Coverage From the Front Lines
Erie, Penn. Shows Up in the Rain2008-11-20 13:27 On Saturday, November 15, residents of Erie and the surrounding area took part in a nationwide event protesting the recently voted on Proposition 8 in California, which removed the rights of same sex couples to marry. For more info, check out http://www.eriegaynews.com. Photos by Deb Spilko. Janice Hanusik and Laurie...
Read the full post... Seattle Rallies for Marriage Equality2008-11-17 21:36 The massive protest rally and march for marriage equality in Seattle began Saturday morning with a moment of silence at 11 a.m. to observe the "extinguishment of our freedom to marry in California." An impassioned lineup of speakers followed, including Washington State senator Ed Murray, state senator Joe McDermott, King...
Read the full post... A Personal Story From the Austin Rally2008-11-17 20:07 In May, California's supreme court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, and when the ruling was implemented 30 days later, people like Jeff Lutes and Gary Stein exchanged vows and signed a marriage license. "There was something about looking into this man's eyes that I've loved for 11...
Read the full post... A Walk Through Williamsburg2008-11-17 18:16 How'd you like to protest through scenic Williamsburg, Virginia? Though organizers expected to get maybe 50 people to attend their rally on Saturday, more than 150 showed up, thanks in large part to Facebook and help from the College of William and Mary Lambda Alliance.
Read the full post... From Hawaii to Alaska2008-11-17 17:22 Through sun and snow, LGBT's turned out to rally over the weekend. Check out these pics we just got from Fairbanks, Alaska and, from a decidedly more sunny climate... Honolulu, Hawaii.
Read the full post... Music City USA Raises Its Voice for Marriage Equality2008-11-16 21:18 This picture of the Nashville protest doesn't do it justice. There were over 200 people in attendance. Shortly after the picture was taken, the rally turned into an impromptu march down Broadway (the main strip of downtown Nashville). It was amazing! We had a lot more supportive honks than negative...
Read the full post... Ashton Kutcher Gets Emotional About Prop. 82008-11-16 20:43 OK, so it doesn't really surprise us that Ashton Kutcher is against Prop. 8. It just sort of seems to go with his whole vibe. But the fact that he got so passionate about that fact that Americans are ever voting on civil rights took us off guard. Check out...
Read the full post... Houston Comes Out Loud and Strong2008-11-16 20:32 The Lone Star State's largest and most vibrant LGBT community showed up almost 1,000 strong Saturday amid the glass-and-steel towers of downtown Houston to protest California voters' unfortunate decision to deprive their fellow gay and lesbian citizens' of the right to marry. The protesters' sense of solidarity with their California...
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Complete Proposition 8 Blog Coverage >
More Proposition 8 Coverage from Advocate.com
The temptation
exists in our culture to relate current events to famous
past historical moments via some clichéd shorthand.
Every scandal is a something-gate. Every trend du jour
is the new black. And in this digital era, every new
version of something that happened before is a 2.0 -- like
the overly simplistic effort to brand the protests that
followed the passing of Prop. 8 as Stonewall 2.0.
December 17, 2008
By Steve Friess
Since the passage
of Prop. 8, many gays and lesbians have been
searching for clarity on why we suffered a close loss at the
ballot box. With emotions high, suggestions,
criticism, and questions somehow seem out of bounds.
Meanwhile, we continue to wait for insight from those who
are perhaps most able to offer it: the executive committee
of Equality for All.
December 15, 2008
By Lane Hudson
The concept was
simple and straightforward: Much like the Day Without an
Immigrant march and strike of 2006, Wednesday, December 10,
was supposed to be a Day Without a Gay -- a strike in
response to the passing of California’s Prop.
8. Despite dedicated volunteer work and a
well-intentioned mission statement, by most accounts, it
failed.
December 11, 2008
By Michelle Garcia and Neal Broverman
On the heels of
nationwide rallies and protests, response to the passing
of antigay legislation in four states on Election Day kicks
into high gear Wednesday, December 10, with Day
Without a Gay. As tempting as it may be to spend the
day catching up on TiVo, organizers are urging gays
and lesbians to spend the day volunteering and putting
a human face on the "people that this equal rights
battle is about."
December 10, 2008
By Ross von Metzke
Mormons poured
millions of dollars into a successful effort to pass
California’s anti–gay marriage Proposition 8.
And ever since the election, there’s been talk
among gay people about a ban on all things Utah,
including the Park City–based Sundance Film Festival.
But now two prominent gay groups -- the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and Outfest --
have announced that they will participate in the
prestigious film showcase.
December 6, 2008
Ross von Metzke
Keith Olbermann
has long been a reliable ally of LGBT people, but the
host of MSNBC’s Countdown became a
full-fledged hero with his November 10 Special Comment
passionately denouncing California voters’
passage of Prop. 8. Olbermann sat down for an extended
interview with The Advocate to talk about his
commitment to equal rights, working with Rachel Maddow, and
that impersonation by Ben Affleck.
December 5, 2008
By Trudy Ring
After Prop. 8
passed, Hairspray composer Marc Shaiman made
headlines when he took a Sacramento theater director to task
for staging a production of his musical -- and
donating money to Prop. 8. The director ultimately
resigned, but Shaiman, still fired up, sunk his energy
into a new project -- Prop. 8: The Musical.
Shaiman talked to Advocate.com about FunnyOrDie.com's latest
Web sensation.
December 4, 2008
By Ross von Metzke
In the December
16 edition of The Advocate, writer Ben
Ehrenreich analyzed the differing opinions of why Prop. 8
passed at the polls in his article, "Anatomy of a Failed
Campaign." Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center chief public
affairs officer Jim Key responds to the criticisms
raised by that article.
November 26, 2008
By Jim Key
The old saying
goes that every cloud has a silver lining. And on November
5, the day after California voters stripped same-sex
couples of the right to marry, so many around the
country were searching for one. Although thousands of
individuals, organizations, and
businesses donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, not one
Fortune 500 company is among those names. But on the
opposite side, the side of fairness and basic rights,
you’ll find some of the nation’s most
successful and powerful corporate players.
November 21, 2008
By Daryl Herschaft
Advocate.com gets
an early peek at a very heated episode of Dr.
Phil. Gavin Newsom, HRC's Joe Solmonese, and L.A.
attorney Gloria Allred face off against Prop. 8
supporters to talk same-sex marriage. In what may well
be a first, Dr. Phil told the audience he would be keeping
his opinions to himself.
November 20, 2008
By Christopher Lisotta
The injection of
race into the analysis of Proposition 8's
passage is extremely disappointing. A battle for equal
rights has now turned into an issue of whites versus
blacks. But while some black gays think marriage
shouldn't be a priority and that outreach to
African-Americans should have been stronger, journalist Clay
Cane says he has a vested interest in inequalities
related to both race and sexual orientation ...
and he doesn't need someone to hold his hand to
believe that marriage equality is important.
November 20, 2008
By Clay Cane
The high number
of African-Americans who voted to pass Proposition 8 may
have surprised some people, but not the folks at the
National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights
organization dedicated to empowering black LGBT
Americans. NBJC's CEO offers some insights about the
black-white divide and how to mend it going forward.
November 19, 2008
By H. Alexander Robinson
In the wake of
finger-pointing following California's passing of Prop. 8,
television writer and producer Tajamika Paxton suggests the
time has come to build a bridge between the LGBT and
African-American communities -- to engage in
discussion rather than looking for somewhere to place blame.
November 18, 2008
By Tajamika Paxton
In the wake of
California’s passage of Proposition 8, protests are
popping up around the country -- and so are comparisons
between gays’ and African-Americans’
fights for equality. Is gay the new black? Michael
Joseph Gross examines two struggles for civil rights. Plus:
Photos from Wednesday night's rally in New York City.
November 16, 2008
By Michael Joseph Gross
From coast
to coast, from gay to straight, from Pink to Mormon
moms--a national movement to protest the passing of Prop. 8
in California rises up.
November 16, 2008
By Ross von Metzke
As Dr. Niles
Crane on the hit sitcom Frasier, David Hyde
Pierce had a great deadpan. That also extended to his own
life: For years he wouldn’t confirm or deny being
gay. Since then he thawed enough to thank his longtime
partner, Brian Hargrove, in his 2007 Tony Award
acceptance speech. And on Saturday, Pierce was one
baseball-capped protester among maybe 20,000 others marching
for equality in Los Angeles.
November 15, 2008
By Anne Stockwell
More than a
million people are expected to turn out for Saturday's
international rally to collectively raise their voices
against discrimination and inequality. JoinTheImpact.com's Amy Balliett says
she created the site and the rally just a week ago,
and the response has been immense.
November 15, 2008
By Michelle Garcia
Proposition 8:
Gearing Up
I've been waving
a sign on street corners since H8 passed: "Black
Queers." Responses have varied -- from honks of support
to looks of disapproval from both blacks and whites. A
black woman came up to me at a rally and asked me if I
didn't think the sign was offensive to black people. I
said, "It's who I am, and people should know."
November 14, 2008
By Faith Cheltenham
Eight years ago
Advocate associate editor Neal Broverman packed
up his car and moved from Connecticut to California to
find freedom and acceptance. Now that marriage is legal
in Connecticut, he's wondering if he ever should have
left.
November 14, 2008
By Neal Broverman
On the same day
that the state of Connecticut began allowing same-sex
marriages, thousands of New Yorkers gathered to protest the
recent ruling in California taking away those same
rights. Over 15,000 people gathered Wednesday night in
protest of Proposition 8, the California ballot
initiative that overturned a recent court ruling allowing
same-sex marriage.
November 13, 2008
By Emmet Sullivan
Forty-four California state senators and assembly
members on Monday signed a friend-of-the-court
brief to support lawsuits seeking to overturn
Proposition 8, which voters passed last week,
banning same-sex marriage. Senator-elect Mark Leno,
author of the "only marriage equality bills to reach a
governor's desk," and Sen. Carole Migden were among
the petitioners.
November 13, 2008
By Kandice Day
L.A. eatery El
Coyote, long known for attracting a heavily LGBT client
base, is facing the heat now that bloggers have revealed one
of the managers, who is a niece of the original
owners, had donated to the pro-Proposition 8
campaign. El Coyote's answer: a free
lunch/press conference giving her a forum to explain her
decision. But the 70-some people in attendance were
none too pleased with what they heard. Is a boycott
the answer?
November 12, 2008
By Christopher Lisotta
Our new
president-elect, California's African-American voters, and
unfortunate homophobia in churches have created a fuzzy rift
between blacks and gays. It's time to stop creating
scapegoats and get proactive.
November 12, 2008
The Reverend Irene Monroe
On NBC's The
Office gay accountant Oscar Martinez brings some
diversity to the motley crew run by Michael Scott
(played by Steve Carell). Martinez is brought to life
by Oscar Nuñez, a straight,
Cuban-born actor who feels strongly about the
passage of Prop. 8 and how Californians can overturn it.
November 11, 2008
By Neal Broverman
For many the
passing of Prop. 8 is the first time anything of
significance has gone so wrong for gays and
lesbians -- we've had no other choice but to
stand up and fight. This weekend 12,000 people-plus
descended on Los Angeles's Silver Lake district, proving
that when faced with discrimination, if the
gays have to choose between equal rights and a
rum and diet Coke, they may fill up a flask -- but
they’ll march.
November 10, 2008
By Ross von Metzke
Pointing fingers
at California's African-Americans over the passage of
Proposition 8 is rushing to judgment, writes The
Advocate's Teresa Morrison. Race-baiting is simply a
repeat of the terrible injustice of Prop. 8.
November 10, 2008
By Teresa Morrison
More than 200
protesters gathered in front of Los Angeles’s
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Sunday as part
of a continuing spate of demonstrations against the
narrow passage of California’s Proposition 8,
which bans same-sex marriages. Initially billed as a "quiet
vigil of peace," the event was more similar to recent
Prop. 8 demonstrations: signs, honks, and chants.
November 10, 2008
By Christopher Lisotta
When Californians
took to the polls on Tuesday, November 4, 52.5% cast a
vote against equal rights, saying same-sex marriage has no
place in the Golden State. But in the wake of
California’s LGBT population lamenting yet
another blow to their rights, something magical happened.
LGBT Californians stood up, brushed themselves
off, and prepared for the fight of a generation.
November 9, 2008
By Anne Stockwell and Ross von Metzke
In a
post-Election Day press conference in Los Angeles,
California U.S. senator Barbara Boxer said the passage
of Proposition 8 by voters was not the end of the
civil rights struggle for marriage equality. Boxer said
that despite fellow Democrat Barack Obama’s historic
presidential win and gains in both the U.S. House and
Senate for her party, the loss of Proposition 8
“put a damper effect” on her election night.
November 5, 2008
By Christopher Lisotta
When former Log
Cabin Republicans president Patrick Guerriero came
to San Francisco to visit the No on 8 headquarters, he
didn’t know he’d wind up staying to run
the biggest LGBT rights political campaign in history.
But with a measly million in the bank and the Mormon church
raising money hand over fist, No on 8 needed help, and
Guerriero stepped in to close the gap -- and, with any
luck, make history.
October 31, 2008
By Christopher Lisotta
NCIS star Pauley Perrette writes a letter
against Prop. 8.
October 27, 2008
By Pauley Perrette
NCIS star Pauley Perrette calls herself a "Christian,
churchgoing, Bible-quoting, praying, thinking civil rights
activist" -- which might explain the actress's
passionate letter and grassroots efforts urging
Californians to vote no on Prop. 8.
October 27, 2008
By Ken Knox
Howard F.
Ahmanson Jr. has put $900,000 of his own money into passing
California's gay marriage ban, but it's not the first time
the flush ascetic has injected his religious views
into politics. From stemming affirmative action to
stoking unrest within the Episcopal Church, Ahmanson
has been one of the most influential political donors in the
country.
October 13, 2008
By Kerry Eleveld
