Political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal wrote the following statement denouncing recent anti-gay murders, including the killing of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., Billy Jack Gaither in Sylacauga, Ala., and Henry Edward Northington in Richmond, Va.

Abu-Jamal sent his statement of solidarity in response to a request by Monica Moorehead, a Workers World contributing editor. Moorehead is also a leading organizer of the "Millions for Mumia" national mobilization organizing for the April 24 march in Philadelphia.

The sickening attacks on gay people in cities across the nation recently is a reflection of the sickness that simmers at the core of the American soul. It is here that a truly perverse hatred is bred, and, from here that all attacks are launched against all who are seen as Other.

This violence, which seems psychosexual in nature, is an attack on the self, that seeks to destroy a part of the self that threatens the self. From Matthew Shepard, to Alabama, to that bloody American ground that was once the seat of the Confederacy, Richmond, violence, spawned by the dark pit of hatred and fear, is unleashed by men who claim a false and twisted "purity."

More often than not, those who find themselves attacking gay folks violently are replaying a violence that they grew up with, or that they continue to act out of, against their family or children.

Is it a coincidence that Richmond, the city where a Black man was burned to death and decapitated, follows several months later with the decapitation and torture of a gay man? I think not.

This cruel and savage violence must be stopped-but it won't be the cops that stop it, for they are the agents of legalized state violence. The brutality that occurs in their own homes daily, the recent spate of cops who kill their wives and kids, more than proves it.

Lesbian, Gay, Two-Spirited, Bisexual, and Trans People Demand A New Trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal: Help Build Rainbow Flags for Mumia!

The Millions for Mumia, April 24^th Mobilization is organizing Rainbow Flags for Mumia, a national contingent of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-spirited, Trans peoples in support of a new trial for African-American political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. A mass outpouring of people are expected to march in both Philadelphia and San Francisco on April 24^th.

Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, two-spirited and trans peoples experience first-hand police brutality and repression—from raids in trans and gay bars to the police attacks and brutality against us. We understand what it means to be harassed, arrested, and jailed for just being who we are.

The execution of Mumia would be the killing of a political activist with State sanction. It would be a green light to right-wing forces that provoke attacks like those against James Byrd in Jasper, Billy Jack Gaither in Alabama, Rita Hesser in Boston, and the recent murders of several trans people .

The Millions for Mumia, April 24^th Mobilization has been endorsed by over 500 individuals and organizations. The LGBTST contingent, Rainbow Flags for Mumia, is growing rapidly, with over 150 endorsements nationally. Contingents are being built from over 15 cities, towns and college campuses, including Ashland, OR; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston;

Boulder, CO; Cornell University; Philadelphia; Providence, RI; Los Angeles; New York; Univ. of North Carolina at Greensboro; San Diego; San Francisco; Tucson; and Washington D.C.

Join Us! Together we can strike a blow at the same forces that want to push our community back. That means that a victory for Mumia is a victory for us. Whether it be by bus, car, or van, We have to be in Philadelphia and San Francisco on April 24^th—Mumia’s birthday.

*All are welcome including: intersexuals, androgynes, bi-gender, gender-benders, zamis, adodi, shape-shifters, same gender loving, all sexualities, drag queens & kings, cross-dressers, passing men & women, and add your own!

Rainbow Flags for Mumia: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit and Trans Contingent for The April 24^th, Millions for Mumia March

Organizations: As of 3/23/99 10:50 PM

African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change, NYC The Black Lesbian and Gay Task Force, Milwaukee, WI Dark Night Press, Chicago Direct Action to Stop Homophobia, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Housing Works, Inc. NYC International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) Lesbian and Gay Insurrection (LAGAI) San Francisco, CA Metropolitan Gender Network, NYC The National Body of The Black Men’s Xchange The National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization - LLEGO The New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project Pride At Work, The National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Labor Organization Pride at Work, Rhode Island Chapter Radical Wimmin Action Guild, Tucson, AZ Stonewall Initiative for Equal Rights, Los Angeles, CA STAR: Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries, NYC STAR, Angry Queer Group, Lyon-France Students and Youth to Stop the Execution of Mumia (S.Y.S.T.E.M) Philadelphia, PA T-People, (Sponsors of the Seattle Trans Pride 99) Seattle,Washington Wingspan Domestic Violence Project, Outreaching and Servicing the L/G/B/T Communities, Tucson, AZ

Individuals:

David Acosta, Poet,Galaei Project,* Phil, PA
Rebecca Alpert, Rabbi,Assistant Professor of Religion, Temple University
Alejandro Amezcua, East Palo Alto, CA
Tina Andrus, Musician, Schenectady, NY
Gery Armsby, Southern Arizona Gender Alliance
Roger B. PACT, People of All Colors Together
S.A Bachman, ThinkAgain, Boston
Jon Banks, Activist, Amboyz*
Jason Bishop, AIDS & Harm Reduction Activist, NYC
Dana Blue, Lesbian Activist/Musician NYC
Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán, Radius of Arab American Writers, Inc., New
Association of Sephardi/Mizrahi Artists & Writers International*
Gary Bowen, Author and Activist
Catherine M. Brennan Esq., Lesbian Avengers, MD
Juliet Vacirca Brown, Actor, MD
Linda Bryant, Feminist Bookseller, Charis: Books and More in Atlanta
Elly Bulkin, Boston
Leslie Cagan, Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process *
Olga Cambasani, Senior Editor, Euro-Transgender Magazine, Spain
Mandy Carter, Natl. Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum*
Neema Caughran, PhD, Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission*
Stuart F. Chen-Haynes, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Lehman
College, City University of New York
Tammi L. Coles, Coordinator, Washington Peace Center
Diana Courvant, Author, Acting Director, Survivor Project
Keith Cylar, Executive Director, Housing Works. Inc. NYC
Natalie Davis, Writer/Activist, Baltimore, MD
Jeffery Dickemann, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Secretary of FTM Intl. Inc.*
Shahn D. Dickson, Writer, Activist, Minnesota
AJ Dirks, MIT Women’s Studies Department, Boston
Hannah Doress, HANARCHY Now! Productions
Mollie Dowling, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom*
Robert Drake, Writer
Tom Duane, State Senator, NYC
Theodore Ellison Jr., Housing Works, Inc. NYC*
Gary English, Exec. Director, People of Color In Crisis, Inc. NY *
Marla Erlien, GCN, Bromfield Street Educational Foundation* Boston
Carolyn Epple, Tempe, AZ
Leslie Feinberg, Author, Activist
Lucia P Fort, Silver Springs, MD
Jim Fouratt , Stonewall Rebellion Participant, Co-Founder ACT UP
Magdalena Blanquer Genovart, Clandentin@, Spain
Monika Gries, Central New York Trans Menace
Phoebe Godfrey, NY
Martha Grevatt, Secretary, Pride at Work
James Green, Writer, President of FTM Intl.,Inc.*
Jim Grimsley, Author
Teresa Gutierrez, Intl. Peace for Cuba Appeal
Elieen Hansen, HIV Activist, San Francisco, CA
Mykael Hawley, Magazine Editor, FTM Activist, Waltham, MA
Jesse Heiwa, Queers for Racial and Economic Justice
Gorka Ramos Hervella, Clandenstin@, Spain
Liz Highleyman, Journalist, San Francisco, CA
Wendy T. Howard, Portland, OR
Holly Hughes, Performance Artist
Loraine Hutchins, BiNet USA*
Arlene Istar Lev, NY
Rebecca Johnson
Lani Ka’ahumanu, Activist, Author, Poet, BiNetUSA and NGLTF*
Don Kao, Project Reach*, Audre Lorde Project*
Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbians Rights*
Morris Kight, Co-Founder, Gay Liberation Front
Dawn Kimpel, Student, Boston University
Steffie Kinglake, Connecticut Students Against The Death Penalty
Danny Kirchoff, Student, Antioch College, OH
Kim Kirkley, National Conference of Black Lawyers
Joan Larkin, Writer, Teacher, Sarah Lawrence College
Michael Lassell, Writer
Lisa Levine, Holliston, MA
Aurora Levins Morales, Writer
Puerto Rican Studies Association*, National Writer’s Union*
Yosenio Lewis, FTM Activist
Kerry Lobel, Exec. Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force*
Attica Lundy, BlkTrianGurl, Atlanta, GA
Heather MacAllister, Fat Activist, Ypsilanti MI
Gordene Mackenzie, Professor University of New Mexico
Andrew McCarthy, Performance Poet, NY
Winnie McCroy, Staff Writer, Baltimore Gay Paper*
Kelly McGowan,Harm Reduction Activist, NY
Jonathan McIntyre, New Mexico
Jennifer McPherson, University of Richmond
Vera Miao, NYC
Chris Moes, Radical Faery
Lisa Moore, Publisher, Red Bone Press
Cherry Muhanji, Artist, Scholar, Women’s Studies, University of Minnesota
Anya Mukarji-Connolly, Center for Womyn Concerns, SUNY at Stony Brook
Nancy Nangeroni, Activist, Radio Personality, GenderTalk
Frank Neisser, NPC Boston, LBGT focus
Letta Neely, Activist, Writer
Joan Nestle, Writer and Co-founder, Lesbian Herstory Archives
Elieen O’Brien,PhD. Sociologist,Gainesville,FL
Margo Okazawa-Rey, Professor, School of Social Work, San Francisco State University
Pratibha Parmar, Filmmaker
Tom Patterson, Activist, Toronto, Canada
Jude Patton, CMHC,CMFT, PA-C Therapist, Physician Assistant, FTM Activist
Sophia Pazos, Elizabeth, NJ
Minnie Bruce Pratt, Writer, Activist
Bet Powers, Member, Board of Director of FTM Intl.*
Dr. Carol Queen, San Francisco, CA
Amber Rader, Univ. of North Carolina Greensboro GLBSA
Margaret Randall,Writer
Dawn Reel, New York Free Mumia Coalition
Robin Renee, Singer/Songwriter, New Jersey
Wayne Ritz, VT
Ingrid Rivera-Dessuit, Organizer of 1^st Lawrence Lesbigaytrans Pride 1998, Lawrence, MA
Wayne Roberts, National Coordinator Australian Bisexual Network
Vikki Rompala,Chair of Committee on Sexual Minority Issues, National
Association of Social Workers, * MD
Trudy Rudnick, Organizer, Local 3882, AFT*
Ruby Sales, President/Founder, Women Of All Colors
Faye Schwartz, Student, MIT, Boston
Sigi Scigliano, CA
Gerry Scoppettulo, Portland, ME
Wendy Scott, Associate Director, AIDS Delaware*
Liz Seaton, Executive Director, Free State Justice Campaign*, Takoma Park, MD
Mab Segrest, Urban-Rural Mission (USA), World Council of Churches* Jay Sennett, Filmmaker, FTM Activist, Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Michael Shaw, BiProvidence*, RI
Sarah Schulman, Writer
Ben Singer, Activist, Phil, PA
Deirdre (Al Dente) Sinnott, Amboyz*, Intl. Action Center
Barbara Smith, Writer, Member, Black Radical Congress
Pamela Sneed, Performer, Writer
Kristianna Tho’masleah, Metro Gender Network, Workers World Party
Mark Tuttle, Gay Men of African Descent, NYC*
Urvashi Vaid, Organizer
Carmen Vasques, Director of Public Policy, The Lesbian and Gay Community
Service Center*, NYC
Igor Vertiletsky, Jersey City, NJ
Susan Weigl, Michael Callen-Audre Lorde Community Health Center, NYC*
Kathryn Welsh, NYC
Robin G. White, Performance Artist, GA
Rebecca Widom, Wingspan Domestic Violence Project, AZ
Justice Williams, Trans Activist, Boston
Karen Williamsen, Minn, MN
Christina Wilson, The Next Thing, Group of Queer Students of Color*, Brown University, RI
Dawn Wilson, It’s Time America, Kentucky*
Nick Wood, Roxbury Comm College, Boston
Jessica Xavier, National Director, It’s Time America!*
John Zeh, Journalist, Cincinnati, OH
(For Identification Purposes Only)*

(For Identification Purposes Only)*

_____I want to add my name to the list of endorsing organizations and individuals for the Millions for Mumia, Rainbow Flags for Mumia, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Two-spirit, Trans, contingent, April 24 March in Philadelphia to defend Mumia’s right to life and to a fair trial.

____Please send me an activist kit

(For email response: reply to sender and fill in the coupon)

Name___________________________________

Phone__________________________________

Address________________________________

City/State_______________________________

Zip_____________________________________

Country__________________________________

email____________________________

address_______________________________

Organization_______________________________ / / List organization for identification purposes only / / My organization has officially endorsed.

Endorsements list being organized by:

Millions for Mumia Mobilization
39 W. 14 St., #206,
NY, NY 10011
phone: 212-633-6646
E-mail, rainbows4mumia@hotmail.com
or npcny@peoplescampaign.org

Initiating Organizations:

International Concerned Family & Friends for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Academics for Mumia, Black Radical Congress, Bruderhoff, Campaign to End Death Penalty, Critical Resistance, Jericho Movement, Million Woman March National & Universal Movement, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, National People’s Campaign, New York Free Mumia Coalition, Peoples Video Network, Refuse & Resist ...and many more

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