Submitted by Jay Hubbell, Treasurer, Fresno Stonewall Democrats
Propositon 8 overturned
marriage equality by just 52% of California's voters in November of
2008. This was largely due to a poorly run statewide campaign that
neglected to make any effort to reach out to folks in the middle of the
state or any message about the damage denial of marriage equality would
cause to the LGBT community.
Robin McGehee, who has been a LGBT community activist in the Fresno area
for many years saw the need for the rest of the state to pay attention
to the conservative interior counties. She concieved of a massive rally
in the middle of the state, in Fresno, on the first Saturday following
the California Supreme Court's decision. She called it "Meet in the
Middle."
On May 30th thousands braved the infamous heat and travleed to Fresno
to protest the court's 6-1 decison to deny equal marriage rights to the
LGBT community.
The event began with a symbolic 15 mile civil rights march from Selma,
California to be greeted by the massive crowd of protestors assembled
in front of the Fresno City Hall.
Judging on the basis of numbers, "Meet in the Middle" was a huge success. Turnout estimates ranged as high as 5,000!
Actor Eric McCormick, of the long running TV series Will and Grace,
gave one of the best speeches of the day rhetorically asking the
opponents of marriage equality "How are you harmed by someone else
being able to have the same rights as you?"
The rally lasted nearly five hours as reprsentatives of other civil
rights causes such as Christine Chavez, daughter of farm worker
organizer Cesar Chavez, and Rev. Eric Lee of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference spoke to the crowd. Others speakers included well-known names of the movement
like Dustin Lance Black and Cleve Jones.
Over half the crowd had never been in Fresno before. About half
of all participants were straight allies. The overall sentiment was that "Meet inthe Middle"
is only a prelude to a new national movement for full equality. Cleve
Jones and others called for a "Meet on the Mall" in Wahington, DC in the
fall.
We will return to the ballot in November 2010 to repeal the ban
on marriage equality. If we succeed it will be the first time in
history that a major LGBT rights victory will have been secured by
popular vote.
For more information about "Meet in the Middle," please visit:
http://www.meetinthemiddle4equality.com/
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