A GLBT "Great Nationwide Kiss-In" is planned for Aug. 15 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, 2 p.m. Eastern time.
Organizers include Join The Impact, which organized the 50-state anti-Prop-8 marches last November, bloggers and SitIn4Equality.net .
Recently two men were arrested for kissing in Salt Lake City's Main Street Plaza, which the city sold to the Mormon church 10 years ago. There also was an incident in El Paso, Texas, where five gay men were kicked out of a taco shop after two of them kissed. Police reportedly threatened to arrest them under the state sodomy law that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 2003.
The Salt Lake incident led to two large kiss-ins at Main Street Plaza and a smaller kiss-in at the Mormon temple in San Diego.
Writing at SitIn4Equality.net, blogger David Badash said: "I'll be damned if someonecitizen, neighbor, or the policethinks they can tell me I can't hold my boyfriend's hand while walking down the street, or kiss him in public. ... Enough is enough. It's time we call these 'peace officers' out. It's time we showed them love can't be stopped. It's time for a nationwide kiss-in."
Kiss-ins have been organized in Athens, Ga. ( College Avenue ) ; Atlanta ( Piedmont Park ) ; Boston ( Boston Common ) ; Chicago ( Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street in Oak Park ) ; Cincinnati ( 5th and Vine ) ; Denver; Edmonton, Alberta ( Legislature ) ; Erie, Pa. ( courthouse ) ; Fayetteville, Ark. ( plaza near Town Center ) ; Hot Springs, Ark.; Houston ( Discovery Green ) ; Iowa City ( Donnelly's Pub ) ; Irvine, Calif. ( Steelhead Brewery ) ; Little Rock; Los Angeles; New York City ( Times Square ) ; Parkersburg, W. Va. ( City Park ) ; Philadelphia ( Love Park ) ; Phoenix ( Capitol ) ; Portland, Ore. ( Pioneer Courthouse Square ) ; Salt Lake City ( Washington Square ) ; San Diego ( Manchester Grand Hyatt ) ; San Francisco ( Union Square ) ; San Jose ( City Hall ) ; Santa Barbara ( Pardall Road ) ; Tulsa ( 621 E. 4th St. ) ; and Washington, D.C. ( National Mall between 3rd and 4th streets ) .
Tentative plans have been announced in 24 other locations from Anchorage to the Northern Mariana Islands to Toronto. For the latest information, see the kiss-in Facebook group at tinyurl.com/no8h7q.
Assistance: Bill Kelley