When I go to rallies I like to hang out in the back. It’s always a good idea to gauge the temperature of the police and you can only do that when you are furthest from the front. If they are surly and curt with information, expect trouble. If they are smiling and helpful you most likely won’t be beat down. The police were not smiling today but they were helpful when asked a question.

The political characters also hang out in the rally rear. Sure it’s difficult to hear or see what’s going on stage, but that is what newspapers/blogs are for.

At today’s Proposition 8 rally, the back was filled with the standard New York political folk. There was the Communist Party member who engaged me in a conversation about science and truth. He was also trying to hawk his paper. His partner (not in that sense) was yelling in a megaphone how Barack Obama was part of the capitalist system, something very few doubt (unless you are a plumber or Sean Hannity).

Then there was a youthful brigade with whistles and chanting about black, white, gay, straight, equal rights for everyone (their words had much more melody than my wretched paraphrase). They perked up everybody with their chants and jumping up and down.

For some reason I came to loathe the tourists buses that would pass by. I didn’t take the tourists and their show of support seriously. They just looked liked drunken out of towners waving to the natives.

I could be off but the crowd struck me as young. A couple of old heads like me, but not too many. A mixture of men and women, monochromatic in terms of race. Not sure what all of this means in terms of actual policy, but I do think today’s crowd, at least in NYC, belies the vicious  rumor that young queers are apathetic.

Tomorrow I’ll post the words of a few people I spoke to.