Youths protest anti-gay meeting
Parents attending an anti-gay conference in San Diego,
Calif., Feb. 3 were forced to confront a crowd of 50 mostly
young demonstrators. The right-wing group "Focus on the
Family" sponsored the conference targeting youths and
teachers. It urged parents to attempt to "convert" their gay,
lesbian, bi and trans children into heterosexuals.
The conference was a reaction to the growing success of
programs such as Gay-Straight Alliances that create safe
places for youths to escape harassment in high schools.
Young people ranging in age from 15 to 25 chanted
relentlessly for four hours. Most were first-time
protesters.
They were joined by neighbors, who reported hearing chants
of "We refuse to live a lie," "We're equal, get used to it"
and "gay, straight, Black, white, same struggle, same fight"
from miles away. The rally also attracted young people away
from the conference. Local news media covered the
demonstration.
Protesters raised issues ranging from how
lesbian/gay/bi/trans people have been written out of history
books to recent attacks on immigrants on the U.S./Mexico
border.
A young lesbian read her letter of resignation to the U.S.
Navy, citing the repression she faced under the government's
"don't ask, don't tell" policy. A gay African American youth
recounted the violence he faced daily in high school.
Bob McCubbin from the International Action Center said:
"The community was ready for this. With Bush in office
pushing school vouchers, limiting a woman's right to choose
and putting in John Ashcroft as the racist, anti-gay attorney
general, people are left to organize ourselves. We need a
movement independent of the Democrats and Republicans."
--Joe Delaplaine
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Commons License.
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