20\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/p>
20,000+ People March in L.A. To Demand\r\n\"Overturn Prop. 8!\"
\r\nHistoric March for LGBT Rights Takes the Streets
\r\n
\r\n<\/b>On Saturday, November 8, a\r\nhistoric march against the passage of <\/span>\r\n\r\nCalifornia<\/span><\/strong>\r\n\r\n’s\r\ndiscriminatory Proposition 8 filled the streets of <\/span><\/strong>\r\n\r\nSilver<\/span><\/strong>\r\n <\/span><\/strong>\r\nLake<\/span><\/strong>\r\n\r\n and <\/span><\/strong>\r\n\r\nHollywood\r\nin Los Angeles. <\/span><\/strong>Over\r\n20,000 people came from all over <\/span>\r\nSouthern California<\/span>\r\n to unite with a single voice to demand\r\ncivil rights and marriage equality.<\/span><\/b>\r\nIt was one of the largest--possibly the single largest--pro-LGBT rally in Los\r\nAngeles' history. The rally was initiated and led by the ANSWER Coalition and\r\nthe L.A. Coalition for Equal Marriage Rights. <\/b>The event was organized in\r\nonly three days with dozens of volunteer activists working 18-hour days, all to\r\nmake the event a success.\r\n\r\n<\/span>
\r\n
\r\nIn the days before, thousands of LGBT people and their allies had taken to the\r\nstreets to decry the passage of Prop. 8. Protesters marched on CNN, the Mormon\r\nTemple and held spontaneous demonstrations in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, San\r\nDiego and throughout the state.
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/strong>At<\/span>\r\n6 p.m. on Saturday, thousands of people had already arrived at Sunset Junction\r\nfor the protest and march, entirely blocking all of busy Sunset Blvd. Sunset\r\nJunction has great significance for the LGBT struggle. In 1967, two years before\r\nStonewall, the LGBT community rebelled against constant police harassment and\r\nbigoted raids on gay bars. Just minutes later, the rally kicked off, chaired by\r\nCarlos Alvarez and Peta Lindsay, youth organizers with the ANSWER Coalition. The\r\nfirst speakers were Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the first same-sex couple to\r\nmarry legally in California. Other speakers included community leaders, out\r\nlesbian candidate for California State Assembly, Lucilla Esguerra; National\r\nLawyers Guild-LA leader Jim Lafferty; ANSWER Coordinator Preston Wood; General\r\nHospital star Nancy Lee Grahn; West Hollywood mayor Jeffery Prang; and other\r\nsame-sex couples and equal rights activists.
\r\n
\r\nThe speakers denounced bigoted Prop. 8 and vowed to continue the struggle until\r\nall marriage rights are restored and LGBT equality is won. They denounced the\r\nongoing attempts to divide the LGBT community from people of color and\r\nimmigrants, and stressed the importance of unity.
\r\n
\r\nRally co-chair Lindsay, a graduate of Howard University, said, \"The\r\nright-wing is trying to keep our communities divided. We can't let that happen.\r\nWe all suffer discrimination and we must make common cause to struggle against\r\nthe true enemy--wealthy institutions and outlets that spread bigotry. No one\r\nshould be scapegoated. An injury to one is an injury to all!\"
\r\n
\r\nBy the time the march stepped off at 6:45 p.m., 20,000 people were in the middle\r\nof the streets of Los Angeles. The crowd was very diverse and reflected the wide\r\nspectrum of people in the LGBT community: Latino, Black, Asian, white and\r\nothers. The march filled the enormous span of Santa Monica Blvd., and then\r\nVermont Ave. and Sunset Blvd as it twisted through L.A. It measured at least 5\r\nblocks from beginning to end and was densely packed with people. It was a lively\r\nmarch carrying message of anger and hope. People chanted loudly and pumped their\r\nfists in the air, \"Gay, straight, Black, white--marriage is a civil\r\nright,\" and \"What do we want? Equality! When? Now!\"
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/strong>Local,\r\nNational & International Media Coverage<\/b><\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/strong>All the major national\r\nand local media--TV, print and radio--covered Saturday's Los Angeles mass\r\nprotest. From CNN to Good Morning America, organizers and participants were\r\ninterviewed. The lead cover photo and story in Sunday's L.A. Times was about the\r\nmarch. Our message was heard not only in the United States, but also in Europe,\r\nCentral America and Asia, as major international outlets covered the event.<\/span>
\r\n
\r\nClick\r\nhere to read the L.A. Times cover story on the Nov. 8 \"Overturn 8\"\r\nProtest.<\/b><\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/strong>All major outlets\r\ndescribed thousands or tens of thousands of people marching. This was correct. By\r\nall organizer and independent estimates, well over 20,000 people marched. <\/b>At\r\nthe same time, 10,000 people marched against Prop. 8 in San Diego. One day\r\nearlier, 15,000 people protested in San Francisco. The wave against Prop. 8 is\r\nbuilding and the struggle is sure to intensify and take different forms in the\r\nfuture.<\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/strong><\/span>After\r\nthe march returned to Sunset Junction, <\/span><\/strong>ANSWER\r\norganizer Carlos Alvarez said to the crowd, \"Los Angeles\r\n\r\n has never seen anything like this before. The outrage at having rights stripped\r\naway was channeled into a mass protest filled with hope and sentiment for\r\ncontinued struggle. The LGBT movement and its allies will continue to move\r\nforward with more protests, mass actions, speak outs, sit-ins, town hall\r\nmeetings and so much more. Tonight, the people truly have spoken--in the\r\nstreets. Prop. 8 will be overturned and we are certain that we will win.”
\r\n
\r\nClick\r\nhere to volunteer in the grassroots campaign to overturn Prop. 8.<\/b>
\r\n
\r\nClick\r\nhere for more photos and video from the Nov. 8 protest.\r\n<\/b>Photos by Kelly Wine and Marcial Guerra.
\r\n\r\n
\r\n<\/span>Donate\r\nto ANSWER's Work Today
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/b>Please\r\nconsider donating to ANSWER to keep the movement going strong. We incurred\r\nthousands of dollars in expenses in the few days before the event. Donate online\r\nby clicking the button below or call 213-251-1025<\/b>.\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n<\/b><\/span>Overturn Prop. 8! Marriage\r\nequality now! No to homophobia, sexism and racism! \r\n
\r\n
\r\n--------------------------------------------------<\/b><\/span>
\r\n<\/span>\r\n
\r\n<\/span>A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
\r\nAct Now to Stop War and End Racism
\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/b>213-251-1025
\r\nhttp:\/\/www.answerla.org
\r\n<\/span>answerla@answerla.org<\/span><\/u>
\r\n137 N. Virgil Ave., #201
\r\nLos Angeles, CA 90004
\r\nJoin us at ANSWER meetings - contact us to get involved!<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"answerla@answerla.org","link":"http:\/\/www.answerla.org","address":"137 N. Virgil Ave, #201, Los Angeles","phone":"213-251-1025","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Over 20,000 people came from all over Southern California to unite with a single voice to demand civil rights and marriage equality. It was one of the largest--possibly the single largest--pro-LGBT rally in Los Angeles' history. The rally was initiated and led by the ANSWER Coalition and the L.A. Coalition for Equal Marriage Rights. ","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2008\/11\/3017184360_33faaaac97_o.jpg","filesize":"449.5 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2008\/11\/222032.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2008\/11\/3017184360_33faaaac97_o.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2008\/11\/3017184360_33faaaac97_o.jpgthumb.jpg","medium":"\/uploads\/2008\/11\/3017184360_33faaaac97_o.jpgmid.jpg"}},"attachments":[{"id":222033,"heading":"Silver Lake LGBT March","article":"","author":"ANSWER Coalition","parent_id":222032,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2008-11-11 22:57:02","modified":"2008-11-11 22:57:02","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2008\/11\/3017184040_e78bbbd977_o.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2008\/11\/3017184040_e78bbbd977_o.jpg"}}],"comments":[]}