Speakers announced for District's Equality Begins at Home rally
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Equality Begins at Home D.C. Committee
c/o NGLTF
2320 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202)332-6483 - phone
(202)332-0207 - fax

For release: March 5, 1999
Contact: Carl Schmid
(202)462-3042

SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED FOR DISTRICT'S EQUALITY BEGINS AT HOME RALLY

Mayor Williams to Conduct Town Hall Meeting for Gay & Lesbian Community

Washington, D.C. — The D.C. Equality Begins at Home Committee (EBAH), the local coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations and activists organizing a week of activities to promote equality, has announced the lineup of speakers for its March 21 rally. In addition, the D.C. Equality Begins at Home Committee is pleased to learn that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams will mark the week by conducting a town hall meeting with the gay and lesbian community on Wednesday, March 24. As previously announced, the focus of the District's Equality Begins at Home project is the chronic encroachment on District citizens democratic rights, particularly as they relate to the lesbian and gay community and HIV/AIDS issues.

Since 1993, the Congress has prevented the District from spending any of its own money to implement its Domestic Partnership program. For the past four years, they have tried to prevent unmarried couples from adopting children. And, this past year, the Congress went even further by banning the District from spending any funds on its needle-exchange program and a medical marijuana voter initiative.

"Congress has stepped on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for years," said EBAH Executive Committee member Charlotte Young of the D.C. Coalition, "this would not happen in any other city in the country. It is time for us to stand up for our democratic rights and alert the public to these gross injustices."

Confirmed speakers at the Sunday, March 21 rally on Freedom Plaza (13th & Pennsylvania Ave. NW) include: Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Council Chair Linda Cropp, Councilmember Jim Graham, NOW Executive Director Patricia Ireland, AIDS Action Executive Director Daniel Zingale, Wayne Turner of ACT UP DC, Ron Simmons of Us Helping Us, Dr. Patricia Hawkins of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny, Ward 8 activist Phil Pannell, former D.C. Shadow Senator Sabrina Sojourner and her partner Letitia Gomez, and AFSCME Vice President Chuck Hicks.

In addition, representatives from the following organizations will be speaking: the D.C. Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), the NAACP, and the ACLU. Additional speakers will be announced at a later time. The rally will begin at 1:30 pm.

"The Mayor's Town Hall meeting with the gay and lesbian community will further underscore the importance of the week long Equality Begins at Home effort in the District," commented Everett Jennings, another member of the EBAH Executive Committee. "At the meeting," continued Jennings, "we will have an opportunity to convey to the Mayor, among other things, the importance of his vocal opposition to the anti-gay riders attached to the annual D.C. spending bill in the Congress." The Town Hall meeting will be held Wednesday, March 24, from 7-9 pm in the 10th Floor Conference Room at 1 Judiciary Square (441 4th Street, NW).

In addition to the Rally and Town Hall Meeting, EBAH is organizing three days of congressional visits (March 23-25) for District citizens to urge members of congress who have jurisdiction over D.C. matters to keep their hands off the District.

Members of the D.C. Equality At Home Executive Committee include representatives of a broad cross-section of the local lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community including ACT UP DC, Black Pride, Capital Area Log Cabin, the D.C. Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

The actions in the District will occur as tens of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people across the country participate in similar events in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District during Equality Begins at Home week. Equality Begins at Home is a national campaign to strengthen and unite the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities and promote equality at the state level. The Federation of LGBT Statewide Political Groups is organizing the initiative, while the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is coordinating the effort.

Individuals interested in attending the rally, participating in the lobbying days, or volunteering can call EBAH D.C. at (202)332-6483, ext. 3212.

-end-

D.C. Equality Begins at Home Executive Committee:

Jerry Clark, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Kevin Davis, Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
Wyn Davison
Paul Dionne, Capital Area Log Cabin
Louise Gant, D.C. Coalition
Sean Garcia
Dan Hawes, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Dr. Patricia Hawkins, Whitman-Walker Clinic
Everett Jennings, Black Pride
Bradley Lewis, D.C. Coalition
Patrick Moloughney, GWU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Association
Todd Mosley
Carl Schmid, Human Rights Campaign, D.C. Steering Committee
Bob Summersgill, Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
Wayne Turner, ACT UP DC
Mitch Wood
Charlotte Young, D.C. Coalition


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