California Bans Gay Marriage

Apparently the Sundance Film Festival may be in trouble due to it's Utah home and many Utahans involvement with passing Prop 8.  Many in the movie world are speaking out against the festival and it's headquarters ( the Park City Marriott - owned by pro-Prop 8 donor Brent Andrus) in an effort to get folks to boycott the festival. The logic being that many in Hollywood are affected by or disagree with Prop 8 and therefore they shouldn't support a festival connected with the passing of the proposition.

There are more details and lots of comments from filmmakers (mostly anti-boycott) over at IndieWire. Personally I feel a little bit conflicted about the entire thing.  On one hand tons of money is pumped into Sundance and it seems wrong that that money should benefit folks like Brent Andrus.  On the other hand, Sundance has done a lot for queer cinema and it seems wrong that folks wouldn't get to screen their work this year.  Of course Sundance has always seemed a bit hypocritical to me so who knows? What do you think?

One thing is for sure, folks need to continue to speak out against Prop 8, boycott or no boycott.  So takepart with No on 8.

*photo from inflictfreedom's flickr stream (creative commons)

We've been writing a lot about the Prop 8 vote here on TakePart and in that spirit I wanted to share Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Prop 8.  No matter what you think of Prop 8, gay marriage or Keith Olbermann this is something you should watch.

takepart to help ensure that same-sex couples are afforded the same Constitutional rights as heterosexual couples with Marriage Equality.

Read on:
No On 8 Protest: They’re Not Getting Even, They’re Getting Equal
Prop 8 Protests
Proposition 8 Passed

As Danny mentioned, thousands of supporters of same-sex marriage protested in West Hollywood last night and took to the streets again today in response to the passing of Proposition 8 that amends the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and  a woman.

Lawyers for No on 8 have already filed a lawsuit.

Some Participants attended the protests last night and the one happening right now in Hollywood. Here are videos and photos:

More

As I got ready for bed last night I heard the continuous flutter of helicoptors, and checked the news to discover a massive protest against the passing of California's Proposition 8 roaming the streets of Hollywood.

What began as a relatively small gathering of supporters of same-sex marriage, quickly escalated into a peaceful march of nearly 2000 people, with similar numbers reported in San Fransisco.  There were only a few arrests, with one report of a protester being tackled More

Prop 8 passed in California. The passing of the bill, which bans same-sex marriage was announced this morning. Same-sex marriages have been performed since June in California, and it is unclear what the amendment means for the 18,000 same-sex couples who have married in the state. Conservatives celebrated the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage in California, as well as Florida and Arizona.

It was a great victory,” said the Rev. James Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego County and a leader of the campaign to pass the California measure, Proposition 8. “We saw the people just rise up.” - NYTimes

California will still allow same-sex civil unions, but Arizona and Florida will not. So now Massachusetts and Connecticut are the only states where same-sex marriages are legal and Rhode Island and New York will continue to recognize those unions. This is certainly not the last we'll hear about Prop 8 as many are already planning legal battles to fight the passing of Prop 8. Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, who were the first to get married last June, said they have already initiated a lawsuit to fight back against the amendment.For more on marriage equality and to help make marriage legal for everyone takepart and visit http://www.marriageequality.org/