America’s Next Top Anita Bryant, Miss California Carrie Prejean, is turning her second place in a beauty contest into a national spokesmodelship for opposition to gay rights.  This is an improvement on what you get out of second place in a beauty contest in Monopoly, which is only $10.

What happens when a young California beauty pageant contestant is asked, “Do you support same-sex marriage?” She is attacked viciously for having the courage to speak up for her truth and her values. But Carrie’s courage inspired a whole nation and a whole generation of young people because she chose to risk the Miss USA crown rather than be silent about her deepest moral values. “No Offense” calls gay marriage advocates to account for their unwillingness to debate the real issue: Gay marriage has consequences.

Did I miss the memo where her resentment at answering a question poorly (remember “we live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage”?  Um, no, that’s kind of the point) inspired a nation?  I mean, the Republicans really have to do a better job with their folk heroes.  For one they have to be, um, heroes, not unemployed plumbers or second-place beauty contest winners.

FWIW, here’s the ad from the National Organization For Marriage.

Yes, if we as a country don’t stand up for the rights of bigots, we will have shamed ourselves.  Won’t somebody think of the gay-bashers?

Keep an eye on this Carrie Prejean.  If the right tries to do with her what they do with their other presumed victims, she’ll have a national speaking tour and a talk show after Limbaugh within a week.

Today, the Vermont legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto and voted to allow same-sex couples to marry.  They become the first state to legalize gay marriage through the legislative process rather than the courts.  Of course, California passed a gay marriage bill twice, in 2005 and 2007, only to see the Governor veto the legislation both times.  And then… nothing.

Now, the bill never passed by a margin approaching a 2/3 vote in either chamber, so you might question the efficacy of an override vote.  However, that only makes sense if you aren’t aware that the California legislature NEVER overrides vetoes.  This actually came up last year, when the Governor vetoed the initial FY2009 budget and the legislature threatened to override.  Instead they ceded to the Governor’s demands.  Indeed, California has never overridden a budget veto in the history of the legislature, and the legislature pretty much never overrides vetoes of any other kind, even if the measures pass both houses with overwhelming margins.  The last override in California?  THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Part of this is due to the unnecessary forced bottlenecks in the legislative process, where practically everything passes right at the end of a legislative session, and the Governor vetoes after the session ends, which means that the legislature is out of session at the time they could override a veto.  But another part concerns an insidious professional courtesy mixed with threats, where the Governor in recent years has implicitly vowed to veto all kinds of bills if he’s ever overridden on one.

The overall point is that California’s government does not operate like a functioning political body.  The veto override, a major tool for a legislature to impose their will on a Governor, doesn’t exist.  The majority vote, when a Governor agrees with the thrust of the legislation, with respect to the budget and taxes, doesn’t exist.  And so ordinary functions of political bodies are closed off to California, by self-imposed means.  This highlights once again why we have an ungovernable political structure that needs to be radically changed.

Your last word in what’s happenin’ (apologies to Raj and Rerun):

• Here’s George Skelton having some fun and making up statistics to scapegoat immigrants, failing to mention the economic activity they produce and the Social Security payroll taxes they pay but never collect.  It’s simply wrong to pander to xenophobes the way Skelton does in this piece, under the guise of “being honest.”  If you want to be honest, explain that, as baby boomers age, the fiscal impact of younger workers in the country is positive, at least so says that left-wing rag the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and countless other studies.

• Debbie Cook has resufaced at the new site OC Progressive, and she writes a strong post about to need to collectively focus on energy as crucial to our future as a sustainable planet.  It’s really good.

• The Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. reduced its staff by 20%.  Not only construction and manufacturing jobs are affected by the meltdown.  The arts and non-profits are among the hardest-hit.

• Just why did the NFL and the Los Angeles NBC affiliate ban an ad on marriage equality, and then lie that they weren’t airing “advocacy-based” ads during on Super Bowl Sunday to boot?  Someone ought to find out.

• California now has less wind power capacity than Iowa.  I don’t totally agree with the conclusions for why, but it’s worth studying.

• CA-Sen: ZOMG, Chuck DeVore Twitters! And Facebooks!  He raised $1,600 on Twitter!  He’s TOTALLY like Obama! (Is that 140 characters yet?)

By the way, that picture in the WSJ of DeVore checking his Blackberry like a strung-out meth addict should be atop all of Barbara Boxer’s campaign literature for the next couple years.

People are still filing out of what I imagine to be very congested spaces and rallies across the country, but I thought I’d go around the Web and find some reports.

AP:

Gay rights supporters waving rainbow colors marched, chanted and danced in cities coast to coast Saturday to protest the California vote that banned gay marriage there and urge supporters not to quit the fight for the right to wed.

Many cast it as a civil rights issue.

Crowds gathered near public buildings in small communities and major cities including New York, San Francisco and Chicago to vent their frustrations, celebrate gay relationships and renew calls for change.

“Civil marriages are a civil right, and we’re going to keep fighting until we get the rights we deserve as American citizens,” Karen Amico said in Philadelphia, holding up a sign reading “Don’t Spread H8”.

“We are the American family, we live next door to you, we teach your children, we take care of your elderly,” said Heather Baker a special education teacher from Boston who addressed the crowd at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. “We need equal rights across the country.”

Here’s a diary on the NYC event from Daily Kos diarist bria:

Democracy is not a one-shot deal.  People can’t just vote every 4 years (or 2, or more often) and think that the work is done.  We still need to make our voices heard, to hold our elected officials responsible, to advocate for the causes we believe in.  Very rarely do we see a direct and immediate change from any act of public assembly or civil disobedience, but each of us is still one.  And the more of us there are, the harder we are to ignore.

Greater public awareness + greater media coverage = greater political awareness = a better shot at change that matters.

Great pictures in that one.

Daily Kos diarist jpmassar from San Francisco:

It was a beautiful sunny morning as thousands of people converged on Civic Center Square (just across the street from where Obama rallied the Bay Area twice, more than a year ago now).

One of the most stirring speeches was given by an African American Baptist preacher, a man who was introduced as having been taught by Martin Luther King.  His ringing oratory, as evinced by the title of this diary, brought the crowd to its highest pitch of enthusiasm; I could imagine being at a rally in the 60’s and hearing King exhort his  followers for civil rights.  (Sorry, I did not get his name).

Apparently Mark Leno and Carole Migden spoke at the SF rally.

The LA Times:

In Los Angeles, protesters clustered shoulder to shoulder near City Hall before setting off on a downtown march, chanting and carrying rainbow-colored flags and signs bearing messages such as “No More Mr. Nice Gay” and “No on Hate.” […]

The Los Angeles Police Department estimated that 40,000 people would attend the march, which officials expected to be peaceful.

Across the state, the rallies took on a carnival-like atmosphere in heat-wave conditions.

The Houston Press, Houston, TX:

Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of Houston City Hall this afternoon to protest the passing of Proposition 8, California’s constitutional amendment taking away the right to marry for same-sex couples. Along with the passing of other anti-gay measures across the nation, Prop. 8 made November 4 a day of mixed emotions for many of the progressives in attendance, who say they went to bed ecstatic about the election of Barack Obama but woke up the next morning to find out not everything had changed for the better.

San Diego U-T:

SAN DIEGO – A crowd estimated at 10,000 by police and 15,000 by organizers marched downtown Saturday to protest the passage of Proposition 8, with one arrest of a counter-protester reported during the otherwise peaceful event.

A man identified by police as a member of the anti-illegal immigration group San Diego Minutemen was arrested about 12:30 p.m. at Sixth Avenue and Ash Street following a fight, said San Diego police Capt. C.J. Ball.

500 in Santa Cruz.  “Several hundred” in Portland.  And more in Indianapolis.  And St. Paul, MN.  200 in Fargo, ND.  And Greensboro, NC.

Today feels like a movement.  Can’t wait to see the on-site reports.

I’m headed down to the e-board meeting, but I wanted to again mention the Join the Impact rallies in support of marriage equality today, in over 300 cities in all 50 states.  Organizers expect over 1 million people to attend nationwide.  Stay with Calitics all day, we’ll have site reports from at least 7 locations across the state and the country – San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Francisco, Sacramento, Chicago, IL, and Albuquerque, NM.  Hopefully we’ll have pictures and video from some of those events as well.

If you’re going to a JTI event, write up a diary and we’ll post it on the front page.  To find an event in your area, check the wiki.

UPDATE by Brian: We’ll be getting some updates later on today, but I thought this photo from the SF rally was worthy of sharing.

The numerous issues inside the No on 8 campaign, and their disappointing mismanagement, has finally bubbled up into the traditional media (we were talking about it a week ago).  The SacBee writes about the trouble at the top:

Key staff members – including the campaign manager – were replaced in the final weeks as polls turned dramatically against the No side. Their replacements say they found an effort that was too timid, slow to react, without a radio campaign or a strategy to reach out to African Americans, a group that ultimately supported the measure by more than 2 to 1.

Gay marriage supporters are looking to the courts to overturn the decision. But if another political campaign is waged, said Dennis Mangers, co-chairman of the No on 8 Northern California Committee, “we’ll have to do better.”

No on 8 campaign manager Steve Smith was shoved aside three weeks before Election Day, after he was slow to counter TV ads in which the measure’s supporters claimed that same-sex marriage would be promoted in schools if the measure failed.

And Smith was replaced by a committee – half the consultant class in Sacramento went through the revolving door of that campaign.  And they set about to answer unchallenged ads from the Yes campaign and get on radio.  But the message remained somewhat timid, and the campaign didn’t put much effort into minority outreach or field operations.  Late volunteers were told to go out on a street corner and wave signs.

What’s remarkable is that the best activism and creativity I’ve seen from the LGBT community in years has come in the immediate AFTERMATH of this vote.  The talent was out there, but wasn’t channeled during the campaign.  Activists are using wiki-based technology to set up a national day of action on November 15 called The Impact.  A comedy troup in LA used the Yes campaign’s own words to “advocate” for prohibiting divorce.  And Utah lawmakers are turning the tables on the Mormon church by using their alleged tolerance to make major advances for gay rights in the Beehive State:

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have said they do not object to rights for same-sex couples, as long as those rights do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family.

Now, gay-rights activists and at least five Utah legislators are asking the Church to demonstrate its conviction.

The group Equality Utah says the Church made the invitation, and they’re accepting it. “The LDS Church says it does not oppose same-sex couples receiving such rights as hospitalization and medical care, fair housing rights or probate rights,” said Mike Thompson, executive director of Equality Utah.

These actions are useful to the future of marriage equality nationwide, and could be the backbone of a smarter, more grassroots movement.  Why were they not tapped at all for the No on 8 campaign?

Yesterday, Connecticut granted marriage equality to all its citizens, offering a glimmer of hope.  I am convinced that justice will eventually prevail.  But you have to treat the campaign like a campaign, and use the assets at your disposal.

The mass of outrage and activism that has welled up in the wake of California’s passage of Prop. 8 will I think eventually be healthy.  It’s a testament to the failure of the No on 8 campaign that they were unable to channel this energy before the vote, but often it takes a disruptive outcome like this to make it happen.  And I think people are finally starting to ask the right questions and move from lashing out in anger to a more mature response befitting the message of equality.  The scattered instances of racial intolerance were harmful and unnecessary, especially given that, based on the exit poll data, there was no one ethnic group that deserved to be targeted (Republicans who crossed over to vote for Obama made up a far larger portion of the Prop. 8 coalition than African-Americans).  The various proposed boycotts (how could the owner of LA’s El Coyote donate to Yes on 8?  Given their clientele that’s unthinkable) and individual actions are natural outgrowths of a movement like this and they have their place, but at least someone is making sure that the actual culprits get mentioned in all of this.

What is odd about the loss of family rights for California’s gay and lesbians is that the losing old school campaign was built while the rules of campaigning where being demonstrably rewritten by the Obama campaign.

The Obama campaign’s success was built upon not ceding territory to old myths on Latinos, African Americans, and young voters. The myth that Latinos would never vote for an African American was debunked by the Obama campaign, the idea of low voter turnout among African Americans and young people was also debunked. But in addition to ignoring basic myths on minority voting behavior, the Obama campaign knew that it had to still work hard to get the electoral results they wanted. They waged a campaign to win the votes and turnout model they needed.

At the end of the day, Prop. 8 was still a campaign and it needed to maximize its potential, which it clearly did not do.  Many on this site have asked the right questions and will continue to do so.

As for the next steps, this is not, in my view, about patiently waiting back and hoping that the younger generation will reverse the decision at some unspecified point in the future.  It’s about sustained effort on a variety of fronts.  It is quite heartening to see 44 members of the California Legislature offer an amicus brief to the State Supreme Court on behalf of marriage equality in the ongoing lawsuit to invalidate the constitutional amendment.  There are a lot of politicians on our side.  

The spontaneous protests and marches can actually be a way to harness the energy if they are handled properly.  I think The Impact, a series of protests organized on a distributed model in California and in every state in America, is exactly what is needed.  This is actually quite promising and would move this seamlessly into an issue of civil rights.  Ultimately, there is a future for equality.  There always is.

Lots of people are angry about the passage of Prop. 8 and they are just channeling that anger organically.  One of the results has been street protests, and today’s blocked Santa Monica Boulevard.

Hundreds of people protesting California’s new ban on gay marriage demonstrated outside a Mormon temple in Westwood on Thursday, blocking traffic on a major boulevard.

The protesters claim the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent millions to air deceptive advertisements in support of Proposition 8, which passed on Tuesday with 52 percent of voters casting their ballots to define marriage as a heterosexual union.

If you’re unfamiliar with LA, that is a HUGE temple.  

There is other talk of boycotting Utah and Marriott hotels, and further street actions.  This is how civil rights movements typically mature.  And many are correct in the previous thread in saying that rights are not usually put to a vote.  This is all being done haphazardly.  Will a leader emerge from this movement?

…Pam Spaulding at Pandagon has more.

UPDATE by Brian: From the comments, some folks are organizing a similar protest in SF for tomorrow. Protest8 Blog has the information. It begins at 5:30  and goes from Civic Center down to Dolores Park.