Press

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Celebrate Freedom to Marry Week

MEDIA CONTACT:
Roberta Sklar, Director of Communications
media@theTaskForce.org
646.358.1465

LOS ANGELES, CA,Feb. 4, 2004 - The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have announced they will launch Vote for Equality, a campaign to identify voters who support equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, on Sunday, February 15, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Center's Village at Ed Gould Plaza.

The event will mark the end of Freedom to Marry Week (Feb. 8-14), designated to celebrate the lives and loves of same-sex partners and their families and to raise awareness about marriage equality. Participants will be invited to cast their votes for equality in the Rainbow Polling Booth, and attorneys Roberta Bennett and Diane Goodman will present an informational forum about changes in the state's domestic partnership laws under AB 205, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2005. Under the new law, registered domestic partners will gain a number of rights and responsibilities accorded married couples, including community property ownership protections, custody provisions and child support obligations and mutual responsibility for debts. A symbolic wedding cake and punch will be served at the Vote for Equality event.

The Vote for Equality campaign is the first phase in establishing a permanent grassroots political organizing force for LGBT issues in Los Angeles County. By talking to voters about the issue of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, Vote for Equality will create a voting block that can be relied upon to consistently support LGBT equality at the ballot box. This voter identification process is the essential work that will allow the LGBT community to continue to defeat future discriminatory ballot measures and legislation.

The Vote for Equality campaign will consist of three components:

1. Traditional door-to-door canvassing and phone banking to identify registered voters who support marriage equality for same-sex couples and their families.

2. A Vote for Equality mock election, utilizing actual voting booths (Rainbow Voting Booths) placed at various community locations to inform voters on the issue of equal marriage rights and identify voters who support marriage equality for same-sex families. The Vote for Equality election will continue from Sunday, Feb. 15, through the March 2 California primary election.

3. A large Election Day event in which activists will talk to voters at 30 polling places. The Vote for Equality campaign will also place portable Rainbow Polling Booths near 14 polling places.

The Vote for Equality campaign is funded in part by a Community Impact Fund (CIF) grant from the Task Force. The grants are part of a national effort to establish and encourage grassroots organizing in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities across the country.

For more information on marriage, log on to the Task Force Marriage Information Resource Center.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is proud to be the home of Vote for Equality. The local volunteer base developed through this campaign will continue to grow and operate out of the Center's Village at Ed Gould Plaza.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Village at Ed Gould Plaza is located at 1125 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Blvd.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center provides the broadest array of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender services available anywhere and welcomes nearly a quarter-million client visits from ethnically diverse youth and adults each year. Through its Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic, on-site pharmacy, and many other programs designed specifically for the community, the Gay & Lesbian Center is home to a spectrum of free and low-cost health, mental health, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, advocacy, legal, social, cultural, and educational services-and provides unique programs for youth and seniors. Information about the Gay & Lesbian Center and its programs and services is available on the Web at http://www.laglc.org.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.