Why should you care?

The Event: Protest H8
Date: Saturday November 15th, 2008
Time: 1:30pm - 3:00 pm est
Location: Monument Square
Town: Portland, Maine
Contact: ASHellacious@hotmail.com (please note this is NOT the author of this blog)

Need to download flyers? Go here for some great ones! http://www.against8.blogspot.com/

If you're visiting this blog chances are you live in Maine. This blog was set up to inform people of a protest that will be taking place on November 15th, 2008 in regards to a Proposition that was passed in California. Yes, that's right, all the way on the other side of the country. Obviously apathy is going to be high but all of my friends and family are in California so I have a deep personal interest invested into this. I'm rather shocked to find a lack of people to rally with though. The reasons as to why people are failing to commit to this event are a little disturbing to me. (Reasons such as "Who cares? It's not Maine." and "I believe in free rights, but I also believe in the way our system is run, the people have spoken.") Everyone knows that Prop 8 is a civil rights issue but it goes so far beyond that. Hopefully I can inform and inspire some of you to come out and exercise your freedom of speech. Even if you don't live in Maine PLEASE continue reading. There will be protests taking place across the country simultaneously on November 15th. You can find a local contact here: http://www.jointheimpact.com/

So why should you care? The battles were fought and the people went to the polls and chose what they felt was best for their state. Correct? Absolutely not! What is Prop 8?

"Proposition 8… would eliminate the fundamental right to same-sex marriage. The very act of denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry – traditionally the highest legal and societal recognition of a loving commitment – by definition relegates them and their relationship to second class status.”

—Los Angeles Times Editorial, August 8, 2008

It's California, it's not an issue for my state, right? Why should I be meddling in another states affairs?

• It's estimated that 40-70 percent of Prop 8's financial support came from out-of-state donors. Therefore if the rest of the country is working on spreading hate, then the rest of the country better be ready to combat it! It's only a matter of time before it hits your own backyard if it hasn't already.

The people went to the polls and voted, it's their fundamental right as an American. The people spoken, why fight?

• Yes, it is our fundamental right, but what if the people were ill informed and actually lied to in order to sway their vote? Please go HERE and read the list of facts vs. fiction. All of the lies listed were advertised as truths throughout the entire campaign. It was a campaign driven by fear and if you read what they were preaching it's no wonder people were unsure - there are some scary accusations in there! Despite the complaints though - be it from false information or children appearing in commercials spreading hate without parental consent - all of these ads were still allowed to air as is.

This is just a brief summary but all of the facts can be found over on http://www.noonprop8.com/. The point is that everyone in California had the civil right to marriage. A rite of passage for all loving and committed couples. If you were to walk down the streets of any town in America and take a poll randomly asking people "does the government have the right to take away some one's marriage?" you'd find next to no one answering with a "Yes". But now THOUSANDS of married couples are sitting there wondering whether or not they're really married and trying to figure out WHO exactly has the right to determine whether or not their love for each other is worthy of marriage. Apparently the State, out-of-state donors, and the millions of dollars thrown at scare tactics and fiction-filled campaigns are able to decide the rights of your average tax paying American Citizen. Look at it this way, the United States used to ban interracial marriages as well. This is exactly what we're dealing with...HATE.

From now through November 15th I will have guest bloggers from California posting their own first hand experiences of what is going on out there, how it is affecting their lives, and why we should care all the way over here on the other side of the country. Please join us in the fight against Prop H8.