JOIN THE IMPACT PROTEST NOVEMBER 15, 2008
Tulsa, Okla - November 13, 2008 -- This Saturday, in cities across the nation, fair-minded individuals and families will gather to protest inequality in what has become a truly grassroots movement. The passage of California's Proposition 8, rejections of marriage equality in Arizona and Florida, and anti-gay adoption laws in Arkansas have sparked a national movement against the discriminatory treatment of LGBT people everywhere. Join the Impact "seeks to encourage the LGBTQ community not to look towards the past and place blame, but instead to look forward toward what needs to be done now to achieve one goal: Full equality for ALL." Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) is honored to help Join the Impact in ensuring that the voices of all LGBT and allied Tulsans are heard this Saturday. At 10:00AM Saturday morning, we invite our community and our friends to gather at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in preparation for Join the Impact's march on City Hall. OkEq will offer a sign making workshop and will provide all the supplies needed to create your own message affirming equality. Join us for a cup of coffee and light refreshments before marching from the Equality Center at E 4th Street and Kenosha to City Hall at E 2nd Street and Cincinnati for the 12:30PM protest. "This is really a great opportunity for our community to come together and join a national movement against LGBT discrimination in an affirming, productive manner. It's imperative that we have our voices heard," says OkEq Board Member Matt Warren.
Join the Impact's national protest is being held at the same time in hundreds of cities across the nation. Here in Tulsa, OkEq is proud to offer assistance to this cause and invites participants to come back to the Equality Center after the hour long event for a post-protest meeting.
I've been screaming this from the rooftops for ages - what the GLBT community needs are not the silly, ostentatious, and pointless "pride parades." What we need are civil rights rallies, where we show that we are human beings, and that we demand equal rights. I think the passage of Prop 8 and the other things in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas are serving to spark the kind of large-scale protest movement that our community has needed and has not been able to organize. That's good - it means that people are finally fed up with being the targets of bigoted preachers and politicians who don't see us as human beings, and we're finally ready to stand up for ourselves.
It's about damned time.
Yes we can.
