FOR

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MANHATTAN COMMUNITY BOARD 2 ISSUES RESOLUTION THAT SUPPORTS THE AMENDMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACT TO INCLUDE PROTECTIONS BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY
Contact : Louis Flores, 1-646-400-1168, lflores22@gmail.com New York, NY (Nov. 28, 2011) Members of the LGBT civil rights group Connecting Rainbows are pleased to announce that Manhattan Community Board #2 has issued a courageous resolution that a calls for an end to discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender Americans. Link to resolution : http://www.scribd.com/doc/74056730/Amending-the-Civil-Rights-Act-1111 The resolution calls on Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to introduce and support an amendment to The Civil Rights Act that would extend its protections to include the categories of sexual orientation and gender identity. What this resolution does is to validate the dreams of LGBT Americans : it reffirms for us what full federal equality looks like, said Louis Flores, a member of Connecting Rainbows. "Community Board 2 is extremely pleased to be part of this pathbreaking grassroots movement to fully recognize the civil rights of LGBT Americans and thanks the Connecting Rainbows coalition for bringing this important issue to our attention and organizing this effort," said Brad Hoylman, Chair of Community Board 2, Manhattan. Calling for a federal anti-discrimination law is not entirely new. In 1974, then Representatives Bella Abzug and Edward Koch introduced a bill entitled the Equality Act of 1974, which would have banned discrimination against lesbians, gay men, unmarried persons, and women in the realms of employment, housing, and public accommodation. The Equality Act was never passed upon its first introduction. In subsequent Congressional sessions, attempts were made to rentroduce and pass LGBT civil rights bills. Even with new sponsorship, those bills did not pass. Almost 40 years later, a new grassroots movement is forming to make a renewed push for full federal equality for LGBT Americans. Connecting Rainbows is a borderless, democratic collective of LGBT activists and allies, with no hierarchy. The groups mission is to create a mass movement, demanding full civil rights for LGBT people everywhere. Its members organise civil rights walks and other actions for LGBT civil rights. Connecting Rainbows uses the power of a social media platform, where people create online profiles, meet others, plan events, join groups, blog, and participate in online forums. For more information, please like our website : http://connectingrainbows.ning.com/ ###