Power of Protest?
For the third time this week, I've come home to a news helicopter hovering over my window. I enjoy living in an exciting neighbourhood, but I can't help thinking that a really big fly swatter would be even more exciting right now.
The last 24 hours have been very rough for me, partially due to illness. So I wasn't planning to join the protest until I stumbled upon it on my way home-the metro was rooted for some reason so I took a tram, but it got held up at the tail end of the protest. So I got off, passed about 40 equally stranded trams and trolley buses, and joined in the chants.
The group was much smaller than I expected, and I eventually realised that these were stragglers; the main protest had headed up to the Castro long ago and this was a splinter group on Market and Hayes. Still, there were some two hundred NO ON 8 signs, and one sign in favour of prop 8. It was being waved around by a tall black man in a clergy collar, and he engaged in a shouting match against some 20 people around him. I wasn't worried about it turning violent or anything, but I felt sad that there was no opportunity for a civilised conversation to see if there's any mutual understanding. And I'm just plain curious about what makes those people tick.
(Frank Chu was there as well, BTW. He's back down to 12 galaxies now. I wonder if any of them allow same-sex marriage.)
I eventually overheard a woman ask her mate if he was willing to get arrested with her. At that point I realised that the protest had turned into something more to do with defying the police and blocking Market Street than human rights. I moved on then, but it got me thinking.
Ponderances
When do street protests make sense? I certainly think they do for this cause, to let people know that the Prop 8 issue isn't dead and people should continue fighting against it. There was another very well-organised and very focused march up Market Street on Wednesday night that drove that home. But more recent Iraq war protests seem like a waste of time-that'll change when the new administration comes in, but for now, I think I'd just feel like a dickhead.
When is it fair for protests to be this disruptive on purpose? Back when the Americans invaded Iraq, I had a few LJ-discussions bordering on flame wars with friends who were whinging about the disruption that the protests brought to their day. I wrote several comments that basically said Hello! Your country is bombing and killing people-business as usual is absolutely inappropriate! (I was living in Malaysia at the time, and disappointed that I couldn't take part in the protests myself.) Tonight, however, I didn't see the point.
When democracy is working, does any good come out of being arrested for a cause, especially when there's already plenty of awareness about it? I'm concerned that being arrested would impede my ability to travel, so I'm not sure if I'd ever feel that strongly about a cause. OTOH, in September I visited three countries where same-sex marriage is legal (Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa)-could I have done anything while visiting those countries to help the cause here?
I was just finishing this entry up when the Castro protestors were heading back downtown-I could see them from my window. I grabbed my sign and cheered them on. If nothing else, it feels good to be part of the cause, and that it's not over yet.