Local News

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ― Across the country Wednesday, people are encouraged to "call in gay" to protest Proposition 8 and highlight contributions made by gay people to society and the economy.

While it's not clear how many people will actually skip work, the "Day Without a Gay" movement has spawned several marches and rallies across the Bay Area.

In San Francisco, several local groups have organized a rally at 6 p.m. Wednesday at 24th and Mission streets. Organizers in Berkeley and Oakland have also planned events for Wednesday.

Cat Kim, an organizer with Join the Impact SF, said more than 300 people have responded to the San Francisco event's Facebook site. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will be one of speakers at the rally, Kim said. After the event, attendees will march up Valencia Street to the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center, located at 1800 Market Street.

"This day is showing that queer people contribute to this economy and this society that we all live in," Kim said. Harnessing a group's economic power has long been an effective way to advocate for civil rights. However, some question the wisdom of boycotting work in today's unstable economy.

Kim herself said she was unable to call in to her job in the financial services industry. However, she plans to spend the day talking to her co-workers about Proposition 8 and its implications, she said. The rally's evening start time is also geared towards those who must work.

"We're not trying to penalize people who can't call out," Kim said. "It's a really tough time and people need their jobs."

Day Without a Gay encourages anyone who can miss work to spend the day volunteering, to contribute in a different way.

National equal rights group By Any Means Necessary has scheduled a rally at the University of California, Berkeley campus and a news conference in front of Oakland City Hall. While most Berkeley students don't have full-time jobs to boycott, local BAMN organizer Ronald Cruz said his group will abstain from the economy by not purchasing anything all day. Group members do plan to boycott class, he said, "unless they've got an exam."

Because students are in finals, Cruz was unsure how many would participate. His organization is using "Day Without a Gay" to draw attention to the DREAM Act, a piece of federal legislation pertaining to undocumented immigrant students.

"We're uniting two pressing issues because we're opposed to all legal discrimination," he said.

The Berkeley rally starts at noon Wednesday on the University campus at Sproul Plaza. Participants will then walk to Berkeley City Hall. The news conference in Oakland will start at 4 p.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of city hall.

Day Without a Gay coincides with International Human Rights Day and is the brainchild of Sean Hetherington, a personal trainer and stand-up comic from West Hollywood. The idea started as a tongue-in-cheek column he read in the Los Angeles Times, Hetherington said, but when he looked online, "I saw the movement had some real steam."

"For people to actually take part in it, there needed to be some organization and a positive spin," he said. Hetherington decided to build a Web site and brand Day Without a Gay as a volunteering event.

The site, www.daywithoutagay.org, offers volunteer opportunities and a list of activities for individuals who can't risk missing work.

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