So, Gavin Newsom asked the CA Supreme Court to delay its H8 ruling

[EFerrari]

so it won't coincide with the anniversary of the White Night Riots, and probably, with Harvey Milk's birthday on the 22nd:

Exclusive: SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Asked Court to Delay Prop 8 Ruling

Confidential sources close to San Francisco City Hall told Towleroad's Corey Johnson that the California Supreme Court was prepared to release its opinion on Proposition 8 tomorrow, but decided to delay the ruling after a call from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Newsom"Newsom reached out to the Supreme Court and asked them to hold off releasing their decision so it did not coincide with the White Night riots," said our source.

As mentioned earlier, a ruling Thursday would have fallen on the 30th anniversary of the San Francisco riots, which were set off when the court handed down the most lenient decision possible (voluntary manslaughter) against Dan White for the murders of supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. The ensuing riots in San Francisco on May 21, 1979 caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/05/exclusive-sf-mayor-gavin-newsom-asked-court-to-delay-prop-8-ruling.html#comments

This sounds very ominous to me. :(

Does anyone know if there are any demonstrations planned in the event of the worst case scenario?

[ComtesseDeSpair]

1. All I know is...

Mormon churches better batten down the hatches!

[EFerrari]

3. The puppeteer was our Arch Bishop here in San Francisco.

He invited them into it.

I was hoping someone would organize a march to his HQ.

The archdiocese is currently led by Archbishop George Hugh Niederauer, who was formerly the bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City and installed on February 15, 2006. The current auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese is Ignatius C. Wang, the first Asian-American and Chinese-American appointed to the office of bishop. <4> On 10 April 2008 it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI appointed William J. Justice as the Auxiliary Bishop to serve the Archdiocese of San Francisco. <5> Pope Benedict XVI did this announcement, along with the appointment of five other bishops, five days before he began his Apostolic Journey to the United States. He was installed as Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco by Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco George Hugh Niederauer on 28 May 2008 at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_San_Francisco

[EFerrari]

2. THE WHITE NIGHT RIOT

On May 21, 1979. ex-cop, ex-fireman, ex-supervisor of San Francisco, Dan White was found guilty of manslaughter for the murder of Mayor George Moscone and Gay Supervisor Harvey Milk. White was given a 7-year sentence (in truth, 4 years) for killing two of our leaders. The entire city was in shock. As evening approached, a crowd gathered at Castro and Market. We were angry. We wanted the world to know we were angry. We took over Castro Street and stood around with no idea of what we should do. Eventually the crowd moved into the intersection of Castro and Market. Traffic came to a standstill. There were only a few policemen present and they did nothing more than observe the scene. As time passed, the crowd grew larger, eventually exceeding 1000. TV News trucks arrived. More police arrived. Amid the shouting and whistle blowing, there were shouts from the crowd. "CITY HALL" became the rallying cry.

http://thecastro.net/milk/whitenight.html

[cecilfirefox]

4. I suspect this was probably a good decision. Again, let's not assume anyone knows the decision prior

to it's release. It's very possible the San Fran police department just asked the court to give it a heads up regardless. Remember, there were people in the street when In Re: Marriage Cases was passed celebrating. We may be reading into this, but I do suspect they will uphold the proposition.

[konnichi wa]

5. Do you think the court will invalidate the marriages performed when they were legal too?

If they do (and I have no reason to believe either way) it might very well ignite some violence. I hope not but I wouldn't blame some people...

[cecilfirefox]

8. Personally, I do not. Look in the post for further explanation.

The responses of Justices from all side of In Re: Marriage Cases showed a pretty staunch balking at the notion that Prop 8 would invalidate or forcibly divorce/annul the pre-existing marriages. Had the language of Prop 8 been explicit, then yes they would be non-existent now. However, whether it will have that effect now as it stands is open to interpretation. Personally, after having watched everything online, I can say I don't think they will do that.

However, I do think they will invalidate marriages performed after Prop 8 passed, of which there were several.

:/

[EFerrari]

13. Reading and reading into are two different things.

Newsom would have no reason to ask for a delay if the news was good.

[Still Sensible]

16. Newsom would (should) have no way of knowing

what the news will be. It seems to me that he is probably trying to be cautious in case the news turns out to be bad. I have seen speculation, based on the judges' demeanors during oral argument, that the news is bad, but that is not always an accurate predictor.

[EFerrari]

17. Good point.

I don't want to borrow trouble. But, at the same time, I will never forgive me for not being more proactive ahead of H8. That's why I posted this thread. Being a straight ally is tricky. You want to take the lead from the community but if you only wait, you're not much of an ally, are you?

Let's see if we can gather up some information so we can be responsive and not only reactive this time.

:kick:

[Still Sensible]

18. Agreed.

I think a favorable decision could be every bit as likely as an unfavorable one. Trying to guess judge's decisions based on the questions they ask during argument is not always much of an indicator. Some judges like to be their own Devil's Advocate and love demonstrating that during oral argument.

Unfortunately, if it is close, jurists tend to have a hard time choosing to overturn a vote of the people. Hopefully this group decides that equality and equal justice under the law is an important enough basis for doing so.

[EFerrari]

6. Uncle Donald's page of Harvey Milk photographs + the story

http://thecastro.net/milk/milkpix.html

Harvey Milk was born May 22, 1930 in Woodmere, Long Island, New York. He became a successful Wall Street investment analyst and supported Barry Goldwater for president. In the late 1960's he got involved in Tom O'Horgan's Broadway production of HAIR through his boyfriend Jack McKinley, the stage manager. Exposure to the counterculture began eroding his conservative values. When HAIR opened in San Francisco in 1969, McKinley became the stage manager, and Harvey soon followed him west and took a job as a financial analyst in the City. Unhappy with the political scene, he decided that he wanted to be Mayor of San Francisco! His new found liberalism, his charisma, weird sense of humor, and belief in politics as theater, set the stage for his San Francisco political career.

http://thecastro.net/milk/milk.html

[EFerrari]

7. Gay Marriage Decision Expected Soon

Preliminary plans for protests and celebrations already put together
By JACKSON WEST
Updated 1:11 PM PDT, Wed, May 20, 2009

A ruling on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the statewide ballot measure that bans same-sex marriages, is expected as early as next week. The ruling could have come as early as tomorrow, but the court announced Wednesday that it will not rule Thursday.

There are only three days left when they can rule. That means it will happen next Tuesday, next Thursday or Monday June 1.

`snip`

Organizers for both sides say they will be sending out emails and text messages the instant a decision is made public.

Plans are already in place for protests or celebrations, depending on the outcome and the organization.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Prop-8-Decision-Expected-Tomorrow-jw.html

It looks like there will be a rally at 5pm @ City Hall on the day of the ruling no matter which way it goes.

[keepCAblue]

9. check out dayofdecision.com for a rally near you...also, on Sat following ruling, BIG meet in Fresno

http://www.dayofdecision.com/

http://www.meetinthemiddle4equality.com/

Fresno City Hall, 1 p.m., regardless of which way decision goes...

[EFerrari]

10. Thank you, keepCAblue! n/t

[Luminous Animal]

11. Newsom's request makes me WANT to riot. (n/t)

[EFerrari]

12. I sure tensed up when I heard about it.

I haven't done any demonstrating for about 18 months. But, I'm thinking we should organize a demonstration of some kind at the Archdiocese for the night of the verdict because that man is the real culprit in this situation. He was the architect.

[Luminous Animal]

19. Already plans afoot

http://dayofdecision.wetpaint.com/page/San+Francisco

Though the diocese would be a good target.

[EFerrari]

20. I want to shove a sign in his face "Your H8 is a SIN, Father".

He was the quarterback in all of this and he's getting off, scot free. :grr:

[EFerrari]

14. Kick for information.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. With all the misinformation floating around to day...

why believe this?

[FreeState]

21. This is not true - Newsom is denying it

"Lots of tweets about me and supreme court today, not correct – if I could influence court, would use it to support marriage equality."


http://twitter.com/GavinNewsom

[EFerrari]

22. Thanks, FreeState. If Newsom were on the ball, he'd issue a statement

today beyond twitter.

[maddezmom]

23. his office did

Statement from Nathan Ballard, Communications Director, Mayor Gavin Newsom on Propositon 8 Ruling

05/20/09 - Today a website posted an item that quoted a false allegation from an unnamed source: "Mayor Newsom reached out to the Supreme Court and asked them to hold off releasing their decision so it did not coincide with the White Night riots."

This allegation is not true. We have asked the website to correct the item immediately.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/mayor_index.asp?id=104640

[EFerrari]

24. Right. Just got off the phone with his office.

But denying that allegation is not exactly an act of leadership during this tense moment. He should get out there and show some positive support and some direction for what looks to be an almost week long delay, imho.

[EFerrari]

25. Can't get thru to Newsom's press office to ask if he will make a statement

ahead of the decision. Will keep trying.