Media Advisory: San Francisco Reacts to Supreme Court LGBTIQQ Rights Ruling

Note: Supreme Court ruling now expected on Thursday, June 26. Speaker list and number of nationwide events updated as of June 24, 2003.

For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 12, 2003

Contact:

Tommi Avicolli-Mecca

Activist
Out Against the War Coalition
mecca44@aol.com

Will Doherty

Executive Director
QueerNet / Online Policy Group
press@onlinepolicy.org

Kate Kendell

Executive Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights
kendell@nclrights.org

San Francisco Reacts to Supreme Court LGBTIQQ Rights Ruling

Day-of-Decision Protest or Celebration in the Castro

San Francisco - A broad coalition of San Francisco community organizations has called an event to protest or celebrate, depending on the outcome of the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Texas sodomy statute.

The event will take place at 5:00pm on the day of the Supreme Court ruling at Harvey Milk Plaza, corner of Castro and Market Streets in San Francisco. We expect the Supreme Court to deliver a decision on Monday, June 16, 23, or 30, although the court could rule anytime in June.

The case, entitled Lawrence v. Texas, involves the right of same-sex partners to privacy and equal protection under the law. In 1986, the Supreme Court previously denied same-sex partners these basic human rights in the Bowers v. Hardwick case, which resulted in nationwide protests and civil disobedience with over 600 people arrested, shutting down the Supreme Court for the first time.

Speakers planned for the event include (so far):

• Tommi Avicolli-Mecca, Out Against the War Coalition
• Tory Becker, LAGAI - Queer Insurrection
• JA Bottary III, Writer
• Toni Broaddus, Program Director, Equality California
• Sister Kitty Catalyst O.C.P. & Sister Dana Van Iquity leading a ritual blessing and kiss-in
• Chris Daley, Transgender Law Center
• Tina D'Elia, Hate Violence Survivors Project Director, Community United Against Violence
• Calvin Gipson, Board of Directors, San Francisco Pride Committee
• Robert Haaland, President, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
• Ned Howey, Program Director, Q-Force
• Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights
• Dr. Robert Lawrence, Notorious Bisexual
• Daniel Lee, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
• Molly McKay, Marriage Equality California (MECA)
• Moises Montoya, Freedom Socialist Party, Bay Area United Against War
• Dr. Carol Queen, Executive Director - Center for Sex & Culture, Good Vibrations
• Jamez Smith, San Francisco Poet
• Beth Teper, Executive Director, Children Of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere (COLAGE)
• Sam Thoron, President, PFLAG
• Hank Wilson, SURVIVE AIDS
• Andy Wong, OUTfront Program, Amnesty International USA
• Merle Woo, Longtime Lesbian Activist, Radical Women

Organizations participating in the event include (so far):

• Amnesty International USA
• Bay Area Community of Women (BACW)
• Beautiful Lips On Whistles (BLOW)
• Center for Sex & Culture, Good Vibrations
• Children Of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere (COLAGE)
• Community United Against Violence
• Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
• International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
• LAGAI - Queer Insurrection
• QueerNet, a project of the Online Policy Group
• SURVIVE AIDS
• Transgender Law Center

San Francisco is one of 29 or more cities nationwide participating in the protest or celebration.

For this advisory:
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/media/queersupreme030612.shtml

Lambda Legal:
http://www.lambdalegal.org/

Info on similar events nationwide:
http://www.cabn.org/DefendOurRights/

Media coverage from the Sentinel:
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/news.htm

About OPG:

The Online Policy Group (OPG) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to online policy research, outreach, and action on issues such as access, privacy, and digital defamation. The organization fulfills its motto of "one Internet with equal access to all" through projects such as donation-based email list hosting, web hosting, domain registrations, and now colocation services. OPG focuses on Internet participants' civil liberties and human rights, like access, privacy, safety, and serving schools, libraries, disabled, elderly, youth, women, and sexual, gender, and ethnic minorities. Find out more at http://www.onlinepolicy.org/

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