Originally Published November 26, 2008*
Since this was my first real protest, I had no clue about what was going to happen, or even how to join in. I just found an opening in the picket line and jumped in. I’m sure I had a look on my face that said I was about three counties away from knowing what I was doing, where I was, and what the hell was going on, because, really, I had no clue. (Especially after arriving an hour late due to stupid road construction and my serious case of being directionally challenged.) All I knew was I was there for a cause I deeply believe in and I was having fun.
During the first picket line, there were chants of “What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want them? NOW!”, “Hey hey, ho ho, the CEO has got to go”, and “Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia’s got to go.” There were about 300 people there. I didn’t talk to anyone, but I still felt like I was one with them, a community, as we were all there for the same reason. After a while the picket line moved to the other side of the entrance of the theater, where Andy Thayer of the Gay Liberation network would give this rousing speech: (Sorry for the poor video quality. My camera was cold. The message comes through loud and clear, though. Also, I hit a wrong button on the camera and accidentally stopped the recording for a minute, so there is a weird break after about the first 39 seconds or so.)
After this speech was given, we ended up marching through the streets of Evanston, which included us going through the campus at Northeastern University. A few students were coming out of their dorms stunned, as we were going by, as they had no idea what we were doing there. I’m pretty sure I could hear some students from inside their dorms chanting along with us. Anyway, I was just following the march and trying to remember where we were going in case we didn’t go back to the theater. I didn’t need to get lost again and not be able to find my car. As we were marching, quite a few cars were honking their horns, and the only time we stopped our chants, were to cheer for the cars honking. We marched around back to the theater where even more protesters had shown up. By now, though, a lot of people had left (it was a very cold night), but there was still about 150 of us left by 7:30 p.m. It turned out we all could have been arrested for parading without a permit, but the nice black lady officer (who I have seen on the news at other protests/rallies like this) did not arrest any of us, nor did she give us any tickets. (Which is really good for me. I’d rather call up someone to come bail me out of jail for prostitution than parading without a permit. It’s an image/moral thing for me.)
We gathered on the sidewalk again and began chanting, “Boycott Century.” Then we formed another picket line. I ended up leaving shortly after, mostly for the sole fact that I was scared to death I was going to end up getting lost again and driving around for hours, even with studying that damn map I bought.
All in all, it was a great night, despite the cold. I felt more empowered and felt good for fighting against hatred and bigotry. I will continue to go to these protests for as long as it takes until we of the GLBT community have our equal rights, which includes the right to get married and have all the benefits that go with it.
More interesting tidbits fromt his protest in the final installment – Part 3 – The Good, The Bad, and The Miscellanious.
