We wound up not going to the protest yesterday after all. Matt woke up sick yesterday morning and I didn’t want to go by myself. (And what illustrates couplehood more than looking after your sick partner?) But I’ve looked at a bunch of the photos and reports: see here and here. Andrew Sullivan yesterday was a clearinghouse as well.
I’m pretty sure this was the first coordinated coast-to-coast gay rights protest we’ve ever had in this country. There were events in all 50 states, plus D.C. and internationally. And this was crucial. Because it’s not just the protests in the big cities that were important — NY, DC, SF, LA — where crowds of a few thousand could gather. The smaller groups in the smaller places were important, too, and maybe even more important than in the places where we march all the time.
Here in the big cities, gays are everywhere. Straight people see us every day, or at least they know we’re here. Not so in the smaller cities and towns, where gays might congregate in hidden enclaves, such as online chat rooms or the local gay bar — getting to know each other, yes, but not visible to straight people.
For small groups of gays to protest where gays have never protested before was crucial. Straight people saw that we really are everywhere.
It was a brilliant idea, and it reminds me of Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy for the Democrats that some people saw as a waste of time. By competing in places where they never had before, Democrats forced people in every state to take them seriously. Yesterday, gay people did the same. In places like Oklahoma and Arkansas we are more highly visible today than we were yesterday. Even if the mainstream straight communities in those places don’t begin to take us more seriously now, rest assured that in every town or city where there was a protest, some confused kid or closeted adult or open-minded straight person saw that group of people with their signs, and something clicked inside each of their heads.
Change happens slowly. And it will continue to take time.
But we are better off because of what happened yesterday.
Too bad such protests never work.
If they did, we would never have invaded Iraq.
Our little protest here in Virginia’s capital city was well-attended, especially when you consider that it coincided with the Richmond Marathon (and its many downtown street closings) and some less-than-ideal weather conditions. All told, we drew 170 or so supporters, a respectful police presence, and nary a counter-protester in sight.