CA: SF Gay Men's Chorus Goes on Freedom Tour in Prop 8 Territory

They came. They sang. They wore pink cowboy hats. When the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus embarked on its Freedom Tour into the heart of Proposition 8 territory over the weekend, there were concerns. Would red-state towns like Redding and Chico turn out to see gay men in tuxedos singing "Over the Rainbow"? Would there be protests, threats or fear-mongering from Shasta County's fundamentalist community?

But chorus artistic director and conductor Kathleen McGuire asked: "Who is afraid of a choir?"

Make no mistake, this isn't a tour. It's a groundbreaking political action. In the upcoming months, they'll visit Bakersfield, Fresno and Tracy, all strongholds for Prop. 8, the measure that banned same-sex marriage in California. They hope their music will help personalize the fight for gays to marry. It is more than a small gamble. They could face protests, fights or even worse - complete indifference.

Full Story from SFGate
Click here for gay marriage resources in California.
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CA: Fresno's Robin McGehee Fights for Gay Marriage

College of the Sequoias speech instructor Robin McGehee sees herself as a product of the civil rights movement in her native South. So she was shocked and disturbed last year when officials at the Fresno Catholic school her son attends forced her to resign as president of the parent-teacher organization. The reason, she says: her public stance against Proposition 8, which bars same-sex marriage and ultimately was passed by voters. McGehee is the openly gay mother of two children, Sebastian, 6, and Jackson, 3, who share two mothers and two fathers. "The priest just called and said because of my public stance on Proposition 8 to resign and not volunteer at the school," said the 36-year-old, a native of Jackson, Miss., who's lived in California since the mid-'90s, teaching at COS since 1999. Full Story from the Visalia Times-Delta: http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20091123/NEWS01/911230320/1002/COS-instructor-Robin-McGehee-seeks-better-future-for-LGBT-community-as-organizer

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.