Bill Thompson and Walker Harper recently married in California, and worry about the state of future marriages after California voters approved Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage. (Photo courtesy of Thompson and Harper)
MORE INFO Prop 8 Protest Nov. 15, 1:30 p.m. Georgia Capitol Building Prop 8 Candlelight Vigil Nov. 15, 5 p.m. Corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue
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Nov 14, 2008  |  By: MATT SCHAFER  | COMMENTS |   |  

Married days before the Nov. 4 election, Walker Harper and his husband, Bill Thompson, sat in a San Francisco hotel room watching as joy mixed with dread on Election Night.

“We didn’t go down to Castro Street that night, everyone was very excited about Obama winning … but I think everyone was disappointed that Proposition 8 passed,” Thompson said.

Harper and Thompson are among the Georgia couples who traveled to California in the five months when gay couples could receive marriage certificates. Like many, they are hopeful that either the legal system or a future ballot initiative will offer legal protections to other couples.

“Of course it’s a major disappointment because Prop 8 passed. Of course we’re hopeful that the marriage we got will not be nullified,” Harper said.

Will and Gary Stringer-Walker didn’t travel from Macon to California to hold their wedding as a political protest. They hoped, at least in part, that should a worst-case scenario happen to either one of them, a judge might look upon their California marriage and honor the heart of their intentions, if not the letter of the law.

“Even though it was something that we had to drive 2,500 miles to do, something our children can do by just going down to the local courthouse, we felt it was important,” Will Stringer-Walker said.

They have been together nine years and have four children between them from previous relationships.

Although there is pressure in some conservative circles to void the marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples, the Stringer-Walker family was told that Proposition 8 wouldn’t retroactively undo their marriage.

“What we were told in the court house is that anyone who was married during that time is still legally married,” Will Stringer-Walker said.

PROTESTS PLANNED

A recently founded grassroots organization called Join the Impact is staging demonstrations in a number of cities on Nov. 15. In Atlanta, several people stepped forward to lead protests, and after negotiating and promoting the events through Facebook, the organizers joined forces.

“We’re turning it from three individual rallies into one giant day,” said Lee Orton, a public relations student at Georgia State University.

At press time, two events were planned for Saturday. The day kicks off with a rally at the State Capitol building at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 15. After the rally, participants are encouraged to also attend a candlelight vigil at 5 p.m. in the heart of Atlanta’s gay community.

The vigil, planned by another group of organizers and heavily promoted on Facebook, will gather marriage equality supporters at what may be the gayest intersection in the city, the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue.

The goal of the vigil is to show that Atlantans “stand in solidarity against this effort to use scare tactics and incorrect information in denying justice for the LGBT community in California and throughout the world.”

Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, Nickiemoto’s and Zocalo have donated their parking lots for the vigil.

OTHER ANTI-GAY MEASURES PASSED

Proposition 8 is gathering nationwide attention, but little has been said of Florida and Arizona, which passed similar gay marriage bans on Nov. 4. Arkansas also approved a voter referendum that bars unmarried couples from adopting or serving as foster parents, with the  purpose of prohibiting gay families from adopting and fostering children.

One reason why Proposition 8 receives the most coverage is because many believe it is still beatable. Thompson said he hopes his marriage will remain valid, and future generations of gay Californians will be able to marry.

“Is there going to be a state that votes to make segregated schools again? Is that OK? I don’t think so,” Thompson said, noting the lawsuits and lower approval rates for Proposition 8 than past anti-gay ballot amendments.  “I think ultimately it will be changed, and ultimately it will be reversed.”