A Stroll Down Historical Lane - The Kind Of Polarization That Doesn't Work Well

I reproduce here the Sacramento Bee article from October 12, 1991 that illustrates the kind of gay-activist polarization that really doesn't work well in winning friends and influencing people. By trying to force resolution of the Proposition 8 controversy now by dividing people into hostile camps, there is the risk of losing potential allies. Persuasion is the key.

As I mentioned in comments in the previous post, I witnessed some of this 1991 antagonism on the K Street Mall, and it was pretty ugly. Just as the gay activists were approaching the Capitol, at noon, and passing through the K Street Mall, the huge funeral for Bishop Alphonse Gallegos, who had been killed in an auto crash, was letting out at the Cathedral on the K Street Mall. Large families of somber, black-clad, mostly-Hispanic Catholics spilled out into the Mall, recoiled at the sight of an approaching army, quickly gathered their children, and fled in panicked, huddled groups, pursued by bands of shouting, belligerent, aggressive young men. I've never seen a more-graphic illustration of polarization at work!

The Proposition 8 rallies this year so far seem much, much more civil, and I hope they remain so, because there is no use driving away potential allies. The proponents of Proposition 8 have a weak coalition, with all the strength of Swiss cheese. Keep cool! Persuasion ultimately will break the coalition!

We can do much better by understanding and learning from the past. For me, it's an immediate past, but for others, perhaps more remote.

Wow, this article makes me nostalgic! Noise, fighting, shouting - isn't that what life's all about?:

DOWNTOWN ENGULFED BY GAY PROTEST
ANTI-WILSON CROWDS HALT TRAFFIC, SURROUND CAPITOL

OCTOBER 12, 1991
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: A1


By Andy Furillo, Robert Davila & Patrick Hoge Bee Staff Writers

--Thousands of defiant gay men and lesbians took over much of downtown Sacramento on Friday in a day-and-night protest that included blocking city streets, surrounding the Capitol and making a run at Interstate 5. They were kept off the freeway by club-swinging officers in a noisy demonstration against Gov. Wilson's veto of a gay rights bill. At least six demonstrators were booked on suspicion of assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and related charges on a day in which protesters also burned the American flag, smashed car windows and engaged in tense confrontations with police.

There were also isolated clashes with Christian fundamentalists who confronted the protesters and with onlookers at the K Street Mall, where marchers chanted, We're here, we're queer, and we're not going shopping!

While an estimated 4,000 demonstrators blew whistles and air horns, and listened to speakers outside the Capitol during the afternoon, Gov. Wilson hunkered down inside behind drawn curtains.

A spokesman for the governor, James Lee, said Wilson, facing a bill-signing deadline of Monday night and 500 pieces of legislation, worked all day in his office and never heard the ruckus outside. Wilson issued no comment on the demonstration.

State Police officers provided a heavy security cover for the governor's office all day, and his home was placed under the protection of sheriff's deputies.

The day of gay protest got under way with demonstrators blocking traffic at the intersection of 10th and L streets at 10:15 a.m. It concluded about 11 hours later when about 200 activists broke off from a group of 1,500 people marching through Old Sacramento to attempt to block Interstate 5.

California Highway Patrol officers who formed a line at the I Street freeway on-ramp near Old Sacramento were rushed by some of the demonstrators. A squad of motorcycle-riding officers sped through the crowd to provide backup. Some of the officers flailed at the marchers with their batons, stopping the charge.

One officer struck a protester several times, knocking him to the ground. The protester, identified by a friend as Keith Jensen, was handcuffed and taken away.

It's civil disobedience, said one demonstrator, Jerry Royse, 40, of Sacramento, in describing why the march headed toward the freeway. We want the public to know we're here. We want to let people know we've been shafted.

It would have been difficult on Friday for people in Sacramento not to know something was going on with the gay community, starting with the street closure at 10th and L, and continuing with the massive rally on the Capitol's west steps, a midafternoon march winding through downtown and another rally on the east steps of the Capitol.

Demonstrators gathered at Winn Park, 28th and P streets, at 6:30 p.m. and chanted their way through the midtown area back to the Capitol, where at 7 p.m., they formed on the east steps. Protesters set fire to the American flag while chanting, Civil rights or civil riot.

Marchers then circled the building and proceeded down Capital Mall to Tower Bridge for a wild, drum-driven dance over the Sacramento River in a celebration of their sexual orientation. That was followed by a trip through Old Sacramento stopping and screaming in bars and restaurants along the way.

Earlier in the day, protesters gathered on the west steps of the Capitol, which was draped with a three-story, rainbow-striped gay pride flag. The banner was displayed under an agreement between the Legislature's Joint Rules Committee and the governor's office, officials said.

Many activists had come to Sacramento on chartered buses and in organized caravans from Los Angeles, Orange County, the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of California. Thousands of them waved signs and wore X-rated T-shirts that voiced vehement displeasure with the governor's veto on Sept. 29 of AB 101, a bill banning job discrimination against gays. He said the bill was unnecessary because of existing laws and would burden businesses.

The demonstration coincided with National Coming Out Day, in which gay men and lesbians across the country were encouraged to express their sexual orientation.

We want to thank Pete Wilson for bringing us all together, said Jim Hormell, the national representative for National Coming Out Day and one of many speakers who addressed the crowd. He's made clear the high price we pay for our closets.

Protesters listened to speakers for more than an hour at a noisy midday rally virtually free of incidents. The gay activists also chased away two fundamentalist Christians one handing out literature, the other toting a cross bearing anti-gay messages.

About 100 State Police and another 100 CHP officers, all of whom were equipped with riot gear, guarded Capitol entrances all day. Demonstrators succeeded in removing several barricades before officers wearing latex gloves pushed them back.

I'm sorry about the violence, but we recognize the necessity for it, said Larry Gibson, 47, a Los Angeles building inspector. I understand the heterosexuals don't like it, but they don't like anything we do. They have to recognize that if they treat us like human beings, we'll settle down, be quiet and be good boys and girls.

The day's sporadic violence and vandalism began when about 75 protesters blocked the intersection at 10th and L streets, snarling downtown traffic for more than an hour.

Noisy protesters from groups such as Queer Nation and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power sat in front of automobiles and screamed in the faces of about a dozen Sacramento police officers. The police remained calm.

A guard with AMPB Security who was monitoring activity for RT Metro had the windshield of his truck smashed out and his vehicle rocked back and forth. These people said this was going to be a peaceful demonstration, but the first thing they do is start smashing things, said Al Rosenbloom, the firm's general manager.

Meanwhile, a group of protesters forced their way into the building at 11th and L streets that houses the Rev. Louis Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, a conservative Anaheim-based organization that staunchly opposed the gay rights bill.

The crowd then moved to the Capitol for a rally and afterward headed downtown. Demonstrators jammed the streets during the hourlong parade, bringing pedestrians, cars and Regional Transit trolleys to a halt. RT rerouted buses around the area.

Although no permits were issued for the march, Sacramento police held up vehicle traffic and did not stop the demonstrators from pouring into the streets. We just decided that when you have this many people determined to march in the street, the best thing to do is let them, said the city's Gary Little.

The demonstrators received numerous signs of support during their march through downtown Sacramento from people perched in windowsills. But at a light-rail stop on the mall, an angry splinter group lunged toward a woman and her three children who had just left the funeral of Auxiliary Bishop Alphonse Gallegos at the nearby Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The woman, Mary Stember of Fair Oaks, said the mob attacked after she refused to take a flier from a marcher.

Several reporters escorted the family to a restaurant as chasing demonstrators shouted, Gays bash back!

I just said, "I'm not interested. I don't want to get AIDS, it's all over the place with you,' Stember said. They were using filthy language . . . and they jumped on top of us.

Bee staff writers Dale Vargas and Edgar Sanchez contributed to this report.