Protest against DOMA scheduled for Jan. 10

January 5, 12:56 PMChicago Gay ExaminerMichael Lehet

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Welcome back!  I hope that you enjoyed your holidays, but it's time to get back to business. 

On November 4, Calilfornian's barely passed Proposition 8 with a 53% to 47% Margin, barely enough but still enough.

Since then the LGBT voices have been raised in numerous events across the country and across Chicago.  November 15th saw more than 5000 people join voices at Federal Plaza to protest the passing of Prop 8.  There was a successful boycott at the Cinemark Theater in Evanston over their CEO Alan Stock donating money to the Yes on 8 Campaign.    Several dozen protesters marched on City Hall demanding the right to apply for a marriage certificate.  The bigots of Westboro attempted to spread their hate at the Center on Halsted and in December, in the blowing wind and snow, dozens gathered downtown on State Street to hold a candle light vigil and collect food donations.

And that was only the last 3 months of last year - and most of it wasn't planned, it was spontaneously promoted via grassroots efforts like Facebook and other social networking sites to help spread the word.  

It's the new year and it's time for a new attitude.  What are you going to do differently this year?  What are you going to change this year?  Now is the time to sit down and plan out the coming year.   

A protest against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has been scheduled for this upcoming Saturday, January 10 at 11:30AM at the State of Illinois Building Plaza at the corner of Randolph and Clark Streets in downtown Chicago.  There will be rally followed by a march through the city with a march down Michigan Avenue.

The Gay Liberation Network, working with Join the Impact, is organizing the Chicago component of a national day of protest against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

The central theme of the day is to demand that President-elect Barack Obama fulfill his pledge to repeal the ill-named Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996.  DOMA allows anti-equal marriage rights states to violate the "full faith and credit" clause of the U.S. constitution by not honoring same-sex married couples from those states which allow them.  Even in Connecticut and Massachusetts, states that do recognize same-sex marriage, DOMA violates the rights of legally married gay and lesbian couples by refusing to extend to them the 1300+ federal benefits that heterosexual couples enjoy.

We will have to make demands of this administration if the LGBT community, or any community, is going to win anything over the next four years. So on January 10th please help us do that by attending Chicago’s part of the national demonstrations to demand that Obama fulfill his promise to repeal DOMA:
 

• What: Protest DOMA
• When: Saturday, January 10 - 11:30AM-2PM
• Where: State of Illinois Building - 160 N Clark St
• More Information: Facebook Event Page