Is Anarchy the Answer in Proposition 8 Protests?

People took to the streets throughout the U.S. last weekend to protest passage of California's Proposition 8 - which bans same-sex marriage.

Protests were held from California to Nevada, to even North Carolina, with gay-rights activists arguing that gay couples deserve the same marital rights and recognition that heterosexual couples enjoy. But some of the protests are getting downright nasty, and, by some reports, are turning into sheer anarchy.

There are reports (Chuck Norris has a little list) that: Prop 8 protestors in California shoved a 69-year-old woman who was bearing a cross, spit on her, and stomped on the cross; Prop. 8 supporter Jose Nunez, 37, was assaulted while distributing yard signs to other supporters after church services at the St. Stanislaus Parish in Modesto, Calif.; a 25-year Mormon artistic director of the California Musical Theatre was forced to resign because of his $1,000 donation to the campaign to pass Prop 8; and non-Latter Day Saints Hispanic women were beaten up for cleaning up vandalism at an LDS temple. (The Mormon Church, by the way, rounded up about $20 million to spend on getting Prop 8 passed.)

In Palm Springs last Friday night, a woman showed up carrying a styrofoam cross, and a scuffle took place. The crowd even turned on the KPSP Local 2 news crew. You can see that video here. (More video below).



"They began grabbing me. It was like a dog pack," said Phyllis Burgess, a Prop 8 supporter who had expletives and slurs yelled at her. "The crowd was very angry that someone was here that they felt didn't belong here ... But I've lived in this city for 30 years."

The video shows one protester grabbing the styrofoam cross from Burgess' hands. Another protesters is shown stomping on it. Burgess says she was struck on the head and spit on.

"I don't want to keep it peaceful anymore," one protester yelled. "We should fight! We should fight!"

The area's Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was spray painted by vandals after they learned that the church served as an official collection point for Prop. 8 petitions.

African Americans, 70% of whom voted yes on Prop. 8, according to a CNN exit poll, are also targets of the gay hate. Racial epithets have been used against African Americans at protests in California - with some even directed at blacks who are fighting to repeal Prop. 8. Gay rights activists are now publishing lists online exposing individuals and organizations that have donated money in support of Prop. 8. This is sometimes resulting in violence.

And by many accounts, these actions are turning more people off to the movement.

For example: one LA Weekly writer who was marching with the Proposition 8 opponents over the weekend says: "I can also see that we are quickly coming to a point where reckless protesting may turn off all kinds of people, whether they are gay and new to activism or they are straight and new to walking alongside gay activists. If that happens, we will miss the chance to build newer, stronger, and broader coalitions and movements for decades to come. We will need these coalitions because the fight for equality is far from over, and our opponents will continue to attack one way or another. We, the gay community, can go our own way, but we will probably squander the goodwill that Proposition 8 has now handed us."

Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic argues that the gay-rights movement is lacking a strong leader to rally the troops in productive ways, and that the Human Rights Campaign certainly isn't doing the job. Daily Kos says the organization to defeat Prop 8 just wasn't there.

Regardless of the reason for Prop 8's success, the conclusion is: the voters of California have spoken - for better or worse.

Does berating a near-elderly woman who supports Prop 8, and spitting on her for having beliefs different than you, help the cause? I don't think so. Yes, there's frustration, but funneling that frustration into more productive, effective methods of pushing your cause will do a lot more good than just further alienating those whose support you could use. If the idea is to encourage others to be more open-minded and accepting of those different from them, beating them into submission (metaphorically speaking, hopefully) might not be the best route.