Activists Jones, writer Black call for seven week Equality campaign

[kevinbgoode]

Gay rights activist Cleve Jones and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black have issued a call for a seven-week campaign for equality leading up to the January inaugeration of President-elect Barack Obama. The campaign, which will be a sustained effort to push legislators to pass and adopt comprehensive legislation to ensure the equal rights of gay Americans.

It's about time. This country has been an embarassment when it comes to securing basic rights for its own citizens. From Towleroad:

"On Nov. 27, 1978, gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk was assassinated in San Francisco City Hall. Thirty years later, his struggle continues.

On Nov. 4, 2008, millions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans of all races proudly cast their ballots for Barack Obama, helping to elect the first African American president of the United States. On that same day, voters in Arizona, Arkansas, California and Florida approved initiatives denying basic civil rights to GLBT citizens.

Like other Americans who voted for Obama, gay people supported our president-elect because we share his vision of a united America, and want to move forward to address the critical challenges facing our country and our planet.

We have always been willing to serve our country: in our armed forces, even as we were threatened with court-martial and dishonor; as teachers, even as we were slandered and libeled; as parents and foster parents struggling to support our children; as doctors and nurses caring for patients in a broken health-care system; as artists, writers and musicians; as workers in factories and hotels, on farms and in office buildings; we have always served and loved our country.

We have loved our country even as we have been subjected to discrimination, harassment and violence at the hands of our countrymen. We have loved God, even as we were rejected and abandoned by religious leaders, our churches, synagogues and mosques. We have loved democracy, even as we witnessed the ballot box used to deny us our rights.

Like Obama, we never abandoned hope in the American dream of equality and freedom. We never stopped believing that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights included us."

Full text at: http://www.towleroad.com/

[Karenina]

1. K&R!

:kick:

[kevinbgoode]

2. a shameless kick back up the ladder. . .

n/t