Before we speak any further, watch this video - it will (probably) make your afternoon. (And if my saying so doesn't convince you, it features crowd-pleasers Neil Patrick Harris, Allison Janney and John C. Reilly.)
Here's a brief photo tour of what this historic day looked like in different parts of red state America today.
Think Texas? Think Dallas? Think again: Think Lubbock! .... And more below the fold.
Click on the photos to enlarge them, and/or click on the links below to go to the complete photo galleries at Join The Impact's Wetpaint site. Or just jump into all the Photos/Slideshows.
I need to add my voice to reinforce Justin's diary yesterday, "Join The Impact - Another 50-State Strategy", and urge anyone who can to join today's 50-state protests for gay human rights--info at Join The Impact--1:30 PM Eastern, 12:30 PM Central, 11:30 AM Central, 10:30 AM Western, 8:30 AM Hawaii.
In the short run, the passage of Prop 8 in California is clearly a very hurtful setback. But the kind of response that it seems to have sparked looks to be exactly what's been needed for a long, long time now. It's not just about reversing Prop 8--important as that may be. That's really only the spark.
What's wanted is not simply the right to marry, but full equality. You know what full equality looks like? Here it is in two easy steps: (1) If you're not black, pretend you are. (2) Look at our president-elect. For the GLBT community, full equality would mean electing a GLBT president without having their sexual orientation be a major focal point of the campaign. That's not the whole of it, of course. But as a rough benchmark, it will do.
To all the other straight people out there reading this, I want to remind you of the words of Eugene Debs:
Your Honor,years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.
Even the most joyous election nights are never unqualified successes, and last week's was no different. One of the biggest disappointments on election night, of course, was the result of Proposition 8 - no matter your sexual orientation, writing discrimination into the law is a great way to put a damper on an otherwise sterling night.
So isn't it good that the end-point of politics isn't Election Night? While we might have lost a battle for equal rights for a day, the protests around the country (including outside the Mormon Temple in our headquarters in New York City), not to mention the celebration of the start of legal same-sex marriages in the great state of Connecticut, make it clear that the war is not over. People are clearly energized on this issue, and politics is, of course, something in which people can engage beyond the ballot box.
In fact, Join The Impact, an online coalition that rose from the ashes of Prop 8 to fight for LGBT rights, is boasting of a coordinated day of protest tomorrow with cities in all 50 states. (It took Living Liberally 5 years to reach every state in the Union - it took Join The Impact two weeks, which strongly speaks both to the energy out there on this issue and their effectiveness as online organizers.)
STATE BLOGS
