Lessons from the OUT! Twin Cities Film Fest at St Anthony Main Theater

Marry me, Minnesota? This civil rights issue has come before 30 states before; now it's finally Minnesota's turn to wrestle with a referendum to restrict marriage to the hetero-normative.
 In November Minnesotans will face this question on their ballots: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in Minnesota?” 
 A similar amendment passed in California in the 2008 elections, and we can learn a lot from the story of Prop 8. This story was the first to be told, last night at the 3rd annual Out! Twin Cities Film Festival. More great films about LGBT life will screen tonight and tomorrow night at the St. Anthony Main Theater.
Showings:  www.outtwincitiesfilmfest.com/


Charlie Gage didn't expect to be inspired by LGBT protests in LA; he didn't expect to make this particular
documentary about them either.
 But all the creative steam driving people to act against Proposition 8, a 2008 amendment to California's constitution, drove an incredible story that he captured from the get-out-the-vote efforts to the Supreme Court's Day of Decision on the amendment.
  At the screening of Inspired: The Voices Against Prop 8, director Charlie Gage said that he had just showed up at protests, noticed who stood out in the footage, and contacted these people for interviews. Several of them had said they weren't the type to go out and protest, until Prop 8 passed and gay marriage in California ended. The initial campaign to vote "No" burst into several different organizations, each with their own target group. All or Not at All, the Gay UN, Latino Equality, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, and more groups swung into action to support a repeal of Prop 8  with commercials, slogans, websites, boycotts, marches, candlelight vigils, and a LGBT Equality Conference that was organized by young people.
  In the film, there's also a young man who acted alone and organized a protest beyond LA, in the more conservative Pasadena.
  Boycotts against small businesses and large corporations that had given money to support Prop 8 were discussed for their relatively low impact, and Asian, Latino, black and white gay marriage proponents recounted the dissonance between their separate action groups. How aggressive should the demands in the street get? What do people gain by blocking the streets and defying law enforcement?
   It seemed that through all they went through, the new activists gained stronger voices and community organizing skills. With direct actions they changed, and their movement grew. They kept the issue in the news and on the minds of the judges.
Though the California Supreme Court had ruled in May 2009 that yes, the people have the right to change the constitution,  a federal district judge ruled in 2010 that the change was unconstitutional.
  There was no rational or legal basis for the change to the constitution, and it stripped a minority of its rights for no reason. This opinion was upheld by a US Appeals Court ruling in early 2012. Can the majority vote to remove any rights from any group?
  This is the larger issue, and as it awaits a higher court, the marriage restrictions remain in California.

 Today, Minnesotans United for All Families is present at the film festival and in a neighborhood near you. They are counting votes door-to-door and glad for the support of 420 other organizations. To win on this issue, it will take a very large effort beyond the Twin Cities, beyond our comfort zones, cooperation between organizations, and a steadily cool & reasoned approach rather than aggressive tactics.