Date: Sat, 4 May 1996 09:53:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Rex Wockner Subject: WOCKNER - RALLY TARGETS GOP CONVENTION ------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1996 Rex Wockner. Please don't publish, broadcast or transmit online without permission. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------- SAN DIEGO RALLY TARGETS GOP CONVENTION by Rex Wockner SAN DIEGO -- Local and national gay groups are teaming up to make sure America hears their message during this summer's Republican National Convention here. About 200 people gathered in the parking lot of the San Diego Lesbian and Gay Men's Community Center the evening of April 16 for a rally to launch convention-week activist efforts. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign sent speakers to the event, which was organized by the ad-hoc coalition "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Voices '96 -- Voters Organized In Coalition for the Elections." Other national members of the coalition include the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Latino/a Lesbian and Gay Organization. LGBT Voices Co-Chair Tony Valenzuela, a San Diego activist, announced a five-point platform for the convention campaign: * "Legal protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation; * "Recognition of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families including the right to adoption, child custody, foster parenting and marriage; * "Social acknowledgment and condemnation of anti-gay prejudice, intolerance and violence based on sexual orientation; * "Increased funding for research and quality, accessible health care for people with AIDS/HIV, breast cancer and other serious diseases; * "And school- and community-based support for LGBT youth." Valenzuela also unveiled a "statement of solidarity" supporting affirmative action, federal-assistance programs, immigrants, the separation of church and state, legal abortion and other issues. "We will demonstrate our values and our vision of a society that prioritizes fairness over profit, compassion over fear and critical thinking over the narrow-minded and simplistic rhetoric that is so prevalent in American politics, policy-making and culture," Valenzuela told the crowd. "We must frame the debate about our lives ourselves, and LGBT Voices will lead the way," he said. As the rally continued, attendees signed up at the back of the parking lot for numerous committees that will run the gay campaign. The campaign will include "political, educational and cultural activities" and will "expose the anti-democratic agenda of the religious political extremists within the Republican Party," according to literature distributed at the rally. "Voices '96 will organize rallies, town meetings, cultural events and a progressive calendar of activities to inform and motivate activists into action," the literature said. Two demonstrations are planned: a "queer march and rally" Aug. 12 and a "multi-issued progressive-communities march and rally" Aug. 15, the convention's closing night. A "Town Hall Meeting" Aug. 13 "featuring renowned national movement leaders" will "facilitate an alternative dialogue to the dominant discourse presented at the RNC." A "Voices '96 Dance Celebration" is scheduled Aug. 14. NGLTF Executive Director Melinda Paras told the crowd that San Diego's gay/lesbian community is well-equipped to tackle "this incredibly important moment in history." "I believe San Diego is one of the most organized, most together, most thoughtful and most prepared communities that I have had the great opportunity to visit over the course of my travels," Paras said. "It is a great delight to know that this incredibly important moment in history is so much in your hands." Openly lesbian San Diego City Councillor Christine Kehoe told the crowd: "The whole world will be watching San Diego. What better time for us to respond to what has become the Republican agenda of recent years. What better time to say no to immigrant- bashing, what better time to say no to denying women the right to choose [abortion], what better time to say no to stripping AIDS patients of their civil and medical rights, what better time to say no to vilifying ethnic and racial minorities, to denigrating poor families, what better time to say no to denying full civil rights to the gay and lesbian community in the United States of America? We will not have another opportunity like this. What better time will there be for us to stand up and demand justice and equality for every single American? That's the opportunity we have in August." LGBT Voices '96's address is P.O. Box 3128, San Diego, CA 92163. Phone: (619) 296-1179. E-mail: lgbtvoices@aol.com. World Wide Web: http://www.rainbow-mall.com -end-