I was extremely heartened by the positive shouts and words of encouragement my husband received as he was placing signs for the "Yes on 8" campaign. I am also proud of the way he was able to handle a difficult situation while still standing up to a sign stealer. In his own words...Rick and I spent two hours after work today placing signs. All of the "Yes on Prop 8" signs in our community had been taken down. The first hour and a half went great. Then it happened. A mom and son walked past us while we were getting the signs ready. The we placed them at the corner of two busy streets. They walked across the street and as we pulled away he tore them out of the ground and started to rip them up. I jumped out of the truck and told him to put them back. The mom said, "My son is gay and you are offending him." I of course told her she is offending the Constitution and my freedom of speech. She yelled some words and then said, "What are you going to do about it?!" I started to cross the street and they ran down the road. I was just going to put up another sign. I was worried as they continued down the road they would tear out more signs we had just placed. I called the police and they said they would come right over. They said it is very illegal to remove any campaign sign before the election date. I told them not to come yet. Rick and I debated what to do. We decided just to let it go. We were worried about our other signs though. We decided to go back and in a very calm manner explain to them our purpose. I pulled up and discussed with the young man (probably 18-20 years old) that we called the police and they were more then willing to come. I told him we had seen many of the No on 8 signs and we did not touch one of them. I said a couple more things respectfully, and he agreed to not touch any more signs. His mom yelled some more things at me but he said he agreed. He told his mom to shut up and then they moved along. We drove by the signs a couple minutes after they passed and they were still there. Crazy days.
The main reason I tell you this is that there is a law that prohibits the removal of campaign signs before the election as long as they are on public property or private property with the consent of the owner.
Side note: That was the first negative thing. We had at least 6 to 8 people yell encouragement and praise.
Jason
The main reason I tell you this is that there is a law that prohibits the removal of campaign signs before the election as long as they are on public property or private property with the consent of the owner.
Side note: That was the first negative thing. We had at least 6 to 8 people yell encouragement and praise.
Jason
Posts
9 comments:
This is happening time and time again all over California. We see nothing but hatrd and bitterness from the Anti-8's,while the Yes on 8 supporters are kind and loving.
This speaks volumes as to who is really tolerant. Yes on 8!
http://standingfortruth2008.wordpress.com/
Thank you for your great post! If you know to stop at a red light, you’d agree it’s unreasonable to say to your child would you like an apple or an apple when you’re holding up 1 apple and 1 banana!!
For a changing society, we need NEW TERMS to describe the types of relationships people have the free choice to form – not new laws that will put us all in speech & religious bondage.
Vote not with emotion but with reason; get the facts: www.ifprop8fails.org, www.protectmarriage.com, and www.preservingmarriage.org. Let's you , me, and our same-sex friends unite to vote Yes! on Prop. 8.http://abbyearth.wordpress.com
Wow, it sounds like you handled that exceptionally well. Be sure to document any stolen signs! Here's where:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=ph6WjzxdTsYGYBl1gxvtgcA Keep up the good work!!
Just wanted to say that YES on 8 folks are not all so nice as you seem to believe. I was out with my two young sons putting up a NO on 8 sign and some very mean spirited person yelled from his car "take that sign down!" The next day when we went back by the place we had put up our sign it was gone. We also have some friends who put up a NO on 8 sign in their yard and it was stolen. None of these experiences suggest to me that All YES on 8 supporters are "kind and loving".
I think that there are good people on both sides of the proposition. It sounds like you handled the situation well.
I think it's too bad that so many people resort to fighting when we're all just trying to be heard. Good job getting everyone to talk.
YES on 8!
I will never understand why people destroy, steal or mark up campaign signs. It is disrespectful, wasteful and not what our country stands for. The sign I put up just outside my door vanished a few days after it was put out. So did the neighbors. At least on the internet my statements can't just vanish.
So VOTE YES ON PROP 8.
Just wanted to get your opinion on an idea that may or may not be a good approach. I have heard about people searching for proposition 8 in google and then clicking on the “yes on prop 8″ or “no on prop8″ paid ad links multiple times that appear at the top of the search results in google. Each time someone clicks on these links it is costing that campaign money. I guess clicking on the “no on prop 8″ ad is costing Hollywood stars like Ellen money they donated to the no on 8 campaign. I imagine if you were to break out the donations made to each campaign that the yes on 8 campaign’s donations have been made by at least twice as many people as the amount of people contributing to the “no on 8 campaign”. The majority of donations made to the “no on 8″ campaign have been made by Hollywood starts like Brad Pitt, Ellen Degeneres, and Steven Spielberg. Don’t forget the CTA, is it a bad idea for people who feel betrayed by the $1.2 million donation made by the CTA to fight back by clicking on the “no on prop 8″ paid search link multiple times each day? What do you think……
Answer to CNJ's comment:
At first it sounds like a good idea to click on the websites multiple times and make the no on 8 people pay. But how is that any different than stealing no on 8 signs? We're not taking personal property, but we are taking money, even if the money isn't going directly to us.
What I would rather do, and this is just my opinion, is support the yes on 8 BLOGS by clicking on the posts multiple times and get the "hits" higher thus moving our posts up search engine ladder.
Remember that our every move is being watched and we are being judged by different standards than the opposition, so we must take the high road. Our support for prop 8 is based on facts and we need to keep the emotion out.
Keep up the good work. I'm so impressed with everyone and all of the support.
VOTE YES ON PROP 8!
At least in Los Angeles, it is illegal to post signs on public property. Upheld by California Supreme Court...see http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/vincent.html. A bunch of Yes on 8 signs have popped up in Los Angeles over the weekend on exit ramps, medians, etc, so a lot of people are busy taking these down before tomorrow's vote.
And lest you think the No on 8 side fights dirty, someone "kindly and lovingly" ripped a No on 8 sticker OFF MY CAR in Claremont and (so as to clearly identify the culprit) replaced it with a McCain/Palin sticker.
Post a Comment