As the Day of Decision (DOD) nears, when the California Supreme Court announces its ruling on the legality of Proposition 8, San Diego marriage-equality organizations are planning local events for marriage-equality supporters to participate in.

“People are going to want to participate in the reaction to whatever the court rules, whether it’s a positive ruling or a ruling against us. We’ve been working very hard with a number of channels to try to get the message out to the community about what the plans are going to be,” said former District 3 City Council candidate Stephen Whitburn, one of several main event organizers.

Number one on the list is the Day of Decision march and rally. The day the court announces its decision, marriage-equality supporters will meet for the march and rally at Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street in Balboa Park at 5 p.m. If the court upholds Proposition 8, attendees will march south down Sixth Avenue to Broadway and then west to the Hall of Justice, where they will hold a rally. If the court invalidates Proposition 8, attendees will march up Sixth Avenue to University Avenue and then east to Normal Street for a rally and block party.

More than a dozen leaders and representatives from pro-marriage equality organizations are expected to speak, no matter the court’s decision, including Mayor Jerry Sanders, his daughter Lisa Sanders and her partner Meaghan Yaple, representatives from the Human Rights Campaign, same-sex couples and the event’s organizers, who represent three local marriage-equality organizations: San Diego Equality Campaign (SDEC), San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME) and Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA).

“Since we’ll have such short notice, the lineup may change slightly depending on people’s availability, but the list should be pretty close,” said Whitburn, who will emcee the rally.

The California Supreme Court gives rulings on Mondays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. If the court gives the decision on a Monday, it will notify the public on the preceding Friday. If the court gives its decision on Thursday, it will notify the public on the preceding Wednesday.

If the court upholds Proposition 8, organizers will hold a second rally the day after the decision at the County Administration building from noon to 4 p.m.

“If we lose, the day after the decision, we will have another rally to keep the pressure on and give other folks who didn’t have a chance to attend the DOD events to still come out and show their support. But it’s only happening if we lose,” said SAME representative Wendy Sue Biegeleisen.

“We will have a lot of same-sex couples talking about their relationships and why they deserve to have the same rights as anyone else,” she added.

Organizers are hesitant to speculate on attendance for the main march and rally.

“We have no idea,” both Lisa Kove, representative for SDEC, and Whitburn said. “We’re not even going to speculate,” Whitburn added.

“What I’ve learned in the last six months is that there is no way to know to predict the turn out. For Nov. 15, I said 20,000 and we had 20,000 and that was the last time I got it right,” said SDEC Executive Chair Sara Beth Brooks.

Organizers do, however, expect more people to turn out if the court upholds the measure.

“I think if Prop. 8 is successful, a lot of people will be angry and upset, which would create a larger turn out. But if Prop. 8 is not successful, I think people will turn out but not as much as if they were upset,” Kove said.

Citing a recent influx of hate crimes, organizers are concerned about the event’s security.

“There has been an increase in hate crimes. So, we want to make sure that everyone goes back safely,” Kove said.

Organizers advise people to attend and leave the event in groups.

“We are encouraging people to car pool. We are encouraging people to take care of themselves and to take care of each other, not to walk alone. If you are walking alone, walk with a group of strangers,” Biegeleisen said.

Attendees can have a more pleasant experience by carrying a backpack with snacks, water, a small flashlight and something to keep warm, Kove said.

“An emergency bag in the car” could also help, she added.

Organizers are working with police to keep the event peaceful.

“We’ve briefed them [the police] on our plans for the gathering spots, for the march itself and the rally. So, they are aware of how it’s all going to go down. They have indicated to us that they will certainly accommodate us. Of course, we are going to have short notice, but of course they know that too,” Whitburn said.

Besides the police, “peace monitors” will be at the event to intervene and or deescalate any potentially hostile situations, Biegeleisen said.

Volunteers are trained in nonviolent protest, crowd control, as well as being prepared for potential unexpected acts of civil disobedience.

“Even people that have good intentions and are peace loving, can lose it. It’s an excellent training that has gotten the focus on how to distract and mitigate potentially hostile situations,” Kove said. At present, organizers have trained 30 peace monitors and want to train 20 more.

Organizers are still looking for musicians and people to volunteer as peace monitors, to hand out water, to post fliers, to set up and tear down and for same-sex couples to speak about their experiences.

For more information or to volunteer, e-mail volunteer@marriageequalitysd.org or call 619-861-7939.

To be notified on the court’s decision, visit www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/ supreme/highprofile/prop8.htm and click on “e-mail notification” located near the top of the page under the bolded subtitle, “What’s Next.”