Rally This Saturday

From Impact Cincinnati's Facebook Event...

This Saturday at the Statehouse, there will be a Rally for equality.

Dear friends,

There has been plenty of talk recently about hope and change, but we all know that actions speak louder than words. President-elect Obama has said that he will be the LGBTQ community’s ally in the White House, but we have heard the promises before. We must not sit idly by and hope that he will stand by his word. Now is the time to act.

This is why Equality Ohio, the Human Rights Campaign, and Join the Impact Ohio are joining together to produce a Rally for Equality on January 31, 2009. These three large groups have planned the January 31 event at the Ohio Statehouse in response to a national call for action against the twelve-year-old Defense of Marriage Act (commonly known as DOMA), which is a Proposition 8 type law at the federal level. DOMA denies loving same-gender couples more than 1,000 federal rights that are guaranteed to married heterosexual couples. Similar rallies will be held across the country on January 31 in protest of DOMA.

Additionally, the three groups hope to draw attention to the problem of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Americans (LGBT Americans). While hate crimes nationally are decreasing, members of the LGBT community continue to face increasing threats of violence. Also of importance to Ohio’s LGBT community are the lack of equal housing rights, fair employment practices, and marriage equality.

Don’t let America or our new President look away from these issues. Stand up on January 31st and let your voice be heard. Whether or not you can attend, do your best to spread the word.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK. TALK TO YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COWORKERS.

The more people we can get to attend, the bigger our statement for equality will be! If you would like to go but can’t find a ride, stay tuned for carpooling info to be announced Monday. In the meantime, tell everyone you know about the rallies coming up on Saturday, January 31st!

Sadly, I will not be in attendance :-(. I have to go to a job that I love :-). But I hope all of you get the chance to go -- it looks like the weather might actually be excellent this time around!!!