Last week, I attended the Eve of Justice event in front of Long Beach City Hall with my boyfriend (I’m a wha?!). Oh, you didn’t even hear about the Eve of Justice happening all around the United States?
It was an evening when people of all races, religions and sexualities stood together in the name of equality before arguments about the constitutionality of Proposition 8 were heard in the California Supreme Court. You remember Proposition 8, right? That little ballot measure took away the rights of same-sex couples to marry back in November.
Although the night started slow with a scarce number of people, the vibe of justice could be felt the moment we got there; sort of.
We had the distinct pleasure of having Mayor Bob Foster and Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal give us a few words of “straight” encouragement, telling us how they were on our side and what not.
As the night advanced, we heard stories from various couples whose marriage validitions are still up in the air. We also heard from straight allies who supported marriage equality.
Crowd members were encouraged to go on stage and share their stories. In a moment of clichéd sadness, rain began to pour. Groups of people gathered under the roof of the Long Beach Public Library. Others just stood around under colorful umbrellas, as a sign of strength to let people know that we won’t give up.
It was all dandy and happy; or was it?
Close to 9 p.m., people walked over to a local church where a candlelight vigil was scheduled through the evening and into the morning. We had homework to finish, so we left.
As we walked away from the invisible safety zone, I let go of my boyfriend’s hand and re-entered “straight world.”
I’m not sure if we’ll be able to fight Proposition 8, but we can’t just give up. We need your help people.
If your heart doesn’t break at the sight of two people in love — begging to be treated with dignity and justice — may God or whatever higher being you believe in soon fill your heart with compassion for others. Or whatever.
-Julio Salgado
You rock Julio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Always will I support you, young man. You are my friend, my brother and my son.
Thank you Julio for reporting the event. It was ignored by the rest of our local media. As one of the people who got up on stage, not only representing Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, but also as one half of one of the 18,000 couples whose marriages are in the hands of the State Supreme Court, I can tell you this fight is far from over and we gain more allies every time someone gets to know us and hears our stories. We will keep going until everyone has equal rights under the law.
Ah, Julio… The God I work with tells me you’re endangering your soul by committing homosexual acts (and by embracing a homosexual “identity”, i.e. putting yourself in an environment which encourages sin). You’ve got my compassion, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to endorse what you’re doing. It also means I’m not going to support anything remotely resembling same sex “marraige”.
Not much I can do for you and I’m sorry about that, being “straight” and living in Belgium where same sex marriage is a reality. The only thing I can say is that if Belgium has SSM it is thanks to the N.Y. “Stonewal incident” and that history is on your side. Don’t cry, scream and don’t ever give up. My heart goes out for you.
Nobody needs compassion or empathy, everybody needs and deserves equality.