The fight for equality goes on

IN THE wake of a narrow loss to the right wing in Maine earlier this month, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists mobilized across the country to raise their voices for equality--and promise to continue the fight in the months to come.

For many LGBT activists--who have seen the birth of a new movement in support of equal rights over the past year, including the 200,000-strong National Equality March in October--the narrow approval of Question 1, which overturned same-sex marriage rights in Maine, inspired the same kind of anger that prompted protests following the passage of California's Proposition 8 last year.

In many cases, protests last week were part of Equality Across America's "week of initiatives"--and provided a concrete next step in organizing on the heels of the National Equality March.

In Los Angeles, 500 people marched November 4 to mark the one-year anniversary of the passage of Proposition 8 and protest the passage of Question 1 in Maine. Under a banner reading "Bury Prop 8--Death to Discrimination," the crowd called for the repeal of Prop 8 and full federal civil rights. The march ended at the site of the former Black Cat Tavern, where two years before the Stonewall Rebellion, gays and their allies organized protests against a brutal police raid on the gay bar on January 1, 1967.

In Washington, D.C., a call put out for the morning of November 4, the day after the election, drew out more than 150 protesters with only about five hours' notice.

On the same day in San Francisco, approximately 200 people filled the Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro district for a rally and speak-out called by the grassroots group One Struggle, One Fight. Speakers emphasized the need for the community to fight back for other issues affecting the community, while organizing for same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Many speakers also criticized the Obama administration for failing to be a fierce advocate for LGBT rights, as it has claimed it would be. They talked about the need to challenge the administration and Congress to win our demands.

After the rally and speakout, the crowd took over the street and marched, before occupying the intersection at 18th and Castro Streets.

In Chicago, on November 5, some 200 people came together to demonstrate against the Maine decision. Protesters gathered outside the Thompson Center, then marched, bringing life and fury to the streets of downtown Chicago.

Author and activist Sherry Wolf advocated the need to turn the battle from the state to the federal level. Fighting for rights state by state, she argued, hinders the LGBT movement by keeping us divided.

Protesters were also fired up about discrimination by Hunters Nightclub, a bar in suburban Elk Grove, which recently announced that cross-dressing and transgender clientele must now present ID that matches their "gender presentation." A recent protest at the bar turned out dozens of Chicago-area activists.

Corrine Mina, president of the grassroots group Join the Impact-Chicago, stated at the rally, "If the majority got to vote on Black rights state by state during the 1960s, the civil rights movement surely wouldn't have gotten anywhere."

In San Diego, activists combined the fight for LGBT rights with the fight for labor rights, as 100 people rallied November 4, and then marched to the Manchester Hyatt, which is under boycott by UNITE HERE Local 30 due to workers being forced to clean twice the number of rooms of unionized hotels. Billionaire owner Doug Manchester has been a target of LGBT activists and allies since he fronted $125,000 last year to help get Prop 8 onto the ballot.

At the rally, Steve Whitburn, an openly gay former candidate for San Diego City Council in 2008, pointed out the number of non-gay people who voted to support same-sex marriage in Maine. He also expressed regret at President Obama's failure to take a stand on the question.

International Socialist Organization member and president of the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME) Zakiya Khabir also spoke, pointing out the lack of labor and housing protections for LGBT people in over half of states, and the fact that LGBT people, especially transgender people, continue to be frequent victims of hate crimes.

Miguel and Robert Close-Rodriguez, chapter leaders of Marriage Equality USA chapter and a married couple, also spoke together from the mic. Rodriguez's speech moved many when he told the crowd that "we are all familia here"--that he is a son, a grandson and an uncle, and that he should have the same rights as anyone else in this country.

Seventeen-year-old Scripps Ranch High School student Jase Watson, who planned the event with the help of SAME and other community partners, told a reporter, "The reason why I'm so impassioned about it is because I firmly believe that the voter box should not have been used to take away the rights that were given to people by the Supreme Court of this state."

In Gainesville, Fla., solidarity with labor was on display as well, as students at the University of Florida raised demands for not only LGBT equality, but fair treatment of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers--who grow and pick much of the food for the University.

In Seattle, where voters approved Referendum 71--a ballot measure confirming a state law providing many rights, though not marriage itself, to domestic partners--students at the University of Washington staged a kiss-in to celebrate. The event was organized by Students Organizing for LGBT Equality (SOLE), which formed after the October 11 Seattle Equality March to raise awareness and to organize to fight for LGBT issues on the campus.

A city-wide rally to celebrate is being planned by Seattle OUTProtest for November 14.

In Providence, R.I., approximately 40 activists gathered in front of the federal courthouse to protest the Maine results. While there was a degree of understandable disappointment, activists from the Providence Equality Action Committee urged those in attendance to not let this temporary setback to deter Rhode Islanders from waging its own battle for marriage equality as soon as the legislature gets back into session next year.

Ann Coleman of Join the Impact-MA came down from Boston to deliver a solidarity statement. "In Massachusetts, where we are celebrating the sixth anniversary of full marriage equality, none of the terrible things the right wing said would happen did," she said, "and now we know this isn't about morality or the sanctity of marriage or whatever, but as long as there is a federal [Defense of Marriage Act], those rights are incomplete."

Massachusetts has had Marriage Equality since 2004, but does not have transgender employment non-discrimination, whereas Rhode Island has had employment non-discrimination for transgender people since 2001 and has yet to allow a marriage-equality bill to be put up for a vote.

Texas saw turnouts in both Austin, where 80 people marched through the streets of downtown, and in Houston, where an equal number came out. On just two days' notice, Houston activists with Equality Across America met at a local park and then marched to city hall, chanting along the way.

In Portland, Ore., 35 people rallied in Pioneer Square against the Maine vote and in celebration of LGBT victories in both Washington state and Kalamazoo, Mich. People spoke about the need to continue organizing efforts, to question politicians and to create an independent movement that looks to push forward against those who tell us it's time to wait.

In Northampton, Mass., 25 people turned out for a protest at City Hall that was called the same day the Maine election results were announced. Attendees spoke about the need to keep fighting for equality, despite the disappointment of this defeat, as well as the need to push for full civil equality for LGBT people at the federal level.

Organizers founding a local chapter of Equality Across America were on hand, encouraging people to get involved.