Police expected 5,000 people today for San Diego's Join the Impact march against Prop 8. Police are currently estimating 20,000 marchers turned out in support of equality (link will also lead to some cool pics and video). Organizers upped their estimate early this morning to 25,000 and they're sticking with that number. Either way, it doubles last week's 10K strong San Diego march.
I arrived at the jumping off point at the appointed 10am hour. There were thousands of people spread throughout Balboa Park- old and young, gay and straight, male and female, all races and ethnicities. Some were alone, some came with families, some with groups of friends. It took about 30 minutes to get things organized, in part probably because of people like me who were working the crowd as much as possible. And I'll tell you how I knew right away that this was a really big deal: While I'm sure many were there, I didn't see a single person I know from political activism. But I saw people I knew from my neighborhood, from bars, from sports, from music, from church. In other words, this wasn't the same old political demonstration with the same old faces. This was everyone who normally don't obsess about politics. People who normally may not even be out of bed at 10am on a Saturday much less marching for miles in the 85 degree heat. This wasn't politics, this was a movement.
I was very careful to pack my trusty Flip Video, and I got some shaky clips of the beginning of the march (above) and the pivot from 6th Avenue to Broadway (right). The march ran a three mile course south on 6th Avenue along Balboa Park, west through downtown on Broadway, and up Pacific Highway past the Star of India before culminating at the County Administration Building (where marriage licenses are issued). Gloria Allred, city councilman-elect Todd Gloria and reps from the ACLU, Equality California and the Human Rights campaign were on the docket for the rally between the building and the bay.
Chant sheets were everywhere and the chants rarely stopped. The homemade signs were plentiful and ran the gamut from Lincoln to Hitler and Chickens to Satan. I was pleasantly impressed though by the VAST majority of people embracing the positive messaging. People get that this is about love, acceptance and equality. And that abandoning that is to let agents of intolerance win.
The only arrest reported at this point was a member of the Minutemen. Which is a nice juxtaposition to the experience of marching through downtown. Cars honked in solidarity, people cheered from balconies and streamed out of offices and hotels to root us on and give high-fives. In the course of 3 downtown miles, I spotted maybe 7 Yes on 8 folks. Organizers kept people reasonably well behaved, and nothing advanced beyond an occasionally aggressive air horn. Heck, the handful of unattended Yes signs we passed had police attendants.
This is just one of the first reports to come today. There are more than 300 events scheduled throughout the state and across the country. And I said to a friend who marched with me, "You will not be able to stay home brother.
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Because...people will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
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The revolution will be live."
