Marriage Protest in New York

Hundreds of couples were turned away from City Hall when they attempted to get a licences, protesting the ban on marriage equality in New York. It's part of Freedom to Marry Day, which includes protests around the country:

Wearing signs that said "Just Not Married," the activists were part of a wave of demonstrations expected throughout the day at marriage bureaus or county clerks' offices from New York City to California, in communities large and small.

Matt Flanders, 37, of Brooklyn, participated with his 29-year-old partner, Will Jennings. Both wore gold engagement rings.

When he was denied a marriage license, Flanders said he told officials: "'I should be able to marry the person I love.' And they said, `We can only offer you a domestic partnership.'"

More Prop 8 Protests

Towleroad has some updates on protests over the next few days in California and beyond.Check it out.

Launch Protests Nationally Against the Mormon Church

In the last hour of the show today, I spoke with Sirius OutQ News reporter Karen Ocamb, who was live at the anti-Prop 8 protest in Los Angeles at the Mormon Temple. At around the same time the protest was being covered on CNN. The energy was great and the expression of anger -- and the galvanizing of a new, younger generation -- was important.

The Mormon Church poured millions into passing Prop 8. Now they want us all to "come together" and forget about it. No way!

After Karen Ocamb's report, people called in from across the country and several decided they were going to go to their local Mormon temple or headquarters and protest. I think it is a terrific idea. We should launch protests wherever there are temples, and also in smaller areas, go to their meeting places, otherwise know as "stakes."

It's all here on this web site.

There's also an online initiative to send a letter to the Mormon's, but really we need to out into the streets and in front of them, shaming them for what they've done.

The RNC Protests: Amy Goodman Interview

The police action against protesters at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul -- including the arrests of members of media, among them Democracy Now's Amy Goodman -- was chilling and got very little coverage, though we saw hundreds of arrests and the use of tear gas. I interviewed Amy Goodman (the interview, which we played on the show, is posted below) the day after she and others on her staff, as well as members of the Associated Press, were arrested, on the night that nearly 300 people were taken into custody. The next night we saw the use of tear gas, and don't forget, this all began before the convention, when several protesters' homes were raided.

Police shut down free speech zones, arrested people who were doing nothing but exercising their rights, and rounded up or silenced media, a tactic that allows them to basically be watchdog-free. This ABC News report shows some of the tactics police used:

Police in riot gear swarmed the area outside the convention center, deploying tear gas and distraction devices known as "flash bangs" in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

Approximately three-hundred protesters were held on the bridge for nearly an hour over Interstate 94 in St. Paul. After hours of people protesting, police instructed demonstrators to file onto the bridge and then announced everyone would be arrested, refusing to allow anyone off the overpass. Law enforcement barricading the bridge fired pepper spray, instructing protesters to put their hands behind their heads.

ABC News' Jennifer Duck was trapped with the marchers on the bridge and observed many young children scared and crying. She spoke to several marchers who said they wanted to go home, but the police refused to allow any movement. Members of the media, and many trying to follow police direction were being pepper sprayed in the face.

I spoke with Amy Goodman on Radio Row the day after she was arrested and after Democracy Now aired the video of the protest. She and her colleagues are asking people to demand the charges be dropped. Listen in to the interview as she describes what happened, and underscores how it is vitally important in a democracy that the press be allowed to cover protests without fear of arrest.