Today, Everyone Came Out

I am currently looking at pictures from city halls across the country, of people protesting California's Proposition 8.  San Francisco had a great rally today, under a clear, blue sky, with tens of thousands of people gathered to show support for...well, equality.  Bec, Adam, and I stood out in the sun, listening to all sorts of people, making the case for equality in this state and country.  I know that there are many people out there that, for some odd reason, are against marriage for "non-traditional" couples, but can you really say you're against equality?  The best speaker was a black Baptist minister.  I mention that he's black so you can imagine this man.  He had that deliberate way of speaking that Southern Baptist ministers have cultivated and boy did he know how to work a microphone and a crowd.  While it seemed that he had very little connection to the gay community, per se, he spoke of seeing the massacre in Selma as a 14-year old and vowed then to never mistreat anyone just because they are different.  The he said things like, "One day, we will be able to say, 'I'm black and I'm proud,' 'I'm straight and I'm sensible.' " (See the comments for Bec's great recollection of this.)  He was a master.  I wish that today, nearly 30 years since Harvey Milk was murdered for being gay in the same city hall we stood in front of today, we could have been there celebrating a big step forward.

I continue to feel very dismayed about this issue and since the vote is over, I hope our lawmakers here take care of things, given that the populous can't seem to make a good decision. 

It was nearly 80 degrees today in SF (what?!?!) and so we left the rally around noon.  We weren't prepared for the heat.  Apparently after we did leave, everyone marched to the Castro.  I'm posting my pictures here, so those who are interested can browse.  A favorite sign that I didn't get to take a picture of: "When do I get to vote on your marriage?"

By going to the rally, I missed the West Regional Cross Country Championships, which I've had on my calendar for months.  I would have loved to have rung my cowbell at Olympian Galen Rupp as he tore up the Stanford Golf Course today.  There's always outdoor track, and this was just a bit more important today.