NEW YORK — Five members of the LGBT activist group Queer Rising were arrested Monday afternoon when they brought rush hour traffic to a standstill outside New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office in a protest to demand marriage equality.
According to a press release by the group, five Queer Rising members handcuffed and chained themselves in the middle of the street and refused to leave the demonstration.
Those arrested were: Natasha Dillon (26, lesbian activist); Kevin Donohue (51, gay Jewish activist); Melissa Kleckner (31, straight ally); Ali Lozano (20, lesbian student activist); Robert Moore (30, gay Mormon activist).
“My religious beliefs require that I stand up for the underdog – even when that underdog is me,” said Donohue.
“Marriage rights go way beyond the wedding and encompass everything from custody rights to hospital visitation rights to pension and inheritance rights; in short, the protective legal framework straight families take for granted. Inequality under law is unjust, and now is the time we must end it.”
One of many videos of Monday’s demonstration circulating the internet, this is of Lozano’s arrest:
In a separate demonstration, Drag Queen Weddings for Equality staged a separate event at New York’s Grand Central Station, where ten drag queens officiated mock gay weddings.
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