Rally against anti-marriage amendment: 'Shut it donw!'
By Martha Grevatt
Cleveland
Close to 500 militant protesters rallied in Cleveland Dec. 4
in defense of equal marriage rights and against State Issue
One.
Issue One, passed with 62 percent of the vote on Nov. 2,
amends the Ohio Consti tution to prohibit same-sex
marriage.
It is the most extreme of the 11 state anti-marriage
initiatives just passed.
By some interpretations Issue One prevents any city, county,
public school, university, or other governmental body from
providing domestic-partner benefits. It threatens the domestic
partner registry in Cleveland Heights, enacted earlier this
year and the first in the country passed by voters.
Outraged at this attack, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
trans communities of Cleveland came together with straight
allies to form the Equality Coalition--the rally's sponsor.
Organizations represented in the coalition include Cleveland
Pride, the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, AIDS Task
Force of Greater Cleve land, the American Civil Liberties
Union, American Friends Service Committee, and the Heights
Families for Equality--which won the partner registry.
"We, the undersigned, have committed to work together to
achieve equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people no matter how long it takes," reads the coalition's
founding statement. "We are creating a powerful unified
coalition. We are resolved to maintain our unity, gather
momentum and carry on our work in the name of justice and in
the spirit of a society free of homophobia and gender
oppression by challenging any and all denial of rights."
The statement's tone stands in marked contrast to some
conservative LGBT leaders who blame the marriage rights
movement for the Bush victory.
Equally defiant were the speakers at the rally. One after
another expressed anger.
"I am living with AIDS, and if I am in the hospital I have
to fill out all kinds of forms just to be visited by the man I
love," said Louis Farmer of the AIDS Task Force.
Other speakers included parents and children of lesbians and
gay men, lesbian mothers, and LGBT youths--none of them willing
to be silent when their families are under attack.
"This is an attack on our unions," said Susan Schnur, a bus
driver and a local leader in the AFL-CIO's LGBT labor
organization Pride At Work. In fact, Schnur pointed out, Issue
One undermines collective bargaining. Pride At Work members had
passed out leaflets over the Labor Day weekend urging union
members to vote "no."
Many high school and college students came downtown for the
rally. The Gay-Straight Alliance of suburban Orange High
School, a recognized student organization, filled a school bus
to get to the protest. They joined their voices to the chant:
"Every city, every town, Issue One, shut it down!"
Reprinted from the Dec. 16, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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