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Loading ...Call in gay: Grassroots protest against Prop 8
12.09.2008 8:14am EST
(San Francisco, California) Some same-sex marriage supporters are urging people to “call in gay” Wednesday to show how much the country relies on gays and lesbians, but others question whether it’s wise to encourage skipping work given the nation’s economic distress.
Organizers of “Day Without a Gay” – scheduled to coincide with International Human Rights Day and modeled after similar work stoppages by Latino immigrants – also are encouraging people to perform volunteer work and refrain from spending money.Sean Hetherington, a West Hollywood comedian and personal trainer, dreamed up the idea with his boyfriend, Aaron Hartzler, after reading online that a few angry gay-rights activists were calling for a daylong strike to protest California voters’ passage last month of Proposition 8, which reversed this year’s state Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage.
The couple thought it would be more effective and less divisive if people were asked to perform community service instead of staying home with their wallets shut. Dozens of nonprofit agencies, from the National Women’s Law Center in Washington to a Methodist church in Fresno collecting food for the homeless, have posted opportunities for volunteers on the couple’s Web site.
“We are all for a boycott if that is what brings about a sense of community for people,” said Hetherington, 30, who plans to spend Wednesday volunteering at an inner-city school. “You can take away from the economy and give back in other ways.”
Hetherington said he’s been getting 100 e-mails an hour from people looking for volunteer opportunities, and that his “Day Without a Gay” Web site has gotten 100,000 hits since mid-November.
Despite Hartzler and Hetherington’s attempt to fashion a positive approach, some organizers of the street demonstrations that drew massive crowds in many cities last month have been reluctant to embrace the concept, saying that it could be at best impractical and at worst counterproductive to “call in gay.”
“It’s extra-challenging for people to think about taking off work as a form of protest, given that we are talking about people who may not be out (as gay) at work, and given the current economic situation and job market,” said Jules Graves, 38, coordinator of the Colorado Queer Straight Alliance. “There is really not any assurance employers would appreciate it for what it is.”
Graves’ group nonetheless is arranging for interested participants to volunteer at the local African Community Center in Denver. The agency said it could find projects to keep 20 people busy, but so far only 10 have pledged to show up, said Graves.
Scott Craig, a fifth-grade teacher at Independence Charter School in Philadelphia, had no problem requesting and being granted the day off. So many of the school’s 60 teachers were eager to show support for gay rights they had to make sure enough stayed behind to staff classrooms.
About 25 teachers plan to take Wednesday off and to have their work covered by substitutes while they discuss ways to introduce gay issues to their students and volunteer at the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, Craig said. A letter telling parents why so many teachers would be out went home Monday.
“We want to get the conversation going in the community that gay is not bad,” Craig said. “For kids to hear that in a positive light can be life-changing.”
Join The Impact, the online community that launched protests last month over the passage of gay marriage bans in California, Florida and Arizona, has urged people to withdraw $80 from their bank accounts Wednesday to demonstrate gays’ spending power, and to devote the time they might otherwise spend watching TV or surfing the Internet to volunteer work.
Witeck-Combs Communications, a public relations firm in Washington that specializes in the gay and lesbian market, published a study this year that estimated that gay and lesbian consumers spend $700 billion annually.
Bob Witeck, the firm’s chief executive officer, said it would be difficult to measure the success of Wednesday’s strike since gay employees occupy so many fields. And rather than suspending all consumer spending for the day, gay rights supporters would have a bigger impact if they devoted their dollars to gay-friendly businesses year-round, Witeck said.
“Our community leaders who are running book stores, newspapers, flower shops, coffee houses, bars and many, many other things are hurting right now, so paying attention to their needs during this hard time is an effective form of activism,” he said.
Hetherington said he has been careful to design A Day Without a Gay – he came up with the name after the film “A Day Without a Mexican” and liked it because it rhymed – so no one feels excluded or threatened.
He has specifically urged high school students not to walk out of their classes and assured college students they won’t be disloyal to the cause if they go ahead and take their final exams. He also has listed opportunities – ranging from writing letters to members of Congress about federal gay rights legislation to spreading the word about Wednesday on social networking sites – for gay marriage backers who cannot miss work.
Absolutely ridiculous idea. My employer is very gay-friendly, and I’ve made a commitment to show up for work. Why should I punish my employer and the people who depend on me? Let’s focus our attention where it belongs; silly ideas like that just distract us from the real work that needs to be done. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who skips work tomorrow for this deserves to be fired.
If you can’t/won’t be off work on Dec. 10, …as it is appointed a day of some kind of demonstration, and to show support to all in the fight DO WEAR A WHITE KNOT (eg. White Ribbon knotted in the middle..) to show support for those who want to ‘tie the knot”… I know I will be wearing one.. but must work.
SEE whiteknot.org…for pics etc. As this is to become our SYMBOL
Str8 Against H8
Defend Equality
LOVE Unites
In theory this is a good idea. In reality it is not practical. By not going to work and not spending we are adding to a crippled economy. Furthermore, if you are not out tomorrow in the world functioning as a whole person…a whole gay/trans/bi person, then you are holed up in your home or elsewhere which resembles a closet far too much for me. It’s not about withdrawing our dollars and participation. It is a much better idea to create change through our spending and our workplaces. BE OUT. Be YOU. Be positive. Our economic impact as a group is grand, but risking job security and adding negatively to the growing economic crash is not going to make us look any better in general. We are smarter than that. I’m going shopping. I’m going to give my employees a bonus tomorrow. I’ll tip more when I dine out, and I’ll add an HRC sticker to every check I sign. I’ll give out a PFLAGG brochure to cashiers. I’ll hand out an article I print about Lisa Pond and her medical injustices when I go to the doctor tomorrow. I’ll make sure every one I see there gets a copy. That is power. That is visibility.
Bill: S.T.F.U.
bill Said: December 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Stop being hypocrites and start respecting the voters rights rather than your own agenda!
I tell you what Bill. I will agree to respect the rights of voters when voters ALL memorize and recite the following just before they step into the voters booth and just prior to pulling the lever to infringe upon the rights of fellow citizens. Until then, I am going to rant and rave every time some ignorant, uninformed, uneducated and biased person steps into a voting booth and tries to disenfranchise other citizens of either a state or of the United States. What a shame that you do not understand basic freedoms and the demands of the Constitution of the United States. What a shame that blood has been shed to provide ALL citizens equal protection and you vote to deny those dearly purchased rights to others. Shame upon you. The next time you jump to your feet and proclaim to be a good American citizen and recite the Pledge to the flag, don’t say the last six words, because in your heart you do not really believe them or mean them.
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
And for those of us in the thirty states without employment protection, Thursday will be “find a new job in the middle of a recession day.” =\
I’m not entirely sure I agree with this method of protest. I’m one of the people directly affected by Prop 8. My husband and I were married this summer in San Francisco. I’m saddened and nervous about the passage of Prop 8, but I’m not sure a work outage is the way to handle that.
The company I work for depends on me for critical tasks. They are centered in California (though I live and work out of Tennessee). They have a very liberal non discrimination policy and full domestic partnership benefits (they’re paying 90% of my husband’s insurance without a peep of complaint).
I’m openly gay there and have never received so much as a hint of any issue with that. In fact I got in trouble for not posting the wedding pictures fast enough!
While I agree that protest is entirely needed here, placing a burden on our employers may not help. My company didn’t pass prop 8, finance it or support it in any way.
My absence would put my coworkers under pressure to do the work I’m not there for and they’re innocent.
For me, I am behind the idea of protest here, but I’m not sure this is the way.
The voters shouldn’t even have a vote on someone else’s civil rights. Nobody is telling you whom you can marry. My son and his partner have been together for 15 years now and are more committed to each other than many straight couples I know. Maybe everyone should have a vote on whom you can marry.
well said Rich
Bill said: “the only respect you have is for those that agree on YOUR VIEWS! stop being hypocrites and start respecting the voters rights rather than your own agenda!”
No Bill, it’s not our views. We don’t respect people who do not respect and honor our Constitution which grants EQUAL RIGHTS to all. To do otherwise is truly un-American.
Why? Because the one day boycott of the oil companies did so well? Oh, wait, that’s right. It didn’t!!!
I suppose these guys are the same ones who think that Bill Gates will send them money for forwarding his email to as many people as they can.
I think what the gay comuunity seems to be forgetting is that it waas the VOTERS, not the state legeslation that passed the ban. you talk of respecting the rights of everyone, yet it seems to me that the only respect you have is for those that agree on YOUR VIEWS! stop being hypocrites and start respecting the voters rights rather than your own agenda!
Nice gesture but it isn’t going to sway anyone. I’ll go to work as usual without any fanfare. After all, I’m openly out and well respected.
If the gay community wants to get serious about making an impact, how about a March on Washington with a little minor disobedience, like blocking traffic during rush hour… Oh that’s right, someone has to organize such a march of millions of people. Our gay organizations are too busy playing mr. nice guy and fundraising while saying “of course, we’ll wait for our rights” instead of getting in their our government’s faces!!!
Terrible idea…
This is a really good idea; however, there’s too many people that are going to be way too chicken to go through with it, which is sad. The only way this would make a difference is if half the country participated, and they won’t. I have school, I can’t miss that. My future depends on my grades, and honestly my grades and going to college is way more important to me at the moment than gay marriage is.