ADVISORY/Rally & Candlelight Vigil to Support Eastside AIDS Monument in the Face of Anti-Gay Opposition.

News Editors/City Desks/Assignment Desks

ADVISORY...for Friday (Sept. 12)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

          Clergy, elected officials, residents and community
       across Los Angeles come together to support AIDS monument

WHAT:
        A rally and candlelight vigil to support The Wall-Las
        Memorias, an AIDS monument that will soon be built in Lincoln
        Park. The event is organized in response to opponents who have
        made anti-gay and hostile statements about the AIDS monument
        and the organization building it.

        The rally and candlelight vigil comes on the eve of the
        unveiling of artwork for the monument. Photos of the artwork
        and the monument can be viewed at
        http://photos.yahoo.com/friendsofthewall.

WHEN:
        - Friday, Sept. 12, 2003
        - 6:30 p.m.

WHERE:
        The rally and vigil will take place at Lincoln Park, 3540
        Mission Road, in the Lincoln Heights community of Los Angeles.

WHO:
        Community leaders, residents, clergy and elected officials
        will speak, including Mike Hernandez, who is the former city
        councilman for the area, and Richard Alatorre, who previously
        represented the area as a councilman and state assemblyman.
        Others who have been invited to speak include State Senator
        Gil Cedillo and Assembly Member Jackie Goldberg.

        The monument and the rally have been endorsed by a cross
        section of leaders, including talk show host Cristina
        Saralegui, Assembly Members Fabian Nunez, Marco Firebaugh,
        Paul Koretz and Dario Frommer, Los Angeles City Council
        Members Ed Reyes, Antonio Villaraigosa, Eric Garcetti, Alex
        Padilla and Tom LaBonge, among many others.

WHY:
        The rally and vigil are being organized to draw attention to
        the need for an AIDS monument in the eastside of Los Angeles.
        The goal in building the monument is to educate and to end the
        cycle of shame and denial of HIV/AIDS which still runs deep in
        many communities. Recent research among gay and bisexual
        Latino men has demonstrated a link between discrimination and
        risk for HIV infection.

        Opponents of the AIDS monument have constructed a website,
        www.pinkpork.com

        Keith Malone, co-chair of the Friends of The Wall, a committee
        which is organizing the rally, said that proponents of the
        AIDS monument have encountered hostile statements, including:

        --  "I don't have anything against gay people, but I don't
            want my son to be seeing two guys kissing at the park."
        --  "We don't need this gay s--t!"
        --  "Build it in West Hollywood!"