From: MPetrelis@aol.com Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 02:13:53 EDT Subject: Proposed Millennium March flounders; accountability demanded Ad Hoc Committee for An Open Process P.O. Box 1114 Old Chelsea Station New York, NY 10011 MEDIA CONTACTS: Leslie Cagan 212-927-8342 Lcagan@people-link.com Bill Dobbs 212-966-1091 duchamp@mindspring.com For Immediate Release: June 6, 1999 NEWS FROM: THE AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR AN OPEN PROCESS AD HOC COMMITTEE GAINING MOMENTUM; PROPOSED "MILLENNIUM MARCH" FLOUNDERS. AD HOC COMMITTEE PRESSES FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, ASKS FOR RECORDS In a May 27th letter to the Millennium March On Washington Board, the Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process asked for financial records, meeting minutes, contracts and other documents of the MMOW. The Ad Hoc Committee took this step believing that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community business cannot be done in secret or behind closed doors. "Time for some sunshine," says Ad Hoc Committee member Leslie Cagan. The materials sought by the Ad Hoc Committee include: 1) The projected income and expense budget for the MMOW. 2) Information about all contractual arrangements. 3) Guidelines for corporate sponsorship. 4) Minutes of all MMOW meetings to date. The MMOW Board has not disclosed information about the amounts of money raised or spent so far and it is hoped that this request for concrete information will begin a full disclosure of such matters. The Ad Hoc Committee asked for a response from the MMOW Board by June 10th. (A copy of the letter is available upon request.) MIDWEST MMOW "TOWN MEETING" DRAWS SMALL AUDIENCE More than a year after the first announcement of the MMOW, organizers held their initial "town meeting" on May 13th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The poor attendance - only 27 people - revealed how weak support for the MMOW is, even in the hometown of one of the four MMOW co-chairs, Ann DeGroot. Susan Raffo, an activist in Minneapolis, said, "For some that attended there was real frustration that the event was a cheer leading session and not a genuine 'town meeting' forum for discussion. If this outreach is representative of the MMOW's grassroots efforts, no wonder there are problems. Time to go back to the drawing board." To date, no public announcements of other MMOW town meetings have been made. NATIONAL STONEWALL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION JOINS THE CALL FOR AN OPEN PROCESS At it's May 21 - 23 convention in Atlanta, Georgia, the newly formed National Stonewall Democratic Federation (NSDF), gave a ringing endorsement to the Call for An Open Process by adding their name to the list of signers in a nearly unanimous vote. Mandy Carter of the Ad Hoc Committee said, "The combination of the Minneapolis experience and the support for an Open Process by the NSDF point to the need to go back the drawing board. A democratic, community-wide discussion is the only responsible way to consider if a march on Washington is even appropriate, let alone how it might advance the cause of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons." MMOW INCREASINGLY EMBATTLED The NSDF decision comes as other key organizations and constituencies are refusing to endorse the planned event. Recently, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force resigned from the MMOW Board and issued a letter critical of their process. The head of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition had resigned from the MMOW board a few months earlier. Pride At Work, the AFL-CIO recognized LGBT organization, has endorsed the Call for An Open Process, as has BiNet USA (the nation's largest bi-sexual organization) and It's Time America (a national transgender organization). The National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum withdrew an early endorsement of the MMOW and the National Organization for Women is re-considering its conditional endorsement. LEAFLETS CONFISCATED AND OPEN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS CUT OFF AT TEXAS LESBIAN CONFERENCE In an alarming effort to curtail the free and open exchange of ideas, information from the Ad Hoc Committee was removed during the Texas Lesbian Conference, also held on the May 21 - 23 weekend. Houston lesbian activist Deborah Bell had placed copies of an information sheet from the Ad Hoc Committee on chairs in the room where Robin Tyler, executive producer of the MMOW, was scheduled to speak. According to Bell, "When Robin Tyler saw the flyer she spoke to one of the conference organizers and they started gathering up all the flyers." An attempt to retrieve the flyers by Bell led to a confrontation with Tyler who charged Bell with being rude, claiming she was a guest in the state and that the conference was not an appropriate place to distribute such material. Bell responded, "I am an activist in this state and of course events like this are proper forums for the distribution of such materials." "It was clear there would be no room for a dissenting, or even a questioning, voice," Bell concluded. AD HOC COMMITTEE LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE: www.foranopenprocess.org As part of the ongoing effort to bring our message to more people - and to encourage greater participation in discussion of the important issues facing the LGBT community -- the Ad Hoc Committee has launched its own web site. The web site, which provides one way for people to get involved, complements - but will not be a substitute for -- the Ad Hoc Committee's extensive direct person-to-person organizing. The site includes the well-known Call for Open Process and the ever-growing continuously-updated list of signers, new literature and news releases from the Ad Hoc Committee, a community speak out/forum section, archives, Q & A, more on who the Ad Hoc Committee is, as well as links to other sites of interest. There is an easy way for people to add their names to the list of signers on our call. - 30 -