who have actively worked to gain and protect marriage equality, spoke before the group of 5,000. To paraphrase the speaker, he told the crowd that we were no longer the children bullied on the playground. We are no longer the quiet ones who were hassled for years growing up. We are no longer willing to stand back and watch such atrocities against us be made. Ironically, the same childhood thought had come to mind earlier that morning in preparations for the march and watching Ugly Betty.

Watching the latest episode of Ugly Betty, the storyline with the young high school character, Justin, brother to Betty, took presence. For those unfamiliar with the program, Justin’s character is not an out gay character, but the archetype shown heavily suggests that he is gay. The character enjoys Broadway, both viewing and acting. He is also heavily into top fashion and carries a demeanor about him that is reminiscent of the stereotype of that gay guy in high school. He made friends with another guy at the school who eventually needs to feed into the macho ideals of male gender identity to escape the persecution from the cool guys that he was also friends with. This results in his public statement of disgust with Justin and Justin’s loss of a friend because gender roles and sexual orientations did not meet the standards of everyone’s liking.

Seeing the pain of Justin’s character as he discussed the issue with his mother displays the ultimate result that this fight for equality is about. Yes, it is about marriage, but essentially it’s the catalyst for far more. Tying in the speeches at the rally and the visuals seen on TV, we see that the experience of growing up as a constant outsider is tiresome. It’s vigorous work to maintain the type of individual strength and determination to withstand the constant battle on the playground, whether it be elementary or high school. The battle continues into the workplace and into the streets of daily life as adults. We should be in a time where the experience that growing gay children must undertake is no longer such a hardship. This is why the fight for marriage equality is pivotal. Coincidentally, it is also the source of strength being displayed in the fight against Prop 8 before and following its passage.

The separation of marriage status between same sex domestic partners and opposite sex marriage reinforces this ideal of being outside the normal. It’s not only about marriage. Without the ability to participate in a social ceremony and institution provided by the government, gays and lesbians are forced to start life as outsiders from the get go. This separation provides continued support to the harsh social development the LGBT community must endure in schools, with a top down reinforcement of outsideness from the Constitution, with Prop 8. In a sense, marriage equality is means to legitimize the LGBT class as entitled Americans.

Participation in the social institution of marriage will provide ample opportunity for the LGBT community to participate in the American Dream in its purest form. Young LGBT Americans need to have the right to know they too can participate in that dream. The straight people around them need to know that their gay counterparts can participate in the same dream they can. With equal access to America’s ideology, the day where gays are heavily ostracized or frowned upon will be closer to elimination. The California Supreme Court essentially made these arguments in their ruling in May that legalized same sex marriage. We hope they will make this same decision come early 2009.

Below are a few more shots and videos from Saturday’s rally and march on the California Capitol. The counter-demonstration of H8rs numbered at about a dozen people. Disturbingly, one H8r displayed a sign that said “Gay = Pervert.” There is a lot of work to be done when the dignity of a class of people is put into question in such a drastic way with such drastic diction. This sign did not make its way into the picture below.

The one sign that needs discussion is “STOP Hating the Christians.” It took about a week for the marriage equality movement to really get out of the blame game. It is becoming increasingly apparent that religion is not being scapegoated as the cause for Prop 8′s passage. However, the need for separation of church and state has maintained a position at rallies. This is not about hating Christians. It is about recognizing that civil marriage does not effect religious marriage. Furthermore, the religious freedom protected by the 1st Amendment protects religions from being forced to engage in an activity that would go against their core beliefs, such as marrying a same sex couple. This, too, was reinforced by the California Supreme Court in their May decision.

Margaret Cho performed a song that dealt predominately, well actually, solely with the Mormon issue. It wasn’t the most appropriate performance, nor was it the most productive. However, it did provide a laugh to those who are frustrated that the Mormons worked so diligently at getting Prop 8 passed. (Excuse the shaky quality of the video and poor sound quality. Holding a sign and a camera in a crowd can be tricky.)

Attorney Gloria Allred spoke about the legal side of Prop 8, in addition to the original Court ruling last May. A celebrity lawyer indeed, Allred played into the crowd and insured proper photo ops were made available.

Lastly, here is video prior to the rally’s start. In a stereotypical fashion, Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” was playing throughout the West Capitol Mall as people prepped. Within a half hour, the area was filled with 5,000 attendees.

The next big step comes December 10th. This has been deemed Day Without Gay where the LGBT community is being asked to call in sick, or actually “Call in Gay. I’m feeling a little queer.”

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