LGBT rights at Cornell

November 24, 2008

ITHACA, N.Y.--Chanting "Si se puede" and "Gay, straight, Black, white, marriage is a civil right," around 50 people demonstrated for LGBT rights at Cornell University on November 21.

Many speakers addressed the crowd, talking the need to build a movement against homophobia and how the election of an African American president was inspiring in showing the potential for change.

There was a similar demonstration in downtown Ithaca the weekend before, with 250 people gathering for a rally. This was an amazing turnout in a town that has been a dangerous place for gays in the past--lesbian couples have reported being spit at, and the city's first gay bar was burned down, prompting the second to be built on the very edge of Ithaca.

The protests in Ithaca and at Cornell are a great sign that the climate of change and hope has spread to every corner of the U.S.

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