Thursday, March 5, 2009

Lesbian Threatens Million Gay Riot if Prop 8 Upheld

The California Supreme Court heard arguments today why it should overturn Proposition 8, the amendment to the California State Constitution specifying marriage as as between a man and a woman, and what to do with the 18,000 same sex marriages that occurred in the months before the November election. A lead petitioner in the case, Robin Tyler, is threatening massive street protests if Prop 8 is upheld.

In an op/ed published in the San Francisco Chronicle Monday, she argued for her same-sex marriage and against Prop 8. Robin Tyler ended with this threat if Prop 8 is upheld:
If the court does rule for us, tens of thousands of us will be on the streets that night celebrating a great victory, not just for us but for everyone.

But if we lose and Prop. 8 stands, even if the court rules to uphold existing same-sex marriages, hundreds of thousands of us will be on the streets, angrier than we have ever been.

The time for saying "please" is over.

Now, Reuters is reporting that the tone of the questions of the judges today indicates that they will not overturn prop 8. And Robin Tyler has upped the number she wants to come out into the streets:
Justices, including those who backed same-sex unions last year, asked questions showing they were wary of overstepping the court's role.

Some 18,000 same-sex couples married between June, after the court ruling, and November, when the ban passed. They included Robin Tyler, one of the lead petitioners in the case heard on Thursday. In addition to ruling on the legality of the ban, the court is deciding the fate of the marriages in limbo.

"I think they are going to uphold our marriages and they are going to uphold Proposition 8, and it's a loss," Tyler told Reuters after the arguments ended. "What I care about now is getting a million people in the street."

5 comments:

A. S. Haley said...

Thanks for this article, Perpetua. I have linked to it in my latest post.

BTW, a blessed St. Perpetua's day to you!

now said...

Why not have riots or protests?

karlboll said...

I can certainly believe there will be a lot of angry people on the streets if prop 8 is upheld although that should not be the reason for it's passing or refuse. After seeing the reactions after the election I'm quite worried.

Here in Sweden we have realized that you cannot legislate religion and that religion has no place in politics. Even so we've been debating gender-neutral marriages for over fifty years and voted on it twice before with a lot of setbacks, unholy unions and double-crossing in politics. The current government has stalled voting for over a year now and I can tell you the situation is getting ugly. Swedes usually does not take to the streets and tend to prefer democratic solutions to violence so I doubt if anyone here is going to do anything foolish. But I hear more voices every year asking what to do if we get another no.

Perpetua said...

Hi Karl,

I am surprised. I thought that gays already could marry in Sweden.

Perpetua said...

Hi now,

From an ordinary citizens perspective, the problem with riots is the economic damage they do a community. People don't come to shop in an area that has experienced riots. It is a subconscious fear that is hard to overcome. There is long term economic damage to neighborhoods that have been hit by riots.

From the pro-gay marriage perspective, the problem with riots is that it may frighten some people into treating one better to one's face. But people will actually think worse of one and one may actually become a worse person for indulging in the display.

It is like a child throwing a tantrum. The parents may indulge the child to get the child to stop. But the inferior status position of the child has actually hardened in the minds of the parents.

And we do have secret ballot voting. So it could hurt the chances of any pro-gay marriage ballot initiative in the future.