Tomorrow, people around the world and in every U.S. state will Join the Impact to protest the passing of California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage. Such an enormous public outcry will hopefully send a clear message to opponents of gay marriage that this issue is not going away.

As a follow up, LA Times writer, Joel Stein has proposed No Gays For A Day, a boycott in which the LGBT community stays home from work to show how everyone is effected when one group is denied their rights.

takepart by signing the Courage Campaign’s pledge to repeal Prop 8.

Apparently the Sundance Film Festival may be in trouble due to it’s Utah home and many Utahans involvement with passing Prop 8.  Many in the movie world are speaking out against the festival and it’s headquarters ( the Park City Marriott - owned by pro-Prop 8 donor Brent Andrus) in an effort to get folks to boycott the festival. The logic being that many in Hollywood are affected by or disagree with Prop 8 and therefore they shouldn’t support a festival connected with the passing of the proposition.

There are more details and lots of comments from filmmakers (mostly anti-boycott) over at IndieWire. Personally I feel a little bit conflicted about the entire thing.  On one hand tons of money is pumped into Sundance and it seems wrong that that money should benefit folks like Brent Andrus.  On the other hand, Sundance has done a lot for queer cinema and it seems wrong that folks wouldn’t get to screen their work this year.  Of course Sundance has always seemed a bit hypocritical to me so who knows? What do you think?

One thing is for sure, folks need to continue to speak out against Prop 8, boycott or no boycott.  So takepart with No on 8.

*photo from inflictfreedom’s flickr stream (creative commons)

We’ve been writing a lot about the Prop 8 vote here on TakePart and in that spirit I wanted to share Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Prop 8.  No matter what you think of Prop 8, gay marriage or Keith Olbermann this is something you should watch.

takepart to help ensure that same-sex couples are afforded the same Constitutional rights as heterosexual couples with Marriage Equality.

Read on:
No On 8 Protest: They’re Not Getting Even, They’re Getting Equal
Prop 8 Protests
Proposition 8 Passed

Unlike most Northern Californians, I love L.A. Warmer surf wins top draw, but second on the list of reasons why the city of angels rocks is Indie 103. Technically 103.1 on the FM dial, this local radio station features gems like Jonesy’s Jukebox with Steve Jones, Joe Escalante as designated DJ of “Wino Wednesdays” on the last of the famous international morning shows, and daily weather reports from ever-odd David Lynch.

Lynch ends his dramatic readings of meteorological projections with a playfully puzzling “thought for the day.” When I catch these, I frequently find myself returning to whatever image Lynch has signed off with at various points throughout the remainder of the day. I’ll sit in traffic on the 405 or (more happily) paddle out in Malibu, turning the untelling phrase around to try deciphering it from another angle. To be clear, we’re not talking about the big statements here. Lynch isn’t positing profundities about the nature of love or whether war can be just. It’s stuff like: “hear flowers,” “purple elephant,” “lawnmower.” Yeah, yeah. …. I know, just tongue in cheek or head up wherever kitch. Nothing to over intellectualize, nitwit.

True. And yet, have you ever stopped to consider – I mean really consider – the lawnmower? How it works, what it frees the user otherwise to do, the sound it makes, its shadow at dusk, how a squirrel feels about them?

My point is not that either these questions or one’s answers to them (oh yes, please share!) are what actually matter. But I humbly submit that curiosity — even about the seemingly silly and inconsequential aspects of life, as well as the supposedly intractable or inevitable ones – is vital, vibrant, sexy and the absolute core of human greatness.

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Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. HRC advocates on behalf of LGBT Americans both inside the Beltway and on Main Street, educating the public on LGBT issues, mobilizing grass roots support in communities across the country, and strategically investing in political candidates with progressive approaches toward LGBT issues.

While the 2008 elections in the United States were a historic milestone for racial issues, the results of ballot initiatives outlawing gay marriages in Arizona, Florida and California demonstrated that LGBT citizens still have a long way to go before attaining true equality in our society. The breakdown of demographics in California’s Proposition 8 voting specifically showed a disturbing pattern regarding LGBT rights. While White Californians narrowly voted against the measure banning gay marriage, Latino Californians voted narrowly for it and African-American Californians votes for it by a 70%-30% margin. Bearing in mind that with divisive racial issues quickly becoming a strategy of the past for conservative politicians to distract the electorate with, LGBT issues unfortunately remain hot button distractions, with appeal across racial lines. The need for education, advocacy and outreach on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights is more important now than ever.

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As Danny mentioned, thousands of supporters of same-sex marriage protested in West Hollywood last night and took to the streets again today in response to the passing of Proposition 8 that amends the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and  a woman.

Lawyers for No on 8 have already filed a lawsuit.

Some Participants attended the protests last night and the one happening right now in Hollywood. Here are videos and photos:

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As I got ready for bed last night I heard the continuous flutter of helicoptors, and checked the news to discover a massive protest against the passing of California’s Proposition 8 roaming the streets of Hollywood.

What began as a relatively small gathering of supporters of same-sex marriage, quickly escalated into a peaceful march of nearly 2000 people, with similar numbers reported in San Fransisco.  There were only a few arrests, with one report of a protester being tackled

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Oh how sad. Yesterday, donors and supporters of Equality California began receiving threatening letters from the Yes on 8 campaign leadership.

Threatening to expose the donors listed on the Equality California website if they don’t donate to the Yes on 8 campaign, the letter was signed by four members of the “Yes on 8″ executive committee, saying

Were you to elect not to donate comparably, it would be a clear indication that you are in opposition to traditional marriage. You would leave us no other reasonable assumption. The names of any companies that choose not to donate to ProtectMarriage.com will be published.

We will contact you shortly to discuss your contribution.

Amazing. “Yes on Prop 8″ supporters are so desperate to eliminate away gay marriage rights that they are threatening people?

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There’s a new rush on in California…of gay couples eager to wed before time runs out. The days of legalized same-sex weddings in the Golden State might be numbered with the upcoming Proposition 8 measure on the California ballot for the November election which threatens to amend the state constitution to eliminate marriage rights for gay couples.

Polls had shown the majority of Californians opposed to the ballot measure, but a recent spate of advertising has boosted support for the initiative. Same sex couples from San Diego to Crescent City are leaving nothing to chance when it comes to getting their knot on, a right many have waited for for decades.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Obama Global Love Fest by Martin Musatov

Interview with Lawrence Lessig by Wendy Cohen

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Nicole Hughes:

Top 10 Ways to Green Your Move

Climate Change Activist Superglues Himself to UK Prime Minister

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Andy Kondrat:

Can Junk Mail Be Green?

Google Maps Adds Walking Directions

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Jon Popham:

Recycling Building Materials Greens Up Home Improvement

CA Hotel Owner’s Anti Same-Sex Marriage Donation Brings Boycott Calls

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Gina Telaroli:

Naming a Generation

Ebert and Roeper Exit: Time to Give a Lady the Thumbs UP