Thursday, October 2, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Edward Headington
Email: Edward@HeadingtonMedia.com
Direct: 818-720-7181
Los Angeles, CA – Community activist and President and Founder of The Wall Las Memorias Project, Richard Zaldivar, will be testifying later this morning at the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary. The subject is Proposition 8 (which proposes to amend the state constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry) and will take place in the auditorium at the Ronald Reagan building (300 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles) from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This hearing is free and open to the public. Here are links to the membership of the California State Assembly Committee and Senate Committee on Judiciary. Below is a copy of Mr. Zaldivar’s prepared remarks:
“Respective Chairs, Members of the Assembly and Senate, and assembled guests, my name is Richard Zaldivar and I am the Founder and President of The Wall Las Memorias Project. The Wall Las Memorias Project provides HIV/AIDS education-prevention services to men in Los Angeles County and capacity-building services to the Latino communities of faith in the Los Angeles community.
“Because of many of you here in this room and several other state legislators, Los Angeles now has the only publicly funded AIDS monument in the nation—just 15 minutes from here in the Lincoln Heights community. You supported the request of the Assembly Member of that time, Gilbert Cedillo, who is now a state Senator, and we deeply appreciate it.
“As a leader in my community for the past 40 years and a HIV prevention activist, I am here to talk to you about the impact of Proposition 8 in our community.
“In doing so, I share with you that we currently work with many Roman Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical communities to help build bridges to address the AIDS epidemic in our community. We provide educational training to the faith community. It is not as a difficult task as we sometimes imagine. Because the institutions of faith are essential core elements of the Latino culture, we work hard to build a trusting and respectful relationship with them. To be sure, there are people in my faith community who may not want—or cannot support—the state Supreme Court decision that supports same sex marriage because of sincere doctrine or beliefs. I understand and I respect those differences but this issue is really not about religious beliefs or values; rather, this is about understanding and embracing the principles of our democracy where systems are in place to balance how laws are interpreted and applied. I submit to you that this is not about gay marriage; this proposed measure, Proposition 8, will clearly articulate a system that promotes inequality and injustice.
“When contacted to speak before you, I was asked how could proposition 8 could impact the Latino community—particularly youth. It was then that I turned to read excerpts from the Supreme Court decision. A revealing document—and what really stood out was the section that led the court to their conclusion:
‘because of the widespread disparagement that gay individuals historically have faced, it is all the more probable that excluding same sex-couples from the legal institution of marriage is likely to be viewed as reflecting an official view that their committed relationships are of lesser statue than comparable relationships of opposite sex couples. Finally, retaining the designation of marriage exclusively for opposite-sex couples and providing only a separate and distinct designation for same sex couples may well have the effect of perpetuating a more general premise-now emphatically rejected by this state-that gay individuals and same sex couples are in some respects “second class citizens” who may under the law, be treated differently, and less favorable than, heterosexual individuals or opposite-sex couples.’
“The system that promotes a second class citizenry has had a devastating impact in our community and it has impacted roughly over 85,000 Californians who died from AIDS—30,000 of which were from Los Angeles County. Now, not every single person who died from AIDS was a gay man. However, it was the stigma, the fear, the rejection of gay men that contributed to HIV/AIDS and we should never forget it.
“We know from substantial documentation that the isolation, the loneliness, the despair, the ‘less-than,’ contributes to unsafe sex practices. What is more, it not only contributes to the HIV/AIDS but also it plays a huge role in substance abuse in our community. The Wall Las Memorias Project, together with APAIT, Being Alive and a few other small non-profit organizations, led the way to collect over 10,000 signatures and present them to the Board of Supervisors—asking that they address the explosion of crystal meth use among women, youth and gay men. Here’s a startling statistic: In Los Angeles County in 2007, two of every three new cases of AIDS among gay men was attributed to meth use. Substance abuse is killing our community and we use it to numb our spirit. I know. I know it all too well. It was my idea to construct an AIDS monument to people who have died; not to glorify AIDS but to create a safe place where we could restore a sense of dignity to people whose spirits were taken from them from the homophobia and stigma.
“Let me go on record by stating that if the state of California passed legislation to mandate that each and every measure that was placed on the ballot had to provide an environmental impact report, we would be able to articulate the effects in the environment which is just not what air you breathe, but how measures like proposition 8 clearly contribute to the welfare of the people, the cost of the state and the impact it has on its services. We do know that a creation of a second class is deadly. I am very concerned about the long lasting impact caused by the Proposition 8 campaign rhetoric across the state. The fear it induces will drive young people back into their closets, increase unsafe sexual behavior—both of which leads to increases in HIV and unreported hate crimes in every neighborhood throughout this state.
“There will be an end to the debate one day. Our society will not ever be perfect one but there will always be fear, stigma and discrimination in one sense or another. But I believe our people will be a little more enlightened by learning from society’s earlier lessons. As the ruling of the California Supreme Court was announced on this issue, I heard many taking credit for not giving up and for their own leadership in the struggle for equality. What I have not heard, however, is the thank you to the people who created the struggle for us to inherit today. And those are the thousands of gay men who died from AIDS. It was the tremendous loss of so many men that elevated the word “Gay”. To those brave warriors, I say thank you and urge the people here today to honor their memory and remember that words, actions and ballot measures have long and lasting impacts.”
###
The Wall Las Memorias Project has built support for its AIDS monument through innovative prevention programs, leadership training and grassroots community organizing. With strong community support for the project, local elected officials helped secure state and local public funding for the AIDS monument, making it the first publicly funded AIDS monument in the nation. The Wall Las Memorias Project continues to be at the forefront of the battle to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The AIDS monument will bring awareness and remind us that the need for education remains vital to our community. For more information, go to www.TheWallLasMemorias.org/ or call (323) 257-1056.
Headington Media Group is a full-service communications firm that specializes in image management, branding and public relations. For more information, go to HMG and/or visit The Headington Cabal.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment