Speak out

At school today there was a table in the free speech area with Representatives passing out pamphlets and information encouraging students to vote no on prop 8 and 4 (the parental notification prior to abortion amendment). They advertised a discussion panel which would have Representatives from both sides of both issues. I decided that I would go and support prop 8.

I put a bumper sticker on my binder and skated off to school. When i arrived I noticed that there was still no fliers or information regarding yes on 8. When the discussion panel began the moderator announced that no one from yes on prop 8 showed up. Upon questioning it was made known that yes on 8 was contacted in advance and committed to being present then soon declined due to prior debates around town. Another group advocating prop 8 was contacted and asked to participate pretty much with no notification and thus had to decline.

After the no on prop 8 had an opportunity to give their prepared remarks the moderator was about to open it up to Q&A. A man standing against the wall offered to say a few impromptu words about yes on 8. Once the Q&A was opened up those of us who support prop 8 spoke up in defence of the proposition.

I don't know if the organization hosting the discussion hoped that only one side of the proposition would be present or only half attempted to find some one to represent yes on prop 8. But I do know that we all need to stand up for what we believe. In that forum I stood up and commented on the sanctity of marriage and found that I was not alone. I encourage everyone to attend any political function discussing proposition 8 because if we all rely on someone else to fight our cause there may be many rooms with only one side of a panel to be heard.