Tomorrow's rally:
Los Angeles
12:00pm - 3:00pm
Los Angeles Catholic Cathedral
555 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA
-J.GUAVA
More here.
Tomorrow's rally: Los Angeles 12:00pm - 3:00pm Los Angeles Catholic Cathedral 555 W. Temple Street Los Angeles, CA -J.GUAVA
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As progressive individuals, and as a community, we struggle to bring equal rights across all barriers: to transcend gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and sexual preference and see ourselves as one people with one fight. As we saw with Tuesdays election though when both a majority of blacks and Latinos voted for Yes on proposition 8, -to eliminate same sex marriage- oppressed groups don't always see eye to eye, nor have a full understanding of each others struggles. Jasmyne Cannick, a Los Angeles based black queer writer, talks about such differences between the LGBT community and black community in the Los Angeles Time's article No-On-8's white bias. She writes: The white gay community never successfully communicated to blacks why it should matter to us above everything else -- not just to me as a lesbian but to blacks generally. The way I see it, the white gay community is banging its head against the glass ceiling of a room called equality, believing that a breakthrough on marriage will bestow on it parity with heterosexuals. But the right to marry does nothing to address the problems faced by both black gays and black straights. Does someone who is homeless or suffering from HIV but has no healthcare, or newly out of prison and unemployed, really benefit from the right to marry someone of the same sex? I wrote an email to Jasmyne to thank her for words that spoke to my own inner struggles as a bisexual Latino. Here is my email: I just finished reading your article "No-on-8's white bias" in the Los Angeles Times, and I want to express my gratitude. As a bisexual latino, I find myself in a similar situation within my community as I struggle to create my identity, and as a student community organizer at Cal State Long Beach, fight to free my community from the chains of institutionalized oppression. Though I marched last night in Long Beach, and will march tonight in Silverlake, even as a bi male, marriage is not on the top of my list of priorities and neither was prop 8. I am more thankful (though the media focused very little attention to this) that California said NO to proposition 6. Prop 6 (as you are probably aware) would have funneled money from education to increase police forces, and the racist prison industrial complex. Not to mention it would decrease the age of which a minor can be tried as an adult to 14. There were also provisions that would increase ice raids, and allowed police to enter peoples homes without proper permission. Of all the propositions, this one shook me up the most, for I saw it (and it was) as a direct attack on minorities in California, especially blacks and Hispanics. Taking away money from our already ill funded schools, would have only increased drop out rates, leading to a direct increase of youth on the streets. Youth on the streets without an education, become youth in gangs, who become bait to feed the incomes of California's police departments, and the corporations who insist on building more prisons. We end up in a state that spends up to $60,000 to incarcerate us, but only $8,000 (even less with the budget cuts) to educate us. Unfortunately, I don't think that the white mainstream sees the realities of such blatant discrimination, neither does the white LGBT community (who, i feel can be just as racist, and see Latino, Asian, and black LGBT community as no more than a porn fetish). I know this is not true for many within those communities (for which I'm grateful to live in Long Beach), but I still find it difficult to focus on issues such as marriage...when so many of our youth will drop out of school, be incarcerated, and be raised by single parent families. Single parents who struggle with 2-3 jobs, and still live below the poverty line with no access to health insurance. Nonetheless, I'll be at the march...and hopefully the white LGBT community will make it to ours. For though, we had same sex marriage for a few months until November 5th, we still have segregated schools and neighborhoods 54 years after Brown Vs. Board of Education. Thank you again, and hopefully your article will bring to light the bridges that still need to be built across our communities. Hope is in the air of course...and in our white house(!). In Peace, Love, and Solidarity, Rudy Duriez I, of course, plan to continue the fight for equal rights across all boards, for I truly believe we are one people. My question to all those who are part of the struggle though is: do you find yourself in a limbo between the struggles of different communities, and where your priorities lie?
-Rudy Duriez For a comprehensive list of No on Prop 8 rallies, click here. Please join us tonight in Long Beach as well as the march in Los Angeles on Saturday. -J.GUAVA 1 comments: allanrbrts said... Guys there is a great LGBT civil rights organization called the Empowering Spirits Foundation. They are very creative in how they approach this hot topic issue of gay marriage, in that they engage in service oriented activities in communities typically opposed to equal rights to foster thought and change for LGBT equality. A friend of mine told me about it and I thought it was a great, positive approach to the issue. We had so much fun at the last event and it was great to give back to the community. Plus it was great to converse with others on the other side of the table in a way that wasn't confrontational. Anyway, this can be such a heated issue and I thought this was a unique approach. March 7, 2009 10:54 PM Protesters rumble the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco while six same-sex couples protested the passing of Propisition 8 by taking the issue to the California Supreme Court. It is said the elections on November 4th proved to be two steps forward for the whole nation, perhaps world, but one step backwards for California. The next rally is this Saturday near the 101 freeway. Historically, the struggle for civil rights has never been won in just one election. Though California is quick to deny a minority group's right to marriage even after recently passing the May 2008 resolution, individuals opposing Prop 8 are not quick to stay silent. Meanwhile, an online petition is starting. -J.GUAVA Concerned students, faculty, and staff rocked the CSULB campus in opposition to the Conservative Student Union's (CSU) "Yes on Prop 8" rally. It seemed a quiet morning last Wednesday until the Friendship Walk was swarmed by a stampede of people in strong opposition to Prop 8. Brother Jed, sponsored by the CSU, led the debate in agreement with the proposition. However, the CSU was outnumbered both in quantity and quality--megaphones filled the air with an intense hollering of "No on Hate," as well as the consolidated presence of anti prop 8 individuals from Women's Studies Student Association (WSSA), F.O.R.C.E., La Raza, and Campus Progressives.
It is unusual for multinational companies to take a public, political stance against anything. Fortunately, Apple and Google each have voiced their concerns. The former went so far as to donate $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 Campaign. Google on the other, states "While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love." Personally, I believe the Prop 8 initiative is fundamentally misguided and a harsh reminder of institutionalized segregation in the initial 200+ years since the creation of this nation. Taking away equal opportunity and equalized judgment under the law would further segment the incredibly diverse population. Though the very progressive cities of California are against Prop 8, there is still a wide, conservative array of suburban/rural areas in Cali. Drive down any suburban neighborhood and you are bound to see those 'enlightening' "Yes on Prop 8" signs. Whatever your decision, please keep in mind the struggle behind equalizing populations of color, sexual orientation, gender, and religion. Though this nation is not entirely unified, the amount of energy and time dedicated to preserving one's own civil liberties is more significant than any spontaneous initiative.
-J.GUAVA 1 comments: warrenismad said... When people like me said we will cut up our cards and avoid American vehicle purchases-we meant it-ASK COORS-we have double incomes-our houses are likely paid for and we are BRAND LOYAL-wall st once described the Gay community as a 'dream market' because we are so targetable....it's a double edged sword-we can target back-yeday I told the Saturn of Elk Grove you are in or out-they wanna be germans who never see concentration camps-so our next car is a Subaru.....I predict a slowdown of biblical proportions if we don't get our way. Warren Sanford No on H8 Sacramento October 24, 2008 2:54 PM |
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