by Rex Wockner
Charges against four women who staged a sit-in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's D.C. office on March 18 will be dropped if certain conditions are met. GetEqual.org's Janine Carmona, Samantha Ames, Chastity Kirven and Michelle Wright were protesting Congress' failure to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
They pleaded not guilty April 7 to charges of unlawful entry, and the U.S. attorney general's office agreed to drop the charges on Oct. 6 if the four stay away from Pelosi's office and avoid getting arrested in the interim.
Carmona and Ames, who are D.C. residents, also must perform 60 hours of community service.
"On March 18, we had the privilege of standing for equality in a congressional office where many of those most affected by employment discrimination couldn't join us," Ames said April 7. "For many in our community, especially transgender individuals and those living in states that have struck down employment protections, being politically active, arrested or fired can mean risking serious physical and emotional violence. It is an honor to stand with these incredible activists on the right side of history, but we won't stop until it's safe for everyone in our community to stand with us."
GetEqual.org co-chair Robin McGehee told the DC Agenda newspaper that additional civil disobedience actions are planned in D.C. and elsewhere.
"Our goal with GetEqual is to create the lunch-counter moments that so clearly defined the civil rights movement around racial justice," she said. "In an equality movement, we believe that we need to create those images that highlight the injustices that are clearly out there."
The group vows to stage actions targeting the House of Representatives, the House Committee on Education and Labor and the U.S. Senate.
"GetEqual is determined to continue fighting for this bill and intends to use non-violent civil disobedience and people-powered actions to bring attention to the injustice," the group said.
