Yesterday, Saturday, May 29th, members of Gay Liberation Network and Join the Impact participated in a rally and march called to protest Arizona's recent racial profiling legislation designed to harass all Latinos and Latinas there and trap the undocumented.

We gathered at the Mexican independence plaza between 18th and Loomis in Pilsen at 11:30 a.m. with a banner and several Pride flags. Slogans affixed to our flag poles included, "Boycott Arizona," and "No Human Being is Illegal!" Rally speakers included GLN's Bob Schwartz, who said, "Gay Liberation Network has been involved in immigration rights protests since the odious Sensenbrenner bill first attempted to further criminalize undocumented immigrants over 4 years ago. We know that solidarity is a two-way street; if we want support from others, we must give it. We know that many undocumented people are themselves LGBT. And we know that the enemies of so-called 'illegals' are the same bigots who oppose equal rights for gay and lesbian people."

The march, scheduled for 2 p.m., started early (1:10 p.m.). Though our numbers were small (ca. 200), we were loud and spirited. At the rally, there was virtually no police presence probably because of its small size, and we suspect that the early start for the march caught them flat-footed. Without police herding us to the sidewalks, we kept to the street (Blue Island Ave.) and occupied the two east-bound lanes backing up traffic for blocks and making motorists behind us, in effect, an inadvertent part of our march. Though we suspect the latter were far from pleased, west-bound traffic was enthusiastic and supportive, with lots of honking and thumbs up.

The march ended at the Pet Smart store on Canal Street. (Pet Smart is headquartered in Arizona and has not condemned the anti-Hispanic legislation). A letter from the rally/march organizers to Pet Smart was delivered and, after a few more speeches, we dispersed.

To finish the sub-plot about the absent police: As we arrived at Pet Smart, several white-shirted big-wigs in the CPD pulled up in unmarked cars, jumped out, and (using as much discretion as they were able in front of 200 smiling protesters) demanded an accounting from the few blue-shirts in attendance. It was pretty clear they were not happy about having their holiday weekend interrupted by a snafu of their underlings.

On a much smaller scale, this march reminded us of the famous anti-war march in 2003 that "took" Lake Shore Drive and also caught the CPD flat-footed.

Roger Fraser
Gay Liberation Network