A new documentary will be released on June 18th examining the work of Mormon money (solicited by Roman Catholic officials here in California) in the 2008 passage of Proposition 8. Although the stated purpose of Prop 8 was to prohibit gay marriage, it effectively became a referendum on gay rights in general. And the voters loudly voiced their hostility to gay rights in general. To underline that point (in honor of this new film) I will now do a thing I have never done before in the history of Spencer Alley and reprint below in its entirety an old post – one dating back to December 5, 2008 –
Start of Weekend
So, I'm coming home after work Friday afternoon. Get off MUNI at 18th and Dolores, then walk up to 16th and Dolores, an intersection only one block away from Spencer Alley. It's a sunny day, the nights have been cold this past week, but the afternoons keep turning out warm and welcoming. The trees glow. I'm daydreaming, listening to the Brahms string sextet repeating itself inside my head (it had been on my headphones on the bus). When the light turns green I cross the street and am vaguely aware of a male person also crossing the street slightly behind me on my left. Then out of nowhere this person starts shouting. As in, shouting at me. "You know what? I voted for Proposition Suck-My-Fucking-Dick!"The big problem with this was my absolute unpreparedness. But I never dreamed of being gay-baited at 16th and Dolores. Elsewhere, this has happened to me before, though not often. Never in San Francisco. Not in 30 years. Not until the passage of Prop 8.
And I'd especially like to thank the Catholic Church – my employers, as it happens – for their participation in this social transformation.