Queer activists with Southerners on New Ground as well as the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and Project South will hold a press conference and rally Tuesday demanding President Obama put an immediate end to detentions and deportations.
The press conference and rally will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Atlanta Detention Center, 180 Spring St.
A queer contingent participated in Saturday's March for Justice to protest Georgia's immigration law that went into effect July 1.
Before the march, several members of Atlanta's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities released statements saying why the oppose the law, HB 87 and titled the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011."
Emir Palacios is 17, a senior at Lithia Springs High School and hopes to go to college to study criminal justice or fashion design or maybe become a Spanish teacher.
He is also gay and moved with his family to the U.S. in 1997 from Acapulco, Guerrero Mexico, when Palacios was three. The family first moved to California then to Atlanta to find work.
Palacios and his family are among those affected by HB 87, Georgia’s new law set to go into effect July 1 and titled the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011.”
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Jim Galloway, writer of the Political Insider column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says that the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials won't support boycotts of the state as part of opposition to passage of the law.
GALEO is headed up by openly gay man Jerry Gonzalez.
According to Galloway, Gonzales issued a statement that states:
In the last few days, I've been asked why we should sign on with the Somos Georgia / We Are Georgia’s BuySpot & Sanctuary Zone Community a dozen times if I've been asked once.
The answer is pretty simple. As Christians, as persons of deep faith, we have an obligation to stand up and say no. The truth is that this law, HB 87 "Georgia Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act" is probably not Constitutional and most certainly not morally correct.
Rev. Richard Nathan, pastor of Columbus Vineyard Church, made the point a while back when he wrote:
Charis Books, Radial Cafe and Mondo Homo protest Ga. immigration law
Radial Cafe, owned by gay businessman Frank Bragg, and the annual alternative queer arts fest Mondo Homo have signed on to be Buy Spots and provide Sanctuary Zones to protest Gov. Nathan Deal's signing of the state's controversial immigration bill.
Lesbian-owned Charis Books & More was the first business to sign on in early May. Deal signed HB 87 into law on May 13.
A complete list of businesses and organizations that have signed on to be Buy Spots and Sanctuary Zones can be found here.
As Buy Spots and Sanctuary Zones, Charis Books & More in Little 5 Points, Radial Cafe and Mondo Homo will offer a safe haven to people who need a place to go and will offer their space for organizers who are working to overturn the law. They will also urge their customers to not shop at stores that are not Buy Spot and Sanctuary Zones.
Lesbian-owned Charis Books & More is the first Atlanta business to sign on as a Buy Spot and Sanctuary Zone to protest Gov. Nathan Deal's recent signing of the controversial immigration bill HB 87.
"We are agreeing to be noncompliant," programming director Elizabeth Anderson told CBS Atlanta on May 16. Deal signed the bill into law on Friday, May 13.
Buy Spots and Sanctuary Zones are being organized by a new group called We Are Georgia that is part of a movement including the Somos Georgia Campaign, the Georgia Latino Human Rights Alliance and the LGBT group Southerners On New Ground.