Like so many others here, I was severely disappointed by the passage in California of Proposition 8. And while many postmortems will indeed be written about why Prop 8 passed and what we in the progressive movement could have done differently, there is a silver lining:
The passage of Prop 8 has galvanized a spontaneous, energetic movement to protest the institutionalization of discrimination.
People that may not have gotten involved in the fight against Prop 8 are now taking to the streets.
Today there is a protest march in San Francisco. Yesterday, a crowd of thousands protested at the Mormon Temple in Los Angeles (remember, it was LDS church members that donated around $22 million to pass Prop 8).
The bottom line is this: we are witnessing a 21st-century version of the civil rights movement on the streets of California. And in the internet age, we have tools to help support this burgeoning movement toward fairness, justice and equality.
More below.
I would like to encourage you to take specific action to increase the number of people who are expressing their outspoken opposition to discrimination.
The "REPEAL PROP 8" movement is underway. And I'd love it if you added your voice.
The Courage Campaign has been leading a grassroots and netroots effort against Proposition 8. Sign their petition calling for the repeal of Proposition 8:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/...
If you're on Facebook (and if you're not, you should be) there is also a "Repeal Prop 8" Facebook Group that I would encourage everyone to join.
As Barack Obama said: nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.
But we need those voices to get it done. Add yours to the mix. And be watching for further news about what you can do to support marriage equality not only in California, but across the entire country.