Once upon a time… Those words usually introduce a fantastical tale that includes magical creatures, an oppressed person or people, heroes, and adventures. Often, the hero sets off on a quest to free the “damsel in distress” from whatever creature or situation is causing the distress. In today’s story, however, the story is turned around. A hero begins by liberating an entire community which leads to greater oppression, adventures, and, finally, justice and equality. (Until, of course, the sequel rolls around.)
In 2004, just over 20 years ago, the first hero in our story, then-mayor Gavin Newsom, told San Francisco’s city-county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Approximately 4,000 mistreated couples took advantage of the opportunity. Unfortunately, later that year, the state supreme court declared those marriages to be invalid, leading to various legal battles and, eventually, in early 2008, the state supreme court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional in the state of California, once again opening the door for LGBTQIA2+ folks to get married.
By November of that year, however, our villains, in large part backed by the Catholic Church, its cosplaying minions, the Knights of Columbus, and the Mormon Church, had put a proposition on the ballot to amend the state constitution to explicitly ban same-sex marriage in California. In November of that year, Proposition 8 passed, making California into a third-world, separate-but-equal stronghold of oppression.
Having had a taste of freedom and respect, our victims-turned-heroes took to the streets and to courts to correct this injustice. Ultimately, they triumphed, with the proposition being declared unconstitutional first in 2010 and, finally, in 2013 when marriages began taking place again almost immediately. In 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that bans on same-sex marriages were illegal and marriage equality became the law of the land.
In the spring of 2025, just before the 10th anniversary of the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, I took a class entitled LGBT Culture and Society. As part of my coursework, I created a slideshow of photos from the dark times when my oldest son and I marched in a protest against Prop. 8. Being a parent, I was focused on the effect of the law on families and children and this slideshow tries to call attention to the most innocent of victims of this hateful law.
This post is part of the 20th annual LGBTQ Families Day, hosted Mombian.com.
Tags: Education, glbt, history, holidays, lgbt, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Families Day, LGBTQFamiliesDay, Pride, Pride Month, schoolwork, youtube
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