Activists Urge Congress to Repeal Military's 'Gay Ban'
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor


(CNSNews.com) - A group that lobbies against the ban on homosexuals in the military says this week's campaign to change minds in Washington was a success.

More than 60 veterans and activists from 22 states "stormed" Capitol Hill on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a press release.

The group called its second annual lobby day "the largest organized effort" relating to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since the military adopted the policy in 1993, at the behest of President Bill Clinton.


In all, twenty-two state delegations met with over ninety Congressional offices, Republican and Democratic, from both the House and Senate, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said. "Last year, fourteen state delegations met with fifty congressional offices.


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100 arrested in AIDS protest at U.S. Capitol
Nearly 1,000 march past RNC, DNC headquarters
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In front of the U.S. Capitol on May 20, 100 AIDS protesters were arrested for blocking traffic as part of a demonstration that called on Congress, President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to do more to fight AIDS.

Those arrested were part of a contingent of nearly 1,000 people who marched through the streets of Capitol Hill past the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committee offices chanting “Fight AIDS Now” and other slogans before arriving at the Capitol.

Organizers called the event the largest civil disobedience action for AIDS in Washington, D.C., in the past 10 years. “It was the right balance between anger and hope,” said Suzy Subway, a protest organizer from Act Up Philadelphia. “Hopefully, our message was heard.”

With Republican and Democratic officials watching from windows and balconies, protesters spoke briefly in front of the two party headquarters before participants marched to the west front of the Capitol Building, which faces the National Mall. Those who chose to get arrested then sat or lay prone in a traffic circle in front of the Capitol grounds.