Anti Prop 8 Rally

Yesterday, in a fit of outrage and disbelief, I deviated from the usual topic of this blog, my photography, and got a little more personal. A lot more personal, actually. As a lesbian and member of the GLBT community, I was appalled and angry with the outright bigotry of the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8. And yesterday I took action, first in the cyber world by bombarding my Facebook/Myspace/Blog with information about the results, with my personal outrage, and with a call to action. Then I took to the streets of Chicago and let my voice be heard.

In 108 cities across the United States, "Day of Decision" protests against the court's decision to uphold Proposition 8 took place. GLBT people and Allies marched the streets, stood at courthouse steps, held their signs and waved their flags, and shouted from the depths of their disappointment and frustration with the bigotry of this country. People marched in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and my friends in San Francisco marched the Castro. I'm proud to say I was among the 1000 people who marched down Halsted Street here in Chicago. We stopped traffic; our voices pulled people away from their TVs to their windows and interrupted dinners at the local restaurants; we coaxed people from their homes out onto the sidewalks where they watched in silence or cheered/whistled/clapped in celebration of our passing. I walked down Halsted hand in hand with my girlfriend, and I have never been more proud to be with her than in that moment. It was an exhilarating feeling.

I tried my best to take photographs of the event. I was more focused on being in the moment than taking pictures, but I have a few to show. Note: None of these have been edited because I wanted to get them up on here right away.

There is so much more I could say about the issue, but I think it would come off as too preachy. My personal interest in this, while wrought with legitimate feeling and raw passion, is just one person's story amongst the millions in this country affected by bigotry. The people and the government of this country have a long way to go before they overcome prejudices. And it's going to be an uphill battle for the GLBT community. Obama is not the President who is going to make everything better for us. He is just another stepping stone.

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots, the official (to the GLBT community) start of the Gay Rights movement. I think it's appropriate that on the 40th anniversary the GLBT community is coming together again, as strong as our forefathers were then, to fight for basic civil rights that every human being in this country is entitled to.