1,000 gather downtown to protest Arizona’s ban on gay marriage
by Fernanda Echavarri on Nov. 15, 2008, under LocalLGBT group assails Az vote, starts Web ‘Families’ outreach
Gayle Brickert-Albrecht (left), 52, and Erin Durban, 25, were among almost 1,000 people at a downtown rally in El Presidio Park on Friday night to protest the passage of Proposition 102 on Election Day. The proposition amends the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Story, Page 3A.
Almost 1,000 people of all ages gathered at a march downtown Friday night to protest the passage of Proposition 102, the Arizona ban on gay marriage.
Nine-year-old Margaret Cramer said she was marching because she wanted her moms to be able to marry.
“We’re very upset that my wife and I can’t have our marriage recognized,” said Amelia Cramer, Margaret’s mother. “We are a loving family just like any other.”
As participants lined up to march at El Presidio Park, dozens of heterosexual couples were getting married at the courthouse beside them.
On Nov. 4, Arizona voters approved Proposition 102, amending the state constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.
Although Proposition 102 passed statewide, Pima County was the only county in Arizona where voters rejected it, by a margin of more than 3 percent, said Jason Cianciotto, executive director of Wingspan, an advocacy group for southern Arizona’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“I am proud that the majority of voters here came together and took a stand in support of all Arizona families,” he said.
Leaders and members of the LGBT community marched a third of a mile with friends and family, from El Presidio Park, 160 W. Alameda St., to La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave. Marchers chanted “Gay, straight, black, white, we all deserve equal rights.”
Cianciotto organized the event and Friday also launched Wingspan’s new online campaign, Families You Know.
“We are not going to hide who we are any more. We are not going to hide the faces of our families for the sake of political expediency,” he said.
The Families You Know campaign will profile families in which one or more members is LGBT or a straight ally, through a series of videos streamed on a Web site, familiesyouknow.com.
“We know that families come in many forms, and all are defined by an unbreakable bond of love, trust, respect, and concern for each other’s well-being,” Cianciotto said.
A few of those short videos were projected on a wall at La Placita Village during the march’s closing ceremony.
The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness and “begin conversations” in Arizona on the subject of same-sex couples, Cianciotto said.
Marchers gather to protest passage of Proposition 102 at El Presidio Park on Friday evening. Although the proposition passed statewide, the majority of voters in Pima County voted against the gay marriage ban.
Amelia Cramer talks with her daughter Margaret, 9, about what she wants to put on a sign before the rally begins.
