All out March 17
Stop homophobia on parade
By Leslie Feinberg
New York
"Why is it that anti-war protests are dangerous, but not
homophobic St. Patrick's Day parades?" Dian Killian asked at a
Feb. 27 news conference at City Hall. Killian is a member of
United Auto Workers Local 1981 and is on the steering committee
of Pride at Work-N.Y.--the lesbian, gay, bi and trans
constituency group of the AFL-CIO.
"After blocking a permit for a peaceful, anti-war march on
Feb. 15," Killian noted, "Mayor Bloomberg is now supporting the
city's largest annual display of homophobia. I repeat: New
York's St. Patrick's Day parade is the largest annual,
city-supported display of homophobia--in the U.S. and around
the world."
She used the media conference to broadcast a call to join
Pride at Work and the Campaign for Inclusive Parades on March
17 at 10 a.m. at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street, "to demand that
the mayor--and the city's St. Patrick's Day parade--be
inclusive and respectful of all New Yorkers."
And, Killian added, "Pride at Work opposes a war on Iraq. My
union, the National Writers' Union, UAW 1981, strongly opposes
a war on Iraq. Dozens of other unions and labor organizations,
under the umbrella of New York City Labor Against the War, also
are demanding: Money for jobs, not war."
Reprinted from the March 13, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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