On Saturday, about 50 people attend a protest for LGBTQ rights and against the anti-gay Proposition 8 in California. The nationwide protest was held in over 300 cities, including 7 cities in Michigan.
In Grand Rapids, participants rallied at Calder Plaza before marching to the corner of Fulton and Division.
Photos from the protest:
The protests were organized through JoinTheImpact.com. The group thanked participants and said that they had over 1 million people in the streets on Saturday:
"Today we have shown the world that we will not be victims anymore! Today, our community has risen and shown our opponents that we are MUCH MORE THAN 1 MILLION STRONG! We brought the world's attention to the outrage that is Proposition 8. We brought the conversation of equality into the living rooms of America and around the world! Today, we took a gigantic step into the next Civil Rights Movement. We have brought the conversation to a national stage."
So did the participants ask to have their faces fuzzed out? ANYONE protesting this should be happy to be seen for being on the RIGHT side of the argument, gay or straight. Prop8 is a hateful stain on the humanity of this country (in particular California). Those that supported it should be exposed as the bigots and intolerant people they really are.
I've always been unimpressed with media coverage of gay oriented events in Grand Rapids, it seems those doing the reporting are ashamed of or afraid to show that there are actually gay people living there.
We're certainly not "ashamed of or afraid to show that there are actually gay people living there," however, it is our policy to blur faces in our photos due to past use of this site by the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) to harass local activists.
You can read the policy at:
http://www.mediamouse.org/news/photoblurs.php