Queer Liberaction just sent along a reminder that the group’s Dallas Day of Decision Rally will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Cedar Springs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue. The rally will take the form of a protest if the California Supreme Court upholds Prop 8, or a celebration if Prop 8 is declared unconstitutional. The court has announced that it will issue its ruling at 10 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday (noon Dallas time). Queer Liberaction is also inviting people to join the group at 7 p.m. today (Friday) at Buli Cafe, 3908 Cedar Springs Road, to help spread the word about the Dallas Day of Decision Rally. For more info, go to www.queerliberaction.org. Read the full press release after the jump.
Dallas – At 7:00 pm on Tuesday, May 26 Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender (GLBT) people and allies will rally at the corner of Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn in response to the California Supreme Court’s ruling on Proposition 8. The court gave notice on Friday, May 22nd that it will issue it’s ruling at noontime on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Dallas based Queer Liberaction is working with DayofDecision.org, the organization behind a push for nationwide actions on the day the court issues its ruling on this case.
DayofDecision.org has been organizing actions to take place across the country on the day the California Supreme Court issues its ruling on the Proposition 8 case. Protests have been planned in the event the court upholds Prop 8, or celebrations in the case of its invalidation. This has become a national issue because if Prop 8 is upheld, it will be the first time in American history that a recognized minority group would be taken out of a constitution.
While the drive for a national day of action has been spearheaded by DayofDecision.org, the Dallas based direct action group Queer Liberaction has organized this event locally. Organizing an event such as this without knowing its exact date until the very last minute has presented its challenges, but according to Queer Liberaction founder, Blake Wilkinson, having the public’s voice heard on this historical day is very important.
“Whether we’re handed a victory or defeat we will rally at the corner of Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs this coming Tuesday at 7:00 in the evening. If the California Supreme Court overturns Prop 8 we will celebrate while pushing our win and riding the momentum of marriage equality that is sweeping this nation. If the court upholds Prop 8 and allows a narrow majority to strip civil rights away from a minority, we will protest as vigorously as possible. The only thing worse than a defeat is a passive acceptance of it†says Blake Wilkinson organizer with Queer Liberaction.
On Thursday, March 5 the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the Proposition 8 case. Prop 8, the highest funded campaign on social issues in US history rescinded previously won marriage equality rights from LGBT people. Prop 8 passed on Election Day 2008. The California Supreme Court has heard arguments on a legal technicality regarding whether Prop 8 was a revision to rather than an amendment to the state’s constitution.
California often has been a precedent setting battleground state. It was there in 1948 when the California Supreme Court ruled that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. The 1948 California Supreme Court decision set a precedent which influenced some 13 other states to repeal their anti-miscegenation laws prior to the United States Supreme Court case Loving v Virginia, which in 1967 ruled that marriage equality between race is a fundamental right. Prop 8 is just as bigoted as the pre-1948 California laws prohibiting interracial marriages.
QL,
Will be there to support this effort. You are right…..regardless of the result…we need to be visible to America and Dallas, TX about this issue.
I encourage our community to be there on Tuesday night. This is A MOVEMENT that needs all of us to get our ass’s off the couch and demand our equal. rights. We have never had a better opportunity than now.. Shame on us if we do not take advantage of this incredible moment in history.
See you at the monument!
It just occurred to me that Tuesday is my birthday… I sure hope the Supreme Court of California makes it a memorable one — in a GOOD way.
I will be there on Tuesday. BUT I hope that we all keep in mind if the courts don’t rule our way that gay marriage was not the issue placed before the bench of the California Supreme Court in this case. It was the method in which the California voting public used a slim voting majority to take rights away from a minority. The court making this decision has already made their support of gay marriage clear in their ruling last year when they decided it should be allowed. The tone of this rally, should the courts uphold the peoples’ vote no matter how misinformed it might be, should not blast the California supreme court or their ruling in a way that suggests they are against marriage. I think that message does nothing to add legitimacy to our movement and would only make the participants at that point seem sophomoric and ignorant of what actually took place. This ruling is really neither a victory or defeat for marriage. It is a victory or defeat for all California minority groups because if a narrow majority can take away rights and continue oppresion of a minority then this is not the country which we thought it was supposed to be. So while it is important to vocalize our demands it is also important to be clear and not cause trouble for our movement by making it seem to need illegitimate arguments to keep it afloat.
Right on Damien. I totally agree with your comments. We have allies on the court and we should not condemn their decision if they determine not to overturn Prop 8. I also believe that not overturning Prop 8 could be a good thing for our movement. Benefits? (1) Continued press and debate about the issue. The more we discuss/debate the unfairness, the further we progress with our cause as Americans start to “get it”. (2) Refueling of gay activists that were infuriated with the California vote. The national gay response to Prop 8’s victory was unbelievable. Sometimes, you need another “kick in the stomach” to get you off your ass and do something. (3) Better to win the issue through the ballot process and chances are pretty good that can be done in California as attitudes toward gay marriage change daily as more states pass marriage equality laws. This time, we should have our act together to fight the Mormons that essentially paid for Prop 8 to pass. Passage of gay marriage through popular vote is by far the best way to legitimize it and change public opinion.
I am an optimist and hope they overturn Prop 8. But I am also optimistic if they don’t. I think either way…we will eventually win our rights.
That said….I will attend tomorrow’s rally and hope I don’t have to leave because the focus is against the California S.C. that made the decision….whom earlier totally agreed to our rights to marry whom we choose.