Rally against Prop. 8

By KERANA TODOROV
Register Staff Writer

Hundreds of Napans rallied Saturday to protest the passage of Prop. 8 — the measure that bans same-sex marriage in California.

The morning rally, which drew an estimated 400 people in front of Napa City Hall, was part of a nationwide campaign to overturn Prop. 8 which passed Nov. 4 with strong backing from the Church of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Church. The measure restricts marriage between a man and a woman.

People carried signs — with wording that included “Let this Winemaker Stay married — no H8” and “Civil Rights = Equality” and “Please Don’t Take My Marriage License Away,” — and applauded as speakers, including field representatives from Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, and state Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, spoke for about an hour. The protesters then marched from School Street to Main Street and First Street, then back to City Hall.

“This isn’t a gay issue. It’s a civil rights issue,” Renée Fannin of Yountville told the crowd gathered on School Street.

Laurie Puzo, field representative for Evans, said the assemblywoman is proud of Napa for voting against Prop. 8, which she called mean spirited. Sharon Macklin, who also said that Wiggins is proud of Napa County’s vote on Prop. 8, said “there is no place in California for discrimination.”

Another speaker, Douglas Monroe, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Napa, said there can be no justification for discrimination solely on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. All people have the right to marry.

“Where there is love, there is God in our midst,” he said.

Good marriages, he said, increase the capacity of individuals to contribute to the community and protect children. Marriage, he noted, is always evolving as a civil and religious institution.

Monroe said the religious community — not the government — must have the right to discern who is eligible to marry.

“Marriage is about entering into (a) holy covenant and making a commitment with another person to share life’s joys and sorrows,” he said.

“Marriage is to be valued because it creates stable, committed relationships.”

Gregg DesElms, a Napa-based consultant and a volunteer deputy commissioner of civil ceremonies in San Jose, where he works, said he volunteered for the position after same-sex marriage became legal in California.

Same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue, DesElms said.

On Elections Day, he officiated dozens of wedding ceremonies, including those of same-sex couples who wanted to make sure they could marry. Because time was running short, he conducted a mass wedding.

“It’s been a transformative experience, to say the least,” DesElms said after the rally.

Haley Hibbs, a senior at Vintage High School, came with her fiancée, Elizabeth Montgomery.

 They said, their parents are proud that they’re fighting for their rights.

Hibbs, the president of Vintage High’s Gay-Straight Alliance Network, said the passage of Prop. 8 hit them hard.

“We were really, really, really devastated,” Hibbs said, as she and Montgomery walked toward the rally carrying an armful of “Vote ‘No’ on Prop. 8” campaign signs.

At the rally and the following march, people said they want to do all they can to speak out against Prop. 8.

“It makes me so mad at myself I didn’t do more,” said Jim Schull, a retired public school teacher who came with his new husband, Richard Buth. They have been partners for 36 years.

Kristi Lesnewich, a lawyer, who donated money only two weeks before the elections to the “Vote ‘No’ on Prop. 8” campaign, plans to write protest letters and attend rallies to overturn Prop. 8, which is now before the California Supreme Court.

“I felt like somebody stabbed me when Prop. 8 passed,” she said during the march as people shouted “Civil rights for all!”

“I’m optimistic it will be (overturned),” she said.

Chris Edwards, president of the Napa Valley Unity League, said the campaign will include fundraisers, letter writing and potentially boycotting businesses that supported Prop. 8.

He also wants to engage people who oppose same-sex marriage to change their hearts.

“The main thing we can do as a community is to keep talking about it,” he said. “Discrimination is easy.”

Deb Stallings, one of the rally organizers with Fannin and others, said she was pleased with Saturday’s turnout.

“I was so proud of Napa Valley for turning out for this,” she said.

While 52 percent of California voters supported Prop. 8, 55 percent of Napa County voters opposed the measure, according to the preliminary results that will be certified later this month.

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