I never met Jeff Lutes. But I know from his words that he showed strong leadership. It was a year ago in November 2008, when Jeff said these words in a 365gay.com article after the passage of prop 8 in California and the defeat of marriage rights there:
"It’s time for all of us to rise up like thousands are doing now in the Golden State and elsewhere."
"We are tired of defeat, token change, defending ourselves against charges of moral inferiority, and being told to 'wait' in the land we love while liberation occurs in other countries."
"Don’t wait on an LGBT rights group to take the lead. Most of the protests in California were organized by just a handful of people. You can do it too."
"Let’s take it to the streets." - Jeff Lutes, November 2008
On November 15th, 2008 tens of thousands of us from all over the United
States took it to the streets in a demonstration of solidarity and protest.
Rick