Typical Bay Area Saturday

"What do we want?...Equality!...When do we want it?...Now!"

This was one of many refrains chanted ad infinitum at the protest march in Berkeley against the marriage ban imposed by California voters. The crowd was pretty small, near two to three hundred people.  We figured most people were headed toward the huge protest in San Francisco. We marched in Berkeley so we could participate with my boss, his partner, an Assistant Principal in the district, her partner, and another principal ally (straight but not narrow, thank you girlfriend).
The march in Berkeley was more of a stroll around a few city blocks. Traffic flowed freely as everyone fit on the sidewalks. At one point a transgendered UU minister intern gave an impassioned speech, but the crowd was dispersing quickly so we decided it was time to take our leave.

We then took BART over to San Francisco, to catch the GreenFestival, Rusty of course had free tickets. As we exited the BART, thousands of people were marching down market blocking traffic and providing photo taking opportunities for tourists in Alcatraz T-shirts. The scene was peaceful, and the mood was surprisingly jubilant. If there is one thing that Proposition 8 has done for the gay community, it is coalesce the community around an issue. Unfortunately, the rally needs to be held outside of the bay area. Media event aside, holding a rally in San Francisco is certainly a case of preaching to the choir. None-the-less, a great event to stumble upon. We walked to the GreenFestival. The festival was huge and hosted hundreds of informational booths and vendors.
After this exhausting day, we went to my friend Kirsten's 40th Birthday party and talked politics with a bunch of straight 'dudes' none of whom even questioned whether a Yes on Prop. 8 vote violates constitutional rights.  So basically, a typical Saturday in the Bay Area includes participating in two protest marches (one with my openly gay superintendent and his partner), utilizing public transportation, browsing literature about green businesses printed with soy ink on 80% post consumer recycled paper pamphlets, and talking liberal politics with straight men in a blue state.  What a special place the bay area can be at times.  No wonder this place is known as the largest bastion of liberal wickedness in all the US.