250 students chant, wave signs in Prop. 8 rallies

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER


MISSION VIEJO – A crowd of about 250 high school students filled the air with chanting and cheering as car horns honked support this morning for two rallies at Capistrano Valley High School – one protesting Proposition 8 and the other supporting it.

Prop. 8 is the Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman, undoing a Supreme Court ruling that has allowed same-sex marriages in the state.

About 200 students attended the anti-Prop. 8 rally, which was planned weeks in advance by the same students who organized a campus rally last year in support of a popular teacher accused of making anti-Christian remarks in class.


Just up the road, about 40 pro-Prop. 8 students coalesced across the street, stating they had organized a Prop. 8 counter-demonstration to ensure their viewpoint was not stifled by the larger rally.

“I’m here to voice my opinion and not sit at home and do nothing about it,” said senior Albert Liao, 17, a Protestant Christian from Mission Viejo. “The Bible states that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

The demonstrations, which started at 7 a.m. just as the sun was coming up and students began arriving for their 8:05 a.m. classes, quickly swelled to about 250 students. The rallies ended at 7:50.


They lined both sides of Via Escolar, the street that enters the school.

Anti-Prop. 8 demonstrators, chanting “No on 8,” carried signs reading "Stop the Hate, Vote No on 8" and "Love Is Love."

"This proposition should not be on here,” said senior Rachel Hatch, 17, president of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, which has over 100 members. “This is not about protecting families. It's about equality and making new families.”

About 10 school administrators and school resource officers in sheriff’s deputy uniforms were on hand to monitor the crowd, and at least four patrol cars were stationed around the Mission Viejo school.


But the rallies were peaceful, and there were no reports of aggressive behavior or clashes between the two groups.

“Both sides have the right to be out here assembling and expressing their views,” said Principal Deni Christensen. "We want kids to have the rights they have – our kids are very passionate."

Capistrano Valley High is known for its politically active students, school officials said, with students getting involved in everything from local school board elections to statewide and national campaign issues.

In December, about 250 current and former students rallied outside their school in a show of solidarity for history teacher James Corbett, who was sued by one of his students for purportedly incorporating numerous hostile comments about religion and Christians into his lectures, including the now-infamous quote: "When you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth."


A small counter-demonstration of supporters of the student, Chad Farnan, was held down the street.

"We can sympathize with gay people because they are a minority and we are a minority," said anti-Prop. 8 rally organizer Doug Kalagian, 17, a senior who founded the school's Freethinking Atheist and Agnostic Kinship student club.


"Prop. 8 is not only a religious issue. It's an issue of discrimination and prejudice. Who's to say atheists and agnostics won't be next?"

Students in favor of Prop. 8 stressed that they feared same-sex marriage would be taught in public school.

“I don’t want any marriage taught in school,” said 16-year-old junior William Molidor.

“A vocal minority doesn’t have to intimidate people,” added Capistrano Valley High ROP teacher Sean Williamson, a Prop. 8 supporter who was demonstrating with the students. “Let them vote with their conscience.”

But parent Carin Bennett, 47, said she supports same-sex marriage.

"I just don't think it's right to take away the right of a minority,” said the Mission Viejo resident, who protested Prop. 8 alongside her daughter, Caitlin. “We don't teach gay marriage in school, and even if we were to teach it, they can opt out of things like the flag salute. Trying to change the Supreme Court ruling just isn't right.”

Added senior Julia McGaughey, 17, whose 19-year-old sister is a Capo Valley graduate: "My sister is a lesbian, and I support the right to get married."

While Capistrano Valley students expressed their Prop. 8 viewpoints during Tuesday’s rally, students from across South County are finding ways to organize around the state ballot measure.


At Mission Viejo’s Trabuco Hills High School, about a dozen students held up “No on Prop. 8” signs Monday at a busy intersection after school. They said they are planning to rally at Los Alisos Boulevard and Santa Margarita Parkway at 3:15 p.m. every day this week.

Meanwhile, at a San Clemente High School football game earlier this month, students were observed passing out “Yes on Prop. 8” fliers, said Capistrano Unified School District spokeswoman Julie Hatchel.

Not all students, of course, are taking a stand on same-sex marriage.

"I don't want to get involved,” said freshman Zach Farber, 14, of Mission Viejo, as he watched the demonstrations before class Tuesday. “But it's good that everyone else wants to.”

Staff writer Lindsey Baguio contributed to this report.