The Battleground at High and MacArthurby Jack Lucero Fleck | |
Veronica Alexander protesting Proposition 8 on MacArthur Blvd. Photo by Jack Lucero Fleck.
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The intersection of High St. and MacArthur Blvd. had never seen anything like it.'For weeks leading up to the November 4 election there were banners and signs waving, screams of "A Man and a Woman—Yes on 8," chants of "Don't Discriminate—No on 8," honking horns for both sides, drivers giving thumbs up and thumbs down and waving their own signs, shouting matches between the demonstrators, and general bedlam.'An Oakland police officer standing by to keep things from getting out of control agreed that it was the rowdiest intersection in Oakland.
There is no doubt that Proposition 8—the proposal to enshrine a ban on same sex marriage into the California constitution—was the most heated and costly (over $70 million) issue on the California ballot. Prop 8's heat came to the Laurel in a big way when a group of supporters of Prop 8 began demonstrating nightly at High and MacArthur a couple of weeks before the election.
This brought out a slew of local No on 8 residents and the battle was on.'People would stand side by side carrying their signs to make their positions known, leading to many exchanges such as,'
"What do you have against gay people?"
"Nothing"
"Then why would you deny them their fundamental rights?"
(no response)
Or supporters of Prop 8 would say,
"A man and a woman—it's always been this way and always should be"
"Why?"
No response, but lots of loud shouting and pointing out that it takes a man and a woman to make a baby.
The battle raged back and forth with the response from drivers being mixed.'On October 29 there were 38 supporters of Prop 8 vs. 20 opponents on the four corners of High and MacArthur.'On the other hand, on November 2 there were 25 No on 8's and none of the supporters.'The night before the election there were about 21 supporters and opponents.'The response from drivers in the Laurel was more on the No side—that night from 7 to 9 p.m. there were 30 clear No drivers vs. 14 clear Yes drivers (lots of people honked, but it was not clear what side they were on).
The vote came on November 4 with Yes on 8 gaining 52 percent statewide.'Alameda County voted 62 percent against Proposition 8.