Beyond the thousands upon thousands of people who participated in our Let The People Vote rallies, many more witnessed our message through the media.
Here's a sample of what they saw:
YourNewsNow in Albany: "'This is something that's going to define the culture our kids will be raised in,' said Annemarie Thimons, a Kingston resident."
International Business Times: "More than 10,000 supporters of "Let The People Vote" rallies marched in New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo starting 3 p.m. on Sunday, urging the Legislature to put the issue of gay marriage before voters in a statewide referendum."
Associated Press : "A rally in New York City that started with several hundred people crowding the street across from Cuomo's Manhattan office quickly swelled to thousands of people out in loud opposition to the new law."
BBC/Reuters: "The National Organization for Marriage held rallies in New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo on Sunday, accusing Mr Cuomo and lawmakers of redefining marriage without consulting voters."
Bloomberg News: "One of the rally’s organizers, the National Organization for Marriage, also held events in Albany, Buffalo and Rochester. The group has pledged to spend millions of dollars ousting lawmakers who voted in favor of same-sex marriage."
Unfortunately, print coverage also widely missed the mark at times.
The LATimes, for instance, made barely any mention of the Let The People Vote demonstrations. This is the best they could muster:
"Love just transcends hate," said Hernandez, his voice breaking, as a small group of protesters yelled from a distant corner.
Reuters was little better, describing the Let The People Vote demonstrations this way:
"Groups of clergy and other opponents of the change staged a protest in front of Governor Cuomo's Midtown Manhattan office, warning that lawmakers who supported same-sex marriage would face punishment in upcoming elections."
No mention of numbers here.
UPI was probably the worst:
Opponents of gay marriage maintained a low profile. The Times said an informal poll of New York clergy found the vast majority did not intend to address the issue in their Sunday sermons.
... a low profile?
We'll have more to say about the media's uneven coverage of these demonstrations in the coming days.