[Peace] PROTEST TODAY: PROP 8 UPHELD, 5pm@Main/Neil

[martin smith]

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

please show up at 5pm if possible!

DAY OF DECISION 5/26/09 in C-U 5:00PM--6:30PM MAIN/NEIL in front of Susan B. Anthony monument. Then onto the Clark Bar.


Press Release----------------------


On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, a Day of Decision rally will take place in downtown Champaign
at the intersection of Neil and Main/Church Streets in front of the
Susan B. Anthony monument.  This rally will be in solidarity with
others nationwide on the day that the California Supreme Court rules on the same sex marriage ban, Proposition 8.  The ruling will determine the status of 18,000 marriage licenses granted to same sex couples in California between June 2008 and November 2008.  Proposition 8 passed by a narrow margin in November 2008 and amended the state constitution to read “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The ruling should be announced by 10 AM Pacific Time (12 noon Central Time).  Should the California Supreme Court uphold Proposition 8, the rally will be a protest; but if Proposition 8 is overturned, it will be a celebration.


The actions are being coordinated nationally through the www.DayOfDecision.org website co-founded by Chicago gay activist Andy Thayer and pioneer national lesbian activist Robin Tyler of Los Angeles
who, with her wife Diane Olson, was the first lesbian couple to file in
the historic California Marriage Equality Case, and are petitioners
(plaintiffs) in the case brought before the California Supreme Court to
overturn Proposition 8.

The equal marriage movement is about love and civil rights. 
More than 30,000 same sex couples live in the state of Illinois; and
that number only reflects those who have publicly disclosed their
relationships on government surveys.  Same sex couples live in every
county in Illinois.  Despite the fact that same sex couples are in
loving, committed relationships,  they are not entitled to the hundreds
of benefits and privileges conferred by civil marriage.  Same sex
couples do not want special marriage rights - they want equal marriage.

Over forty years ago, the United States Supreme Court
ruled that no state could prevent an interracial couple from marrying. 
Today the case of Loving v. Virginia is remembered as a landmark case
for racial equality as well as the equal marriage movement.   In 2007,
original co-plaintiff Mildred Loving released a public statement in
which she voiced her support for same sex marriage:  "I believe all
Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their
sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry."

On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, community members will gather at 5:30 PM in downtown Champaign in support of equal marriage rights
for same sex couples.  California is neither the beginning nor the end
of the equal marriage movement.  To date five states have legalized
same sex marriage: Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Iowa, Vermont, and Maine.  Internationally same sex marriages are
recognized and performed in seven countries, including Canada, South
Africa, and Spain.  Regardless of the California Supreme Court ruling
on Proposition 8, the rally in Champaign is in solidarity with a
worldwide movement for love, civil rights, and marriage equality.

http://www.dayofdecision.com/
http://cudayofdecision.info/

http://twitter.com/CUDayOfDecision




      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace/attachments/20090526/91bcc69c/attachment.html