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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Atlanta, Tomorrow

Atlanta, Tomorrow

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For any of you straight allies out there from Atlanta, we’ll be attending a peaceful protest tomorrow at the State Capitol at 1:30pm, and then at 5:00 at the corner of Piedmont and 10th, we’ll be holding a candlelight vigil. Come out and join us, if you’re so inclined. I’ve never been one to attend protests like this, but the passage of Proposition 8 has motivated me like I’ve never been motivated. More information on the events here. If you’re not in Georgia and want to attend one of the hundreds of events around the country, go here and look up your state.

I’ll be the gay guy with the big sign! It’s also my birthday tomorrow (39). And since I am broke, I am going to just pretend that this is a group of people who turned out to celebrate it with me.

Update: If you are in Miami, here’s the information.

Update II: Suggestions for what I should put on my sign would be welcome. I have three. One of them will say, “When do I get to vote on YOUR marriage?”

Reader Interactions

69Comments

  1. 1.

    Foxhunter

    It will be interesting to see how much local media this organized event receives in Atlanta. I’ll be on the southside of town attending a Jim Marin rally, but will be thinking of you guys.

    Early happy b’day to you, MD. Could you post a follow-up tomorrow as to how the day goes?

    Thanks,

    A Straight Ally in Atlanta (heh….)

  2. 2.

    gbear

    It’s also my birthday tomorrow. And since I am broke, I am going to just pretend that this is a group of people who turned out to celebrate it with me.

    My birthday falls on the weekend of Twin Cities Pride fairly often. Trust me, it doesn’t work to pretend it’s your party.

    At any rate, have a happy birthday. :)

  7. 7.

    Alaskan Pete

    Isn’t that pretty much the SW edge of Piedmont Park? Appropriately enough right across the street from Blakes, iirc. Been a few (well, 10) years since I lived there, in the Home Park neighborhood between 10th and 14th across from GT, but I just can’t picture how you’d pack a corner there unless you were in the park itself.

    Anyway, good luck with the rally. That area holds alot of fond memories of spring days in the park, the early Great ATL pot festivals one memorable one with the Black Crowes, Grapes, and about 100k people , the Highlander Pub, Mellow Mushroom…almost makes me miss the ATL for a minute…nah, not really.

  9. 9.

    yet another jeff

    We’ll be marching in Tallahassee. Also, look for "The Weimar House" at a GLBT film festival somewhere…sometime.

  11. 11.

    whiskey

    Any protesters in Miami are truly selfless, for as we all know, Miami does not have any gays.

    Furthermore,

  12. 12.

    aimai

    Happy birthday. My daughters and I will be out representing the thousands of unhurt straight families here in MA who support equal marriage all over the country.

    aimai

  16. 16.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Happy birthday, Michael. I’m more than a thousand miles from Atlanta so I’ll just have to send you all of the good vibes my old DFH soul can muster.

  18. 18.

    gwangung

    Hey, happy birthday!

    “When do I get to vote on YOUR marriage?”

    Hee heh hee heh heee!

    Love it.

  20. 20.

    RSA

    Well, maybe one of the gays will convince you to gay marry and ditch your family!

    Just when I was going to suggest that you avoid the slogan, "I want to marry your son!" on your sign…

  21. 21.

    liberal

    I’ll be the gay guy with the big sign!

    And your gay-ness will visually distinguish you how, exactly?

    :-)

  22. 22.

    SammyB

    Happy B-Day Michael….the best sign i have seen is "would you want me to marry your daughter". I think it was on sully’s site.

  23. 23.

    tim serbo

    happy birthday and i hope it’s a great demo. sorry to have no sign suggestions, but i want you to know i don’t blame you or any of your gay friends for either of my two divorces.

  24. 24.

    jakester

    what pisses me off is that the Supreme Court has already established marriage as a FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT! Prisoners have the right to marry, according to the Supreme Court, even though they can’t vote. But not teh gays. I mean, we can marry, as the right keeps reminding us, as long as we marry the opposite sex. But I’m still waiting for the first fundamentalist/right-winger to say that they want their straight daughter to marry a gay dude.

  25. 25.

    passerby

    Happy Birthday to you Michael.

    Since this is a peaceful protest, how about a sign touting that timeless truth which speaks directly to the foundation of every tranquil union:

    Love is all you need

    "Be who you are and say what you feel, because, those who mind, don’t matter, and those who matter, don’t mind."—Dr. Seuss.

    : D

  26. 26.

    jakester

    Oh hey, SammyB – yeah, I guess I wasn’t the first person to think of that.

    Happy birthday, Michael. How about a sign that says: FELONS HAVE THE RIGHT TO MARRY – WHY DON’T I?

  31. 31.

    South of I-10

    Happy Birthday. I wish I could go – but the closest protest to me is in New Orleans. Hope y’all have a great day. I am not particularly creative, but how about "Value every family"? I saw one somewhere that said "No More Mr. Nice Gay"

  32. 32.

    Tlazolteotl

    There will also be a protest tomorrow in Seattle; march starts at noon from Volunteer Park, to arrive at Westlake Center around 1 pm.

    It’s also expected to dry out over the next few days, so the crowd should be spared from being rained on. :-)

  33. 33.

    Betsy

    Oh, and I also like "Gay adoption bans: saving foster children from loving families." Though that might not fit on a sign. I’m not so good at the short, catchy slogan.

  35. 35.

    canuckistani

    I saw a good poster in the hands of a gay man a few days ago somewhere online – "Would you like me to marry your daughter?"
    Anyway, Happy Birthday and a clenched fist salute of solidarity from the land of legal gay marriage.

  36. 36.

    Punchy

    Suggestions for what I should put on my sign would be welcome. I have three

    Ideas:
    "Whats your fucking problem with my fucking?"
    "You hate gays? All you Tom Cruise fans are hypocrites"
    "Wait until John Cole kicks your sorry asses"
    "White men cant jump; can pump and bump"

  38. 38.

    passerby

    Or, in an attempt to reach the rational ones, a sign that raises a question may be useful:

    Divorce defiles the sanctity of Marriage.
    Why is IT legal?

    That oughta rope in lots of holier-than-thou glass-pumpkin-dwellers.

    or simply:

    "Seriously, what’s it to you?"

    I think the signs that ask a question are a more potent way of encouraging the "opposition" to actually think.

    [heaven forbid that ACTUAL THINKING take place]

  41. 41.

    Teri

    If you would marry suitably, marry your equal.
    Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD)

    It may be risky to marry for love, but it’s so honest that the Lord just has to smile on it.
    Josh Billings (1818 – 1885)

    Even holligans marry, though they know that marriage is but for a little while. It is alimony that is forever.
    Quentin Crisp

    Happy Birthday and enjoy your day.

    Teri

  42. 42.

    gsp

    For Christsakes, Cole, give Michael D. a raise, you tightwad. The poor boy is too broke to celebrate his own birthday. I see there is still some Republican in you yet.

  43. 43.

    MikeJ

    I thought that before the vote on 8 some enterprising person should have put up signs outside the particularly noxious churches. The signs could have said, "Vote NO on gay marriage." I wonder if any statistically significant number of people might have been "convinced" (ok, tricked) into voting no.

  44. 44.

    John T

    My taste in slogans leans toward the confrontational:
    "Thou shalt not fuck with us"
    or the quasi-blasphemous:
    "Jesus had two daddies"

    I’ll be joining the crowd in Portland, Oregon tomorrow.

  46. 46.

    metricpenny

    Same Sex Wedlock Is Not Marriage Hemlock!

    In response to the civil union argument usually offered:

    We Want A Marriage. Not A Mirage.

    Happy Birthday Micheal D!

  50. 50.

    yet another jeff

    Shameless plug:

    I hope any of you in Chicago will go to see "The Weimar House" tonight at Chicago Filmmakers. It will get you ready to "Join the Impact."

    And I prefer generic protest signs. "Unfair" "Not in My Back Yard" "Honk If You Agree", and "Castles Don’t Have Phones, Asshole!"

    But if you want one on topic: "Marriage for all or for NONE!"

  55. 55.

    SGEW

    @Simsarah:
    NYC, represent, yo!

    Tho’ why City Hall? Why not th’ Mormons again? I love protesting Mormons – I walk past that temple almost every day, and I had always wanted to protest it.

    Wow, I dislike the Church of Latter Day Saints. Too bad so many actual LDS folk are actually, well, pretty nice people. Kind and polite and all. It’s a damn shame about their, you know, hierarchically sanctioned bigotry.

    Fuckers.

  56. 56.

    Allan

    I’m working on the Sacramento event. We have over 1500 people who have signed up via Facebook to attend, and that’s only one of dozens of channels through which we’re promoting it.

    As one who married this summer in CA, I will honor the memory of Charlton Heston with this sign:

    "You’ll have to pry this wedding ring from my cold dead gay finger!"

  57. 57.

    Allan

    @SGEW

    City Hall because Join the Impact wants to look forward to winning marriage equality, rather than look back and cast blame for prior electoral defeats. The election is over, we must move on and prepare to win next time…

  58. 58.

    SGEW

    @Allan:

    I know, I know. I was just getting my anti-Mormon on. Don’t mind me.

    . . .

    To tell the truth, I’m a little unsure of the protest/demonstration tactic over all, vis a vis Marriage Equality (tho’ I’m still planning on showing up tomorrow). I’ve been protesting so many things for so long, and never really saw any impact whatsoever*. I could make a list, but it’d be long and super-depressing.

    However, the very first time I joined an actual political organizing group (i.e., focused on electoral politics, rather than protesting governmental and/or corporate actions), we managed to get a guy with big ears and a funny name and decent foreign policy and jurisprudential ideas elected to the highest office in the land. Huh. Beginner’s luck, I guess.

    I’m not in CA, and I was pretty distracted come election time (that whole Obama thing kinda took over my brain at the time), so I didn’t actually have any impact on the Prop 8 vote. I deeply regret that now: that vote could have been won, if there was a better organizational structure opposing it. Go up ‘gainst the Catholic Church and the Mormons, and you have to have bigger fucking guns.

    I only hope that these marches raise some awareness, but I have more hopes on getting another referendum on the CA ballot, organizing a FUCK LOAD of a GOTV effort, and amending the CA constitution to include gay/trans/queer marriage in a 2-1 vote. Right?

    Meanwhile, it’s been a while since I got my marchin’ shoes on, so what the fuck.

    *Sole exceptions: hyper-local action, i.e., protesting a specific logging operation or coal mining site in coordination with local opposition groups.

  59. 59.

    SGEW

    [Oops! Fucked up my html!. Attn Moderator: delete previous post, pls, kthx]

    @Allan:

    I know, I know. I was just getting my anti-Mormon on. Don’t mind me.

    . . .

    To tell the truth, I’m a little unsure of the protest/demonstration tactic over all, vis a vis Marriage Equality (tho’ I’m still planning on showing up tomorrow). I’ve been protesting so many things for so long, and never really saw any impact whatsoever*. I could make a list, but it’d be long and super-depressing.

    However, the very first time I joined an actual political organizing group (i.e., focused on electoral politics, rather than protesting governmental and/or corporate actions), we managed to get a guy with big ears and a funny name and decent foreign policy and jurisprudential ideas elected to the highest office in the land. Huh. Beginner’s luck, I guess.

    I’m not in CA, and I was pretty distracted come election time (that whole Obama thing kinda took over my brain at the time), so I didn’t actually have any impact on the Prop 8 vote. I deeply regret that now: that vote could have been won, if there was a better organizational structure opposing it. Go up ‘gainst the Catholic Church and the Mormons, and you have to have bigger fucking guns.

    I only hope that these marches raise some awareness, but I have more hopes on getting another referendum on the CA ballot, organizing a FUCK LOAD of a GOTV effort, and amending the CA constitution to include gay/trans/queer marriage in a 2-1 vote. Right?

    Meanwhile, it’s been a while since I got my marchin’ shoes on, so what the fuck.

    *Sole exceptions: hyper-local action, i.e., protesting a specific logging operation or coal mining site in coordination with local opposition groups.

  60. 60.

    BethanyAnne

    The sign that I saw said: "Do you *really* want me marrying your *daughter*?" Heh. Wonder how this will look in real mode… it looks fine in preview. The "really" and "daughter" were in a different color than the rest of the sign.

    How about "Honor my Commitment, don’t Ban It" as a sign?

    Peace,
    Bethany

  61. 61.

    dmhlt

    Happy B-Day!

    Some sign suggestions:

    Would You Really Rather Have Me Marry Your Daughter?

    We Can’t ALL Marry Liza Minelli

  62. 62.

    SGEW

    I’m kind of considering:

    Fine! Let’s just ban ALL marriages then, ok?

    . . . but it might not be quite on message.

  63. 63.

    JWW

    Hey Michael,

    I do wish you a Happy Birthday. (I deleted my thought, the remaining text would not have changed).

    With that said I hope you do have a Happy Birthday, I wish you the best in whatever you seek. Though I do not condone what you have chosen, I will always look out for you as I would expect you would look out for me.

    If you were my brother, I would love you. If you were my friend I would defend you. We just have a difference of opinion and lifestyle.

    Take Care

  64. 64.

    MaryKaye

    Looks like I’ll be celebrating your b’day at the Old Town Square in Fort Collins, CO. I cannot fathom how my 30 years of marriage could possibly be influenced by the marriage of a LGBT couple. No one has yet explained that one to me in a way that makes any kind of sense.

    Have a great b’day, Michael!

  67. 67.

    sfpolarbear

    Happy Birthday Michael.
    Hard to believe there are people around who still think being gay is a choice.
    And thanks for standing up today.

  68. 68.

    Betsy

    @JWW:
    At what point in your life did you make the decision to be attracted to the opposite sex? What factors did you consider? What ultimately swayed your choice?

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