Monday, March 1, 2010

First-hand Account of San Diego Marriage Equality Sit-in


Wednesday * March 10 * 7PM

Smith College, Seelye 102


ON MAY 27, 2009--the day after the California Supreme Court voted 6-1 to uphold Proposition 8, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman--activists staged a five-hour sit-in at the San Diego County Administration Building after Brian Baumgardner and Michael Anderson, a same-sex couple, were denied a marriage license.

The sit-in in San Diego, which looked to the sit-ins of the African American civil rights movement for inspiration, was part of a wave of protests around the country that involved tens of thousands, showing that the resurgence in LGBT equality activism following the passage of Prop 8 was alive and well.

In October, the National Equality March brought 250,000 people to DC to demand full equality now!

Activists in Western Mass., as Western Mass. Equality Across America, are organizing to go to the LGBT Rights Making an Impact Northeast Regional Conference on March 26-8 to plan the next steps for our struggle with allies from across the region.

Join us for a presentation by Kelsey Hoffman, a Smith student who is a member of the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality and Western Mass. Equality Across America, who participated in the sit-in on May 27 and will share her experience, followed by a planning meeting for the conference.