The Story

Activism at the College: Students Protest the Banning of Gay Marriage in California and Other States

Dec. 1, 2008 | By Isabelle Cohen, DSJ News Editor

�"All for love and love for all!” was one of many chants shouted on Saturday, Nov. 15 at a rally against California’s recently passed Proposition 8. Other chants included �"Stop Prop 8!”, �"2, 4, 6, 8, gay is just as good as straight!” and �"3, 5, 7, 9, marriage should be yours and mine!”

Prop 8 was a California ballot proposition that amended the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. Prop 8 passed on Nov. 4, officially making gay marriage illegal once more in California.

Although Prop 8 was the main focus of the protest, those attending also condemned similar amendments passed in other states, including Arizona and Florida. A ban also passed in Arkansas, forbidding adoption by a single parent or an unmarried co-habitating couple.

The protestors also circulated Equality Virginia’s petition to include sexual orientation in Virginia’s anti-discrimination laws. 140 people signed the petition according to Lenore Dukes (’10), secretary of Lambda Alliance.

�"I’m pretty sad for what’s happened to the civil rights of all of us in this country on what was otherwise a joyous and historic election day,” said Dr. Camilla Buchanan, one speaker at the event. �"It reminded me that you take one step forward and sometimes two steps backward.”

Robert Ressler, co-president of Lambda Alliance, wore a rainbow flag as a cape during the protest and carried a sign reading, �"Love doesn’t discriminate.”

�"The reason that I showed up today for this protest,” said Ressler, �"is I do believe that, although marriage may be a religious issue, in our country it is intertwined with civil rights and human rights that shouldn’t be denied to anyone based on their sexual orientation or any other reason.”

William and Mary’s Lambda Alliance was not the only group to set up a protest. A national campaign called Join the Impact! organized protests against Prop 8 in cities across the country. The William and Mary protest was done in conjunction with the greater Williamsburg chapter of the Virginia Organizing Project, a nonpartisan, statewide, grassroots organization �"that works to empower people in local communities to work for social justice,” according to a Lambda press release.

Students, faculty and community members alike began to gather for the rally and march around 1:15 p.m. By 1:40, at least 100 people were gathered.

�"We are here today to fight for equality for all people,” said Camilla Hill, who spoke to the gathered students about her family and the recent marriage of her mothers in California. �"We have had enough. We want to be full citizens, with all the rights that we are entitled to.”

�"I want answers, California,” said Hill. �"Why is my parents’ love so frightening to you? Why is it such an imposition to you? Why are we not entitled to all the rights and privileges that you are? We are not going to step aside when you brush away our rights in the name of God.”

�"We are here standing up for our rights and the rights of others.” Hill continued. �"We will not be belittled or pushed aside. Our needs are important. We will not settle… we shall overcome someday and I do believe someday is right around the corner.”

After Hill’s speech, both Dr. Camilla Buchanan, who is Hill’s mother, and Kim Schlopp spoke.

�"Be silent no more!” said Buchanan. �"Let everyone that you know understand that either you’re gay and proud or you have friends and family members who are gay and you’re proud of them. When people know who we are, they’re not afraid of us. They’re joyful for us.”

Around 2 p.m., the crowd began to walk. The original route would have taken protestors past the Wren building, but somewhat ironically, the path was changed to avoid disturbing two wedding ceremonies taking place in the chapel.

Instead, the protesters wound through the Sunken Gardens and out to Jamestown Road, chanting and waving signs along the way. They cheered loudly, as cars honked while driving past, and occasionally yelled �"2, 4, 6, 8, how do you know your kids are straight?” at passing pedestrians.

However, most of the cheers focused on Prop 8 itself, such as the popular �"Hey, hey, no, no, Prop 8 has got to go!”

Around 150 people had gathered by the time the protest reached its final destination, Confusion Corner. About 20 students lined the brick walls on either side of the path from the College to Colonial Williamsburg, holding signs and waving at cars that drove past. The rest of the protestors filed inside onto the lawn, where they stood, reciting chants and talking among themselves for about one hour.

�"I’m here today because I want to show my support… I believe marriage should happen because of love between two different people,” said student protestor John Knapp (’09). �"It’s not fair that people are denied marriage and all the rights that come along with it as well.”

�"I will not consent to being a second-class citizen,” said Seth Waddell (’11), a Lambda Alliance member.
Although most of the protestors were students, some faculty also gathered.

Professor of Hispanic Studies George Greenia and his partner, Thomas B. Wood, live only a few blocks from campus. They have been together for 22 years; Greenia has worked at the College for 27.

�"We’ve been working on gay rights on this campus for over 20 years,” Greenia told The DSJ. �"Gay faculty and staff have their own organization, with about 40 members.”

He explained that one of the biggest issues he is currently facing is a lack of domestic partner benefits. �"The Faculty Assembly has endorsed domestic partner benefits for all faculty and their families,” said Greenia. �"Even though Tom and I have been together for 22 years and are completely financially codependent, I can’t get him health insurance.”

�"Some faculty have been legally married in other states,” Greenia continued, �"but those marriages are not recognized in Virginia, nor officially by the College since it’s an agency of the state. But the things that we can do for one another, just on campus, like enrolling our children in the daycare center, library cards for our partners, recreational center memberships and auditing classes for free - we gladly do all these things for the partners of our gay and lesbian faculty.”

Community members also showed up. Greg and Jason, a local couple, stood together at the rally.
�"We should be married,” said Jason.

�"We’ve been together for twelve years and we can’t get married,” added Greg. �"It’d be nice to.”

One community member, Mike Ludwick, performed a version of �"All You Need is Love” by the Beatles, modified to have an anti-Prop 8 message.

Ludwick, a community member, wrote the song himself. �"I was just thinking about it last night as I was brushing my teeth, and the idea about love and all you need is love came to me,” said Ludwick. �"I started coming up with some lines about gay marriage and why we don’t need to be afraid of it and that straight people aren’t particularly good at it either, and some of the funny things about marriage. I just kind of put those together into the song.”

The Williamsburg Unitarian Universalist Church also had a strong presence at the rally.

Tom Payne, a member of the unitarian church’s executive team, was one of those who held a large banner with the church’s symbol. �"We support all rights,” Payne told The DSJ.

�"As Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, we truly believe in and stand on the side of love,” said Kim Schlopp, another member of the executive team of the church.

Around 2:45, as the rally began to wind down, students went up to the tip of Confusion Corner to read their handmade signs aloud to those assembled. Students had written phrases such as �"Proposition H8;” �"God is love;” �"Marriage is what brings us together today;” and �"Why ban love?”

The rally closed with another rendition of �"All You Need is Love” and those assembled slowly dispersed, handing their signs to Lambda members.

�"I think [the protest] was an incredible success,” said Lenore Dukes. �"We had about 150 to 200 people, 150 at any one time, and, honestly, we would have been happy with 30. People from the community came, people from Lambda Alliance and people just from William and Mary in general, outside of the group that usually comes to these sorts of activities. I think we did a really good job of expressing our support for equal rights for everybody.”




This piece originally appeared in the December 2008 issue issue of The DoG Street Journal.