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Gay Film Director, Pedro Almodovar, Leads 'No to War!' Chants Rev. Jesse Jackson Includes Gay-Bashing As a Social Problem Windy City Times
In Chicago, an estimated 7,000 people, including a very visible GLBT contingent organized by Chicago Anti-Bashing Network and Queer to the Left, marched through the heavily Pakistani Far North Side. Event co-organizer Ifti Nasim, a poet active in both the Pakistani and GLBT communities, suffered a heart attack Feb. 13 and could not attend. He is reportedly doing well in his recovery from heart surgery. Some protests attracted more than one million people, including in Rome, Madrid, Barcleona, and London. Police had refused a permit to New York organizers, which caused chaos for the more than 250,000 who participated. In Chicago, there were no problems since a permit had been issued. At the London demo, keynote speaker Rev. Jesse Jackson included anti-gay violence among the laundry list of problems society must fight against. "Today, we march for healing," Jackson said. "We march to fight the demons of militarism, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Arab-bashing, gay-bashing, greed. We march to silence the drums of war. Today, I appeal to France and Germany, and Belgium and Brazil, and Russia and China, to keep hope alive. Don't give up -- much of America, and most of the world, is with you -- and our numbers are growing every day." GLBTs formed coalitions to join forces with the protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin, Sydney, and New York, reported 365gay.com. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force joined with protests in Washington, D.C. In Madrid, gay film director Pedro Almodovar urged the crowd on with chants of "No to war! We don't understand the concept of a preventive war. The only preventive war is called peace." While President Bush chose to not listen to last Friday's report from the UN inspectors in Iraq, people around the world responded to the news by calling for more time for weapons inspections, and a halt to war. "Peace! Peace! Peace! Let America listen to the rest of the world -- and the rest of the world is saying, "Give the inspectors time," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, speaking in New York. Susan Sarandon, Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger were also among the speakers in New York. The Audre Lorde Project and the National LGBT Program of the American Friends Service Committee announced that within three weeks from its initial release, more than 130 endorsers, including more than 80 organizations within and outside the U.S. have endorsed an Open Letter to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, and Transgender Communities Opposing War. The letter calls for active and creative opposition by communities to the U.S. government's "war on terror" and impending war on Iraq. Dayo Gore of the Audre Lorde Project and Kay Whitlock of AFSC noted that the endorsing organizations include people of color organizations, youth organizations and programs, faith communities, anti-violence organizations, academic groups, local and statewide advocacy organizations, legal advocates, community-based health organizations, economic justice groups, cultural organizations, and more. |
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Rainbow banners were a common symbol at hundreds of anti-war protests around the world last weekend. Millions of people turned out in cities from New York to London, Barcelona to Cape Town, trying to stop the U.S.-led march to war against Iraq.