Walking in San Francisco is always an adventure. My first day of jury duty found me walking from our house on Noe Street all the way to Civic Center via Market Street. I stopped for coffee at Peets coffee and was informed that I was still wearing a sales tag on my jeans. Oops. What was worse was the detail that the man tried to tell me from his car but I was to absorbed in my iPod.
I finished listening to my NPR podcasts, the weekly radio address from the president, and called my sister to chat prior to entering the court house. As I approached City Hall, I saw what appeared to be a festive protest or demonstration. It almost sounded like a New Orleans jazz band and there were woman carrying red umbrellas dancing about. One woman looked like she was wearing a series of flags from around the world. Once I was close enough to see the details, I noted that the woman was indeed wearing a garment made from flags from around the world. She looked like a grandmother! The sign on the steps stated, "Rights for Sex Workers = Human Rights!"
I just spent two days sitting in a court room listening to very smart people question not so smart people. The interview segment of the trial was a bit dull. It was obvious which jurors were trying to be excused. This is interesting since they basically did not want to be inconvenienced, which if they were to be excused would then inconvenience someone else. I started a chart to determine who I felt would be selected, the top 12 even had inappropriate sketches representing notable facial features. I was not selected.Outside our courthouse another protest began. The California Supreme Court was hearing the same-sex marriage lawsuit and the Bible thumpers were out in force. The usual banners were on display (see quotes below). During our lunch break, I watched as the hate-mobile drove circles around the Civic Center. The van had a giant cross, the admonition of hell for homosexuals, and the traditional "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" quote. In addition to the pictures of two men kissing in hell fire, there were pictures of the Twin Towers in New York City in flames from 911.
Aside from the hostile words, it was all quite peaceful and one bicyclist rode by saying "shame, shame, shame!" to the protestors. All the while, an apparently homeless rasta-man was yelling about how rape was wrong and this includes both men and women, and the establishment was not talking about it.
Signs Seen Outside the California Supreme Court House
- Sodomy is sin
- Re-Criminalize Sodomy
- Stop Using Jesus to Promote Hatred
- Majority Voted 4 Marriage
- Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman
- Moral Wrong Cannot be a Civil Right
- NO Gays
- "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?" Matthew 19: 4-5 (It should be noted that Jesus was responding to a question by a pharisee regarding divorcing one's wife.)
- "The men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." Romans 1:27
- “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
- God is not mocked (pictures of news headlines where God sent earthquakes, etc.)
- Stop ignoring being Gay is not a choice
- Your religion is not my goverment
- Gay (HRC Symbol) = Pervert
- Reverend King said, "Christianity sets forth a system of absolute moral values."
- We oppose bigotry and discrimination
- Gay bashing and hate mongering is not welcome in SF
