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LGBT Sit-in at Pelosi's Offices

LGBT Sit-in at Pelosi's Offices

Yesterday afternoon queers staged a sit-in both at the San Fransisco and Washington D.C. offices of Speaker Pelosi, to demand that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act be brought to the House floor for a vote by the end of March.

Kerry Eleveld at the Advocate reports:

Ten LGBT activists were arrested after 19 people staged a bi-coastal sit-in at the San Francisco and Washington, D.C., offices of House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Four of the eight activists in the D.C. office and six of the 11 in San Francisco were arrested. They were eventually fined $125 each and released.

The activists went to Pelosi's offices at about 4 p.m. EST where they had previously scheduled meetings with her staff members. Once inside, they told staffers they would not leave until either the Speaker agreed to a vote or they were arrested.

“We understand that Speaker Pelosi and the rest of Congress are in the midst of passing health care reform legislation,” said a statement from Robin McGehee, an organizer of the action who was arrested at the White House earlier on Thursday protesting the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. “However, health care for many LGBTQ families is intimately connected to employment protections and we cannot wait a minute longer for those protections. We’ve already waited far too long.”