About 40 of us Prop 8 supporters gathered in Redding Saturday to fly the flag for traditional marriage. It was a rainy day on a busy intersection near one of the big shopping centers, lots of traffic. But we had a hearty group that stuck it out for nearly 3 hours…turns out the rain was not as much of a factor as the "free exchange of ideas and thought." Now, by and large the response to our support of traditional marriage in conservative Redding/2nd Assembly District was very good, about 96% of the drivers-by were honking, thumbs-up, and smiling.
But what got me was the venom of the No on 8 folk. I’ve been seeing and hearing the stories of the Yes On 8 signs being destroyed or stolen but seeing how angry the lefty’s are in person is a real eye opener. A few driving by would thumbs down or nod in disapproval, but the high percentage that would scream obscenities out the window or forget to hold up all their fingers when waving was kind of disturbing. We were peaceful, as conservatives usually comport themselves well, [with some exceptions at times], too.
The anger at any conservative backed issue is not unusual but this protection of marriage issue is especially fiery. It was 20-somethings shouting or making obscene gestures. The capper was one obviously disturbed young man, wearing an alien shirt and baggy pants, yelling his f-bomb laced arguments about equality and grabbing the Yes on 8 signs and trying to rip em up, at one point jerking them out of the hands of a peaceful volunteer and throwing it at him, luckily not having the wire yard sign "wicket" jab our brave volunteer. That brought the cops out but not before he took off in his beater Honda. We think the cops will be able to trace the plate number, [if not by his name he gave to a reporter that showed up]…tolerant and smart!
Still it was worth the effort, a great majority of people were happy with the positive Pro 8 energy and the left is once again shown for its hypocrisy of tolerating only its own free speech.