John Stern, who said he voted against Prop 8, the law banning same sex marriages, said he would support any cause to overturn the legislation but felt it was unrealistic to ask people not go into work given the economic climate. “People have to pay bills and buy food for their children,” he said. Stern believes that the downfall of the proposition was that there was not enough outreach to get people to vote against it. “I think the gay community underestimated the need to do more outreach,” he said.

That might have reached Circuit City associate Carmen, who said that although she supports same-sex marriage, she did not vote on Prop 8. She said that if she could go back she would vote in support of the gay community. However she did not think it was a good idea to have people call in sick to work, stating that it could cause people to lose their jobs.

Mike Schwier voted no on Prop 8, but said he would not participate in the boycott. “It is not big enough of an issue for me to where I would miss work,” he said, adding that it would be easier for him to participate in a protest or march.

Considered an alternative to the marches and protests that have occurred since the passing of Prop 8 in California and other anti-gay ballot initiatives in Arizona, Florida and Arkansas, Day Without a Gay organizers decided they wanted to take a new approach in the gay marriage fight. On the website daywithoutagay.org the mission statement explains, “It is not just about calling in sick. You are encouraged to call in ‘gay’—and donate your time to service!”

People in support of same-sex marriage are asked to donate the time that they would be working and volunteer for a charity organization of their choice. Berkeley, San Francisco and Sacramento are a few of the cities hosting volunteers for the day. The California page of daywithoutagay.org suggests that supporters volunteer their time by giving blood, gardening, preparing meals, doing data entry, or fundraising for local nonprofit organizations.

Although none of the workers I spoke to were familiar with the campaign, much outreach has been done through web networks like Facebook.

On the Day Without a Gay Facebook page, some supporters said they, too, would not be able to miss work on Wednesday. One supporter who goes by the name Agent Handy Loves wrote, “Yeah, nurses and doctors don’t get to do stuff like this. Critical life support, yes, this is my job.” And Marilynn Court wrote, “I don’t know if my company would be too happy with me calling in gay… but I’m there in spirit! LOL.”

For those who cannot miss work but still want to support the cause, the organization has a list of suggestions which include following the day’s events on Twitter or calling local representatives.