Friday, May 26, 2009

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, California -- Between 300 and 400 people--perhaps more at the peak of the activity--gathered at the corner of Foothill and Day Creek Boulevards under the auspices of the recently-formed Equality Inland Empire (EQIE), a coalition of human rights, student, activist, and LGBT organizations.

Chants included "What do we want? Equal rights!" "Gay, Straight, Black, White, Marriage is a civil right!" and "Eight is hate!"

Early on, an angry white man with a large sign bearing Bible verses approached and yelled slurs at us, condemning us all to hell. A few people let him know he wasn't welcome, but the majority expressed sentiments of unconditional love and understanding. Not finding the conflict he was looking for, he went hunting for a fight on the other corners. We loved him away!

When I left at nine, there was still a large and diverse crowd: old and young, white, black, latino, asian, and mixed race, the overly-normal and the deliberately freaky, church folk and heathens, all united in a spirit of solidarity.

One sign I spotted during my egress was particularly poignant. It asked, "Do we look defeated?"

With the streets as full of love and fury as they were, the answer was a clear and resounding "no."

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