RANCHO CUCAMONGA, October 25, 2008 - Student leaders of local high school Gay-Straight Alliances banded together this Saturday to demand equality for LGBT people and spread awareness about the insidious proposition 8. They were joined by teachers, community members, and families. Prop. eight, if passed, would eliminate the legal right for same-sex couples to marry. Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court decided that the right to marry was guaranteed by the state constitution, and could not be superseded by initiative.
Students from Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos High Schools began arriving to the corners of Foothill and Haven as early as nine o'clock. In the morning, several supporters of prop 8 gathered at the northeast corner. Students frantically began calling each other to increase their presence. Their numbers soon overwhelmed the "yes on 8" people, and opponents of 8 were able to establish a strong presence at all four corners. From the Newswire Rancho Cucamonga Youth Demonstrate Against Proposition 8 by Lalo
10/07/2006
Susan Forrest, a member of the AIDS social services community, writes about a new social marketing campaign that may fail to reach at-risk communities:
There is a LOT of hand-wringing in L.A. HIV circles about men who have sex with men who don’t identify as gay - and how to get them HIV tested and how to target prevention to them. [Many of those men are purported to be men who are not white.] This campaign will not speak to them...
It is generally acknowledged that those guys do not identify as "gay" and are not seen as members of 'The Gay Community' (of course, there are many communities in LA, but 'The Gay Community' in LA – the West Hollywood, entrenched crowd who self-identify as 'The Gay Community' generally are white.) So if these posters are going up in West Hollywood or in areas where people who identify as part of the gay community are, they will miss the very population they are saying they want to reach.
READ: HIV is a Gay Disease (!?!) by Susan Forrest.
A transgender woman who has been a leader in social services for the Latina transgender community in Los Angeles was assaulted and molested by security guards and police in Miami 03/10/06.Transexual Activist Maria Louise Roman was assaulted, discriminated against and wrongly incarcerated – ironically, after a taping of "Transamerica" segment for Spanish TV Talk Show Cristina.
... Full report:
Transgender Woman Assaulted by Police by Susan Forrest
May 15, 2004
Close to 500 people held a march and rally this Saturday in the
Silverlake district of Los Angeles. Marching from the intersection of
Sunset Blvd and Edgecliffe to a rally on Sunset Junction at Santa
Monica Blvd. The event was organized by a coalition of group including
the LAMBDA Legal Defense and Education Fund, The California Freedom to
Marry Coalition, The L.A. Coalition for Equal Marriage Rights, and ANSWER LA . The event was peaceful and there were no arrests.
Photos by "A", Photos by jlr
Gwen Araujo Mistrial: Town Hall & Demonstration
“The jury that heard the case against the murderers of Gwen Araujo, the young transgender women who was killed last year in Newark, California, were unable to agree on a verdict and the judge was forced to declare a mistrial”
Justice for Gwen Delayed, Not Denied. Come together 6/23/04 to help stop the hate crimes waged against the
LGBT community. For more information.
Event Report Back
From the IMC Archives
 Transgender Teen is Hate Crime Casualty
Gwen Araujo was remembered October 3, in Hollywood CA as around
50 candlelight marchers paraded through "Tranny town", down Santa
Monica Blvd. from Highland Ave. to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery where she
was eulogized by LA Transgender activists such as Maria Roman of Bienestar,
Shirley Bushnell of Transgender Menace, Alexander Yoo of FTM Alliance and
Talia of SCHA-LA.
Many participants carried signs bearing photos of Gwen and protesting
Transgender hate crimes. Many motorists driving by honked in approval. At the memorial, mourners scorned lack of main stream press coverage of the
memorial, and poor coverage of the crime, especially that of the LA Times,
for referring to Gwen as he, and as 'a boy who dressed as a girl'.
From the IMC Newswire (past and present): Family And City Remember Gwen, October 3rd. Photos, “Shallow Grave” an illustration, Accused Murderer Seeks Bond, Remembering our SISTER GWEN ARAUJO and Equality for California's Transgender Citizens!.
From the Web: AUDIO (streams fast), “gendertalk” interviews Shelly Prevost, independent film maker and video activist, on the aftermath of Gwen Araujo’s murder and her short film "Isn’t It Obvious". Also interviewed, Seth Kilbourne, National Field Director for the Human Rights Campaign, on their national strategy for trans inclusion.
One Year Later… by Jaime Ray
Media Coverage: San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News.
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Youth Demonstrate Against Homophobic Proposition 8
Transgender Woman Assaulted by Police
LGBT Rights - March & Rally in Silverlake
West Hollywood protests proposed same-sex marriage ban amendment to Constitution
