S.F. Protest for Global Gay Solidarity Day, August 4 Photos

(Please feel free to use any of the photos, but give credit to this blog. Thanks.)

Over the course of one hour, more than twenty LGBT activists staged a solidarity vigil and speak out today at the Flood Building on Market Street, where the consulates of Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama are located. Hundreds of shoppers walking by and people entering the Flood Building took our supply of 500 leaflets explaining the problems gay citizens face in those countries. We held a beautiful fabric banner, made by George Duvoisin, using a diverse array of materials and colors, symbolic of the global LGBT community. Each letter was a separate design with its own block, spelling out S-O-L-I-D-A-R-I-T-Y.


Just one of the many clusters of tourists who passed by our event, which was spread out across the entire front of the building, with the permission of the building's security force because we didn't block anyone from entering or leaving. During the action, activists spoke with people from around the world who wanted more information about the human rights abuses of LGBT people everywhere on our planet. There was also much approval for our public display of activism.


This gay black man stopped and gave an impromptu speech about respecting all people from every background. He also thanked us for being in the streets for queer political reasons on such a beautiful sunny San Francisco day.



We spent the final half of our demonstration displaying our Global Gay Solidarity signs and waving the good old rainbow flag, even though we ran out of flyers and couldn't give tourists and shoppers some information to learn about our LGBT issues.

An enormous shout of thanks from me to all the folks who turned out for our fabulous action today, and all the folks who couldn't make it but nevertheless supported and/or contributed to the San Francisco action on August 4 for Global Gay Solidarity Day.

Cologne's August 4 Action for Global Gay Solidarity Day

My friend Viktor sent along this release today from Germany, all about how his group is participating in the international LGBT actions today. Much gratitude to him for all his work to make an action happen in solidarity with gays across all borders:

For further event information, please contact Viktor Zimmermann:
viktor.zimmermann@gayhomeland.org
tel. +49-221-1691810

On August 4, 2007, the representatives of the Gay Homeland Foundation (GHF) will call on several consulates located in Cologne and hand over letters petitioning for decriminalization of homosexuality in Gambia, Malaysia, Nepal, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunesia.

The Foundation welcomes the decision of Gay activists in Caracas, Cologne, Mexico City, San Diego, San Francisco, Stockholm, Warsaw, Washington and Vancouver to initiate actions on this Global Gay Solidarity Day, which hopefully will become a good tradition and will give fresh dynamics to the Gay movement in the next years. With some 300 millions Gay individuals worldwide there is much potential for interconnection and joint action.

GHF is pleased to see various Gay organizations and activists now standing united to express Gay solidarity. Despite all disagreements over singular issues, Gays still are one people, and in decisive moments they must stick together and confront the adversary in a close formation.

The Global Gay Solidarity Day shall serve as a reminder that while homophobia is imposed upon Gay people by others, there are also many things which Gays can make for other Gays by own efforts. The Global Gay Solidarity Day symbolically expresses the powerfull potential Gays have as a people, the solidarity itself shall be lived throughout the entire year as well.

Their oppressors of Gay people speculate that Gays will abstain from assisting their brothers and sisters from other countries, declaring such persecution to be within the sole competency of the responsible government.

GHF rejects such argumentation as frivolous. Persecution of Gay people in any given country is not an internal affair of the persecuting state, it is an assault on the Gay people in its entirety. Appeals to the national souvereignty are not a legitimate argumentation when it comes to violation of human rights. Gay citizens of these states are belonging to the Gay people, thus the worldwide Gay community shall no longer accept such infringements of safety and cultural freedoms of Gay people, wherever they occur.

When a country is interested in good relations to all peoples and nations, it shall respect all these peoples and nations. Criminalization of family life and disruption of cultural events of members of a particular minority is certainly not a suitable way to establish good international relations.

Persecuting countries shall be put before the option to abandon their laws criminalizing homosexuality, or be subjected to an embargo by countries belonging to "the free world." The governments of western democracies must otherwise explain to Gay people why expropriation of private property is a sufficient reason for an embargo, but severe persecution of Gay people is not. Governments of the countries posing as human rights defenders must explain to Gay people how it is possible for them to be friends with governments determied to exterminate Gays from their populations.

The United Nations must address the Gay issue immediately. No other people is persecuted as fiercefully in so many states as the Gay people, and no other violation of human rights is as readily overlooked by the majourity of UN member states. The state sanctioned persecution of Gays often amounts to cultural and physical genocide as specified by the corresponding UN convention, and it must not be tolerated by the UN anymore. Unlike the poverty issue, this one does not cost billions of dollars and does not require complicated infrastructure programs. All it
takes for the concerned governments is to rewrite few passages of their legislations.

To the knowledge of GHF, Gay people are persecuted by criminal legislation in the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Gays can be subjected to the death penalty in Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The Gay Homeland Foundation renews its appeal to the international community to cease deporting Gay and Lesbian asylum-seekers to persecuting countries, and to consider instead the establishment of a self-administered territory for the Gay and Lesbian people.

-- 30 --

CONTACT INFORMATION:
The Gay Homeland Foundation is an organization dedicated to furtherance of
a Gay national movement and cultural progress of the Gay and Lesbian
community; the administrative center is located in Cologne, Germany. The
Foundation is actively investigating the possibilities for establishment
of self-administered LGBT settlements and organizing the LGBT community in
a sovereign political entity.

Canada, Poland: Our Actions for Aug 3/4 Global Gay Solidarity Days

The Global Gay Days of Solidarity, August 3 and 4, soon will dawn and I'm so pleased to report on two emails I received today.

The first is from my friend Lukasz in Warsaw, who has organized a demonstration on Saturday along with a countrywide call to action for all gay bars and cafe to light candles for the day. It gives me chill to stand with my gay brothers and sisters in the country that birthed the Solidarity labor movement under a communistic regime. Lukasz is a brave activist, doing what he can on local and international LGBT matters, and he deeply inspires me. We need more Lukaszs.

And the second email is from my brothers and sisters to my north, Canada, sharing their press release about their action on Friday for global gay solidarity. Hey, Vancouver LGBT citizens - thanks for standing with us and organizing an action that many can participate in. Keep up the great work.

The message from Poland:

Please dont forget about Warsaw. We will meet at Candle Meeting near Iran Embassy (Krolowej Aldony 22 str) in Warsaw at 4 August on 8:00 PM.

I have send message to all gay clubs in Poland to put a candle on the bars on saturday as a sign of GLOBAL GAY SOLIDARITY.

You know... it is Poland. Word: "SOLIDARITY" is very important in our history :)

I will send photos later to my blog. I will put some video also from our action.

Hugs

Lukasz Palucki

luke.santi@eranet.pl

And this the scoop from Canada:

The Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) will take a stand and recognize the first ever Global Day of Gay Solidarity taking place on Friday August 3^rd.

The VPS will honour the day by hosting a moment of silence during the Official Vancouver Pride Weekend Launch at noon outside Vancouver Art Gallery to remember those who have fallen victim to human rights abuses because of their sexual orientation.

The Global Day of Gay Solidarity is a day commemorating the atrocities faced by the international GLBT community. Activists will unite worldwide and send a message to government officials, in particular the UN, to investigate human rights abuses of GLBT people around the planet.
Vancouver will mark the 10^th international city to recognize the Day; other cities include New York, Caracas, Cologne, Warsaw, Mexico City, Washington D.C, and Stockholm.

WHAT: Moment of Silence for the Global Gay Solidarity Day (during the Official Vancouver Pride Weekend Launch).

WHEN: Friday August 3rd, 2007.

TIME: 12:30 pm.

WHERE: Georgia St. Side to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

WHY: Demand GLBT Equality Everywhere.

WHO: John Boychuk, Vancouver Pride Society President.

Ken Coolen, Vancouver Pride Parade Organizer.

Heather Hendelson, Co-chair of New York Pride.

Tomasz Baczkowski, Organizer of Warsaw Pride.

Mark Tewksbury, Human Rights Defender.

For more information or to confirm attendance, please contact:
Rachel Ricketts
rachel@pamelagroberman.com
604-677-7474

Aug 4: SF Gays Protest at 7 Consulates, 870 Market at Noon

Gay human rights activists in San Francisco will participate in the August 4 Global Gay Solidarity Day by staging a one-hour speak out and protest at seven foreign consulates, and all people concerned about international LGBT rights and our brothers and sisters across our planet are invited to join us.

WHAT: Global Gay Solidarity Day Action

WHEN: Saturday, August 4

TIME: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

WHERE: Flood Building, 870 Market Street (Near Powell Street BART and Muni stations)

WHY: Demand LGBT Equality Everywhere

The location was chosen because Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rice, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru all have consulates in the Flood Building.

Similar global LGBT solidarity actions will happen on August 3 in New York City and on August 4 in Caracas, Cologne, Mexico City, San Diego, Stockholm, Warsaw and Washington.

Please support queer global solidarity and show up at any action that is nearest you. Let's all pitch in to improve worldwide respect for the human rights protections of LGBT citizens in every country.

(Flood Building entrance)