For Immediate Release: November 17, 2011 Media Contact: Caterina de Quesada, 305-794-0058, caterina@getequalfl.

org

Human Rights Organizations Public Forum to Confront Injustices Affecting Community

GetEQUAL Florida and Equal Rights Organizations Host Forum on Shared Oppression, Solutions to Human Rights Violations Miami, FL On Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, GetEQUAL Florida, Students Working for Equal Rights, and If Not Now, When? will come out for equality not only as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) and/or undocumented, but also as individuals committed to the active and involved pursuit of equality. The organizations will hold a public forum to provide solutions to the great injustices faced on a daily basis as minorities in a world of an oppressive majority. All members of the community are encouraged to attend this interactive event in which the audience will be able to raise questions and gain a deeper insight into the inequality that the LGBTQ and undocumented communities endure and the dire importance of ally involvement. WHO: GetEQUAL Florida, an organization dedicated to achieving full equality for the LGBTQ community; Students Working for Equal Rights, a statewide organization founded by undocumented immigrant youth for the liberation of the oppressed; and If Not Now, When?, a Miami Dade College student organization committed to a variety of human rights campaigns WHAT: Public forum to discuss and bear witness to the injustices to the undocumented and LGBTQ communities WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 7 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus, Room K413 (11011 SW 104 ST, Miami, FL) It is not enough that our community simply recognizes our existence or quietly chooses to accept us, says Caterina de Quesada, GetEQUAL Floridas lead organizer. They must stand with us in our fight for immediate justice. Lack of ally involvement is absolutely detrimental to our pursuit of complete federal and social equality. Esteban Roncancio, the Miami organizer for Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), asserts, Whether it is the enactment of Arizona-style immigration laws in Florida or the nation's largest detention center being built in Broward, the immigrant community and its allies are hurting. It is time we wake up, push back institutional oppression, and come out to demand fair policies and legislation that grant true equality for all."

Founded in 2010, GetEQUAL is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual ,transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community and our allies to take bold action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way. For more information, go to www.getequal.org. You can also follow GetEQUAL on Facebook at www.facebook.com/getequal or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/getequal. GetEQUAL Florida is a state-based chapter of GetEQUAL, based in Florida and fighting for full equality for LGBT Floridians. You can follow GetEQUAL Florida on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GetEQUALFlorida.

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