I am proud to lend my name and voice to this cause. Christians across the world have condemned the legislation now under debate in Uganda that would impose the death penalty against gays and lesbians. Oregonians should applaud how students in our state are standing up for justice.
Respect Humanity: Uganda March and Rally
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Beaverton, Oregon
Press Release from Student Organizers
(Jan. 13, 2010): Southridge High School (Beaverton) students in Leadership, Gay-Straight Alliance and Uganda Sister School Club announce a march and rally to protest gay genocide legislation currently proposed in Uganda.
Three marches and a rally will take place in Beaverton on Saturday, January 23rd. Starting locations for marches are Southridge High School (9625 SW 125th Ave, Beaverton 97008) at 12 noon (one hour walk), K-Mart parking lot at SW Murray Blvd and TV Hwy in Beaverton at 12:30pm (30 minute walk), and Mill End Store parking lot at SW 5th and SW Western Ave at 12:30pm (30 minute walk). All marches are expected to meet up at the Beaverton City Library park blocks fountain area at SW 5th and SW Hall at 1pm for a 1:15 rally, which is expected to last until 2:30pm.
Confirmed speakers include Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle; former Oregon Secretary of State/current gubernatorial candidate Bill Bradbury; State Representative Tobias Read (D-Beaverton); Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian; Jeana Frazzini, Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon; Kendall Clawson, Executive Director of the Q Center in Portland; and Reverend Chuck Currie, minister with United Church of Christ in Portland. We are also honored to add speaker Thomas Lwebuga from Uganda, founder of the Matale-Southridge Sister School relationship. Students and teachers from area high schools will also speak, including Evy Lopez, a Southridge student originally from Lesotho.
Joining Southridge High School students in the marches will be Beaverton High School Global Awareness Club, International School of Beaverton and Health and Sciences High School of Beaverton Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), Westview and Aloha High Schools in Beaverton, Cleveland High School QSA in Portland, and the Queer Alliance at Portland State University. Newport High School GSA has expressed interest in participating. Other schools are being added as word of the event continues to spread.
Students at Southridge have been supportive of a sister secondary school in Kalisizo, Uganda for about 7years and traveled to Uganda to dedicate the science lab they helped to fund. Students from St. Andrews Matale have visited Southridge High School as well. This issue hits particularly close to home for our Southridge students in light of their personal connection to Uganda.
Southridge senior, Uganda Club member, and GSA Co-President Chelsea Pfeifer sees this proposed legislation as “a human issue” and believes we all need to stand together to make some waves. SouthridgeLeadership students Seta Kavianian and Morgan Woods are impressed at how quickly those who hear about their cause are ready to participate and speak up against these injustices. Southridge GSA Advisor Rich Matkins and parent volunteer Esther Griffin are so proud of how these students are thinking globally and wanting to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves for fear of harsh punishment. Mr. Matkins says their involvement, “dispels the myth about how self-centered high school students can be, and that makes me so very proud to work with them!”
Please email the students at [email protected] with any questions or interest.
