Crowd braves rain to protest Calif. ruling
Friday, May 29, 2009 | By: MATT SCHAFER | COMMENTS | 
A crowd of nearly 100 people gathered Tuesday in Midtown to chant and hold signs protesting the California Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8.
California briefly allowed gay couples to wed last year after the state’s highest court ruled that all couples must be treated equally under the state constitution. California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, in November with 52 percent of the vote.
 Photo by Matt Schafer |
The Atlanta rally was part of “Day of Decision” events taking place across the country. The Atlanta rally was organized in less that 48 hours and had between 80-100 people at the rally at one time. The crowd gathered at 5:30 p.m. at the 14th Street entrance to Piedmont Park, and later marched to 10th Street where the rally ended close to 8 p.m.
California’s November vote in favor of Proposition 8 spawned one of the largest gay rights protests in Georgia in a decade, drawing hundreds to the State Capitol and then to a rally in Midtown near Outwrite Bookstore. GLBT ATL, a new grassroots activist organization that coordinated those rallies, put on Tuesday’s protest.
“Much like the protest that was held at the Capitol, this one is to show that there are gay people in every community across the country,” organizer Todd Vierlin said. “This decision just doesn’t affect California, it affects every place across the country.”
Among the protesters demanding equality were Jennifer Bhagia and her 3-year-old son, Cameron Lewis.
“I’m here to support my friends,” Bhagia said. “I’m here because I’m interracial and because it wasn’t too long ago that I was illegal.”
Source: http://www.sovo.com/2009/5-29/news/localnews/10163.cfm
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