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'Day without a gay' protest fizzles
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Activists had billed Wednesday as "a day
without a gay," when gays and lesbians across the country would call in
sick, boycott shopping and show the impact of their absence from
everyday life.
Designed to be a protest against the Nov. 4 passage of Proposition
8, which bans same-sex marriage, the day's events drew only scattered
support in the Bay Area, the heart of the gay rights movement, and also
criticism.
Several gay and lesbian people said they couldn't afford to take the
day off, particularly in a tightening economy where many are concerned
about their jobs. And in the Castro district, business owners were
livid that people were encouraged to not shop during the holidays, a
peak time for retailers.
"Our rights have been taken away as much as anyone else's," said
Rich Boutell, who runs Whatever comics on Castro Street and whose
marriage was thrown into limbo with the Nov. 4 election. He and his
husband, Cougar Andrews, kept their store open and wished the "day
without a gay" organizers had encouraged gay-allied individuals to
patronize gay-owned businesses. "The whole purpose should be to support
your own, not to boycott. If you're going to have a protest, it should
be a positive thing. The gay dollar is powerful."
Those who did take off work said they did it with the cooperation of employers.
They included Glenn Coffee, 48, a Noe Valley resident who works at
Macy's and said the store has always been supportive of gay employees
and the gay community. The main purpose, he said, of calling in sick
was to show that "as a community, we can show we have worth."
The day's events prompted a mixed response, which might indicate
that the gay rights movement is still finding its voice. Gay and
lesbian people are included in ways never imagined decades ago, such as
domestic partnership rights in states across the nation and being
included by a presidential candidate in his election-night victory
speech.
But there are also dramatic challenges. Thirty states, including
California, explicitly ban same-sex marriage, and Arkansas voters
recently passed a ballot measure to ban unmarried couples from adopting
children, an initiative directly aimed at thwarting gay and lesbian
parenthood.
Religious groups, students, business owners and shoppers all had different views of a day focused on gay rights.
A group of Bay Area Catholics gathered in the Castro district on
Wednesday evening for a prayer vigil to atone for the actions of church
leaders. Because Wednesday was also International Human Rights Day,
they focused their efforts on the rights of gays and lesbians.
"The church we belong to, that I adore, that I feel very much a part
of in terms of social justice, supported the passage of Proposition 8,"
said Linda Swan, 57, of San Francisco, who attends St. John of God
Church in the Inner Sunset. "That just doesn't seem to be right. The
church has the right to say who can receive the sacrament of marriage
in the church, but not to keep people from their civil rights. "
Some of the most disparate ideas emerged at a noontime rally at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus.
Organizers joined two causes not often put in the same context:
financial aid for undocumented immigrants and same-sex marriage rights.
"We're all Californians," said Yvette Felarca, as she stood with
roughly a dozen activists speaking to students. "We all have a right to
the dignity and respect of the state we built."
One audience member, Mary Pham, said she was listening because she came to learn.
"I'm not sure what a day without gays is," said Pham, 21, who is
bisexual and who heard of the events through friends and Facebook, an
online social networking site. She wasn't aware of the movement for
financial aid for undocumented students, but, she said, "I want to undo
Prop. 8."
A larger event occurred Wednesday evening in San Francisco's Mission
District, where roughly 500 same-sex marriage supporters gathered for a
rally at the 24th Street BART station before marching north on Valencia
Street while joining in chants such as "Gay, straight, black,
white/Marriage is a civil right."
One speaker, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, said that continued protests
in response to the passage of Prop. 8 are important "so people
understand that this is sustainable ... What I like is that it's
organic."
Earlier, In the Castro district, Luis Felix said that he learned of
the "day without a gay" only on Tuesday night. Even if he'd learned
earlier, he still would have come into work at Louie's Barber Shop.
The reason was simple, he said: "I need to work."
