CALL TO ACTION (updated 6/26)

THE MOST IMPORTANT LGBT CASE IN A GENERATION

Click here for the press release (rtf).

UPDATE:

Victory: The Supreme Court voted 6-3 today to reject the Texas Sodomy law. But we still need gather at Santorum's office to make sure the victory isn't a hollow one. The struggle for liberation is ongoing. [It will be a short demo; over by 6pm.]

POSTER IDEAS:
  • "Keep Your Laws Off Our Bodies"
  • "Separate the Church and State"
  • "No More Hate in the Keystone State"
  • "Hate the Bigotry, Love the Bigot"
  • "RESYST Santorum"
  • "Santorum is a Bigot"
  • "We Bash Back"
  • "Queers are Revolting"

WHAT: National day of protest in response to historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling on sodomy law.

WHEN: 5:00pm on the day the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its ruling. That will be probably be Monday, June 23.

WHERE: Sentator Santorum's office at 1 Station Square...if the Court votes to uphold the Texas sodomy law we will then snake march to the U.S. District Court building at Liberty & Grant. As of June 24, 2003, at least 35 cities are participating in the action.

WHO: The Pittsburgh protest is being called by RESYST and the Rosenberg Institute for Peace and Justice.

WHY: In 1986 a Georgia sodomy law was challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in Bowers v. Hardwick. The Court ruled 5-4 against Hardwick, a major milestone in history of queer liberation. Ever since that case, courts and legislators have used the excuse of the Hardwick decision to take children away from same-sex couples, to deny equal access to jobs, housing, public accommodations and more.

Now, 17 years later, the Supreme Court has a chance to revisit the Hardwick decision in Lawrence v. Texas. The plaintiffs contend that the sodomy law should be struck down not only on privacy grounds, but also because it violates the Equal Protection Clause by permitting sexual intimacy only for heterosexual couples and therefore turns queers into a sexless second class with less rights than other citizens. Texas' District Attorney argues that the law is aimed at protecting marriage, family, and children asserts the state's right to regulate any and all sexual practices, even those taking place behind closed doors and among consenting adults.

Texas is one of 13 remaining states that still have sodomy laws on the books; in the past 30 years, many states' sodomy laws were either repealed by state legislation or else invalidated by state courts. Pennsylvania's sodomy law was struck down by the PA State Supreme Court in Commonwealth v. Bonadio, 415 A.2d 47 (1980).

Recall that earlier this year PA Sentator Santorum defended the Texas sodomy law and argued that homosexual consensual sex "undermine[s] the fabric of our society." Whether or not the Supreme Court rules in favor of Lawrence, it is important to continue to pressure Santorum and those who would use their private morality to enforce sodomy laws and institutionalized discrimination.

This historic case will affect the rights and lives of LGBT people for years to come. In another important case, the Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy that favors minorities who apply to its law school, but struck down the program for its undergraduate college.

LOCAL CONTACT: David Meieran, 412-421-7716, dmeieran@123mail.org

For more info: