Local groups plan ‘Georgia Day of Decision’ rallies

The corner of 10th and Piedmont is in the heart of Midtown, Atlanta’s gay mecca, and has played host to similar rallies in the past. Organizers expect LGBT crowds to begin gathering around 5 p.m. on the day the decision is announced.

Once the location of now-shuttered Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, the corner hosts two new restaurants, 10th & Piedmont and TEN. Because of its history as a gathering place for LGBT activists, organizers said they were working with business owners to ensure a rally could safely take place on the corner.

Organizations participating in the rally include the Atlanta Pride Committee, Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Congregation Bet Haverim, Georgia Equality, Black LGBT Coalition, Gentle Spirit Christian Church, Lambda Legal, HRC Atlanta, Love Under Fire, Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth (TILTT) and organizers behind the annual Bayard Rustin / Audre Lorde Social Justice Breakfast.

A similar event is being planned for Athens, which will take place at Our Hope MCC at 980 S. Lumpkin St., Athens, Georgia 30605.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, a challenge to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that ended same-sex marriage in California, on March 26.

The next day, the court heard Windsor v. United States, a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that denies federal marriage rights to same-sex couples. Edith Windsor, now 83 years old, married her partner of more than four decades, Thea Spyer, in Canada in 2007. When Spyer died in 2009, Windsor was hit with an inheritance tax bill of more than $360,000, which she would not have owed if the government recognized her marriage.

Both cases could have broad impacts on same-sex marriage rights around the country, or end in narrow rulings or even significant losses.

 

Top photo: 10th and Piedmont (by Ryan Watkins)