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Barack Obama will be taking a train to Washington.

National Rally Against Prop 8

This Saturday, across the country, there will be a rally against Prop 8. I had a long conversation with a close friend who worked extremely hard against the California marriage ban, and was rightly devastated when it passed. He expressed some legitimate criticism for these events and the ones that happened previously. The Proposition has already passed, and many of these people (myself included) should have worked before the election to stop Prop 8 from passing. 

On the other hand, I think these demonstrations will show the very real frustration at the lack of progress on LGBT issues. ENDA (even after trans Americans had been sold out) lingered and died in the Democratic Senate. In two years democrats made no effort to overturn DADT or DOMA in the legislature. Barack Obama has promised action on all three, and yet did very little to help with Prop 8, even after his voice was used in Yes on 8 robocalls. 

I do have real hope that in the next 2, 4, and 8 years we are going to see real strides towards equality and prosperity for all Americans, including LGBT Americans. But it can't hurt to make sure we're seen and heard and that we do everything we can to help Obama change our country.

So please turn out at your local event if you can. Below are some links:

The national web site for the event, with a lot of information that isn't always updated.

Also, the Kansas City rally Facebook event page, which has links to most of the Facebook event pages for the rest of the rallies and tend to be a more quickly updated.

Finally, Keith Oberman has an interesting commentary on the passage of Prop 8. 

Sad and Hopeful

What at this point, to me, seems so unfair is how unhappy I felt Tuesday night. The election of Barack Obama is one of the most important events in my life, if not the most important, and it was a victory in which I invested more time and energy than any election so far. The people in the Kansas City office are the most incredible collection of folks I've every had the plesure of getting to know, and I believe President Obama will bring us together will literally save our country. His overcoming of the racial barriers is incredible, and has already made great strides towards improving our nation's sadly impoverished reputation throughout the world. And Obama's policies and positions are highly in sync with mine, perhaps more so than any viable candidate in American history.

So why am I sad? I'm sad because it seems that Prop 8 will win. After a long and brutally fought (especially nasty on the Yes side) campaign, there's little left to say. If Barack Obama's election is democracy at it's best, then the success of Prop 8 is democracy at it's worst; it is tyranny of the majority. A well-funded, entrenched group used fear-mongering and demagoguery to strip the rights of a minority of citizens.

While this blow is staggering, I can't help but be optimistic. There is a huge age gap in support for same-sex marriage, and history is on our side. As Dr. King said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. We have a long fight ahead, but there is a clear light at the end of this tunnel.