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The Prop. 8 Protest Heard Round the Country: Join the Impact LA

The Prop. 8 Protest Heard Round the Country: Join the Impact LA

LA protesters have been taking to the streets daily since the day after Barack Obama’s historic win, when returns trickling in pointed to Prop. 8's-- the ballot measure that re-bans gay marriage in the state – passing. Thanks to the grassroots efforts of Seattle-based Amy Balliett, Join the Impact was born and Nov. 15 became the protest heard round the country. And I was there. Here's a quick look.

TracyEGilchrist

As wild fires raged nearby, tens of thousands of Los Angelinos and their friends, family and neighbors flocked to City Hall to protest Prop. 8.

LA protesters have unrelentingly taken to the streets since the day after Barack Obama’s historic win, when returns trickling in pointed to Prop. 8's -- the ballot measure that re-bans gay marriage in the state – passing.

But on Saturday, California was far from alone. Thanks to the grassroots efforts of an upstart, Seattle-based activist organizer Amy Balliett and several internet networking sites and companies, within days of Prop. 8’s hateful passage, Join the Impact was born. And on Saturday, activists and citizens’ concerned with civil rights for all, took to the streets en masse, gay, straight and otherwise. The truly monumental event promises to be just the beginning in the next phase of the battle for marriage rights.

For the fourth time in a week, I whipped on my marching shoes and hit the street – a cool 92-degrees in downtown LA, I might add. Joined by friends and colleagues I marched, chanted and demonstrated for my rights and the rights of people I love. While I’ll be writing more about my experience post-Prop. 8 in an Op-ed later this week, I wanted to share some snippets of my day with a few photos and a video of the march. Plus…I got a great photo of our ally Pink, which I couldn’t wait to share!

We hope to offer personal blogs for registered SheWired members within the week, however, if you have photos, quick stories and even short videos to share and donate, please email me at tracy.gilchrist@regentmedia.com. If I get enough, I will feature our stories from protests around the country throughout the week.

Civic Center Metro Station Near City Hall
Pink and Friend
A Happy Family
Rallying for Equal Rights
The Advocates with Sonia BaghdadyOut / Advocate Magazine - Jonathan Groff and Wayne Brady

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.