day without a gay: december 10, 2008
Gay rights advocates encouraged to call in "gay" in protest for equal rights
Chicago, IL -
Gay rights advocates are calling for a nationwide voluntary strike and economic boycott by gay Americans aimed to heighten awareness of gay rights and the impact gays have on the U.S. economy.
Modeled after the 2006 demonstrations for immigrant rights, Day Without A Gay encourages gays and their supporters to call in "gay" this Wednesday, December 10th; just over a month after the passage of Proposition 8, which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
Sean Hetherington, a 30-year-old trainer and stand-up comic who lives in West Hollywood, said within a week of launching the Web site www.daywithoutagay.org, he and Aaron Hartzler, his boyfriend, had 100,000 hits.
Hetherington said he and Hartzler were inspired by a November 14 Los Angeles Times column by Joel Stein in which Stein wrote, "No Gays for a Day will demonstrate what it would be like if – as so much of the non-coastal U.S. seems to desire – gays just disappeared."
In June, Witeck-Combs Communications projected the total buying power of the country's LGBT adult population to be $712 billion this year.
Straight allies are also encouraged to call in "gay," according to the Web site.
Given the country's troubled financial times, 'Day Without a Gay' has received mixed reaction from the LGBT community especially in the gay business community.
Modeled after the 2006 demonstrations for immigrant rights, Day Without A Gay encourages gays and their supporters to call in "gay" this Wednesday, December 10th; just over a month after the passage of Proposition 8, which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
Sean Hetherington, a 30-year-old trainer and stand-up comic who lives in West Hollywood, said within a week of launching the Web site www.daywithoutagay.org, he and Aaron Hartzler, his boyfriend, had 100,000 hits.
Hetherington said he and Hartzler were inspired by a November 14 Los Angeles Times column by Joel Stein in which Stein wrote, "No Gays for a Day will demonstrate what it would be like if – as so much of the non-coastal U.S. seems to desire – gays just disappeared."
In June, Witeck-Combs Communications projected the total buying power of the country's LGBT adult population to be $712 billion this year.
Straight allies are also encouraged to call in "gay," according to the Web site.
Given the country's troubled financial times, 'Day Without a Gay' has received mixed reaction from the LGBT community especially in the gay business community.
