By Kathleen Gilbert
US, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Protesters scattered across the U.S. took to the streets on Saturday, calling on the nation to dissolve the authentic definition of marriage in an effort largely organized by JointheImpact (www.jointheimpact.com).
The organization’s website claims that 300 cities joined in the rally, while less enthusiastic estimates put that number somewhere between 80 and 150.
Cities such as Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York saw homosexual protestors chanting, waving homemade signs, and marching around city halls to demand same-sex “marriage.” Protestors also descended upon cities in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where state courts have already introduced same-sex “marriage.” According to media reports the groups ranged in size from a few dozen to several thousand.
“We brought the world’s attention to the outrage that is Proposition 8,” read a statement on JointheImpact.com, referring to California’s true marriage amendment. “We brought the conversation of equality into the living rooms of America and around the world! Today, we took a gigantic step into the next Civil Rights Movement.”
JointheImpact is a relatively new, largely internet-based homosexual movement whose mission, according to the website, is “to encourage the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer) community not to look towards the past and place blame” but to achieve “full equality for ALL.” The group encouraged rally organizers to refrain from violent activity.
Speakers at the rallies insisted that maintaining the true definition of marriage in law is to deny homosexuals their civil rights. “From Golden Gate Park to Loring Park, we will step together until this battle is won,” Minneapolis City Council Member Gary Schiff told a Minnesota crowd, according to the Star Tribune. “We will not forget the tens of thousands of gay couples who had their loves erased in California.”
“I want equality. I want to be able to marry who I want to marry, when I want to marry him,” Utah rallier Nathan Bohman told the Salt Lake Tribune.
California cities hosted the biggest rallies, with agitation continuing to run high following the success of Proposition 8 in the November 4 election. Proposition 8 amended the state constitution to specify that marriage is between a man and a woman, and reversed the decision of the Supreme Cout judges who imposed same-sex “marriage” on California in May.
California homosexualists have been fighting to overturn Proposition 8 in the state courts, and on Saturday protestors converged in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Palm Springs, and Long Beach.
In Los Angeles, crowds were estimated at between 8,000 to 10,000, making it the largest of the nation’s rallies, while falling well short of the projected 40,000.
Signs reading “No More Mr. Nice Gay” and “I am a victim of H8” bobbed along downtown streets in what the L.A. Times called a “carnival-like atmosphere.”
One video of the L.A. rally shows two men dressed as brides, one masked and dancing to drums with a sign that read “America, Marry Me!”
Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, criticized Saturday’s rallies, which demanded that California courts overturn Proposition 8, despite the fact that Prop. 8 marked the second time in eight years that Californian citizens had voted to protect true marriage in the state.
“By attacking the people’s vote to protect marriage in the state constitution, homosexual activists have declared war on our republic and our democratic system,” he said.
True marriage advocates have repeatedly pointed out that across the US voters have consistently voted to protect the true definition of marriage, and that homosexual “marriage” only exists in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and existed in California, thanks to the activism of a handful of unelected judges.
See related LifeSiteNews.com articles:
Update: Nationwide Homosexual Anarchist Organization Behind Attack on MI Church Planning Further Disruptions
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111402.html
Pelosi: California Voters Just Didn’t Grasp the Meaning of Proposition 8
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111309.html
Same-Sex “Marriage” Supporters Furious at California Loss: Lawsuits Filed Challenging Proposition 8
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08110611.html