L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Asks for Help to Win YouTube Contest, End Social Security Discrimination

Lesbian Alien Video Raises Awareness About Discrimination Against America's Same-Sex Couples

LOS ANGELES, April 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A popular online video about a lesbian alien who is denied Social Security benefits after the death of her partner of 25 years is a finalist in YouTube's 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. If it wins, the video—selected by popular vote— will be featured on YouTube's homepage where millions of people around the world would see it and learn about the unfair discrimination that affects America's same-sex couples. Entitled "What Kind of Planet Are We On?" it is the only LGBT-related entry among the 16 finalists. The video was created by Rock for Equality, a project of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, in coalition with AIDS Community Action Foundation and produced by MZA Events. Its goal is to build support for ending Social Security discrimination against same-sex couples.

"We see first-hand the devastating results of Social Security discrimination and its impact on the lives of the LGBT seniors we serve every day," says Center CEO Lorri L. Jean. "It's nothing short of outrageous that, having paid into the system fairly and equally—often throughout decades of hard work—LGBT people are denied the same benefits. "

Anyone with a YouTube account can vote once per day between now and Wednesday, April 7, when voting closes at 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). Visit www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards to cast a vote for "What Kind of Planet Are We On?" and go to www.rockforequality.org to sign the declaration opposing Social Security discrimination and to register for the Rock for Equality event.

If it receives enough votes, "What Kind of Planet Are We On" would win $10,000 to fight Social

Security discrimination and a premium spot on YouTube's homepage.

Rock for Equality is staging a Los Angeles rally, march and rocking chair "rock-in" to demand an end to Social Security discrimination on Sunday, April 11 at 9:30 a.m. Sen. Barbara Boxer will be among the many leaders who will join hundreds of protestors who will meet at the Center's McDonald/Wright building before marching to the Hollywood Social Security office for the rocking chair 'rock-in.'

Earlier this week, the city council of Los Angeles unanimously passed a resolution calling on the federal government to end Social Security policies that deny equal benefits to same-sex couples. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to sign the resolution soon, making Los Angeles the first city to support an end to Social Security discrimination.

SOURCE L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

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