"Call in gay" day scheduled for Wednesday

Sheena Gardner plans to "call in gay" today.

The 24-year-old manager of a downtown Seattle coffee shop is taking the day off without pay, intending to volunteer at the Northwest Women's Law Center.

It's part of a national grass-roots effort called "Day Without a Gay," designed to show the size and impact of the gay and lesbian community. Organizers are urging people to "call in gay" — skipping work to volunteer at human-rights organizations.

Energized by the success of last month's anti-Proposition 8 protests nationwide, gay-rights activists and organizations are planning other actions. Two are happening today coinciding with International Human Rights Day.

Along with "Day Without a Gay," Catholics who support gay rights plan to demonstrate in Seattle and five other cities against the Vatican's opposition to a proposed United Nations resolution calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality.

The rights of gays and lesbians have gained considerable attention after the recent elections, when California voters approved Proposition 8, stripping gays of the benefit of marriage, and Florida and Arizona passed gay-marriage bans. Arkansas residents voted to ban unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents.

All of that is attracting the attention of people who are undecided about gay rights, contends Sean Hetherington, 30, a Los Angeles comedian and personal trainer. It was Hetherington who, with his boyfriend, came up with "Day Without a Gay" and created a Web site (www.daywithoutagay.org).

"The best way to win those people over is to come up with creative movements and keep positive attention," Hetherington said.

In Seattle, about 16 people, including Gardner, plan to volunteer at Northwest Women's Law Center, helping out with the holiday mailing.

Though Gardner feels it's important for her to support human rights on this day, she questions whether "Day Without a Gay" will make a big impact.

With the economy as bad as it is, it's not a great time to take a day off work, she said. It's also the holidays, when many are already planning to take time off later in the month.

Plus, a lot of people "are probably not out to their employers and can't just 'call in gay,' " Gardner said. "I know more gay people who are not calling in than calling in."

Bill Dubay, a longtime gay-rights activist who works for King County, is one of those who is taking the day off. He is also planning to attend the protest this afternoon at St. James Roman Catholic Cathedral.

The protest, sponsored in part by Dignity, a group for gay and lesbian Catholics, is intended to denounce the Vatican's opposition to the resolution France is to present today to the United Nations General Assembly.

The resolution condemns discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. About 80 countries have laws against homosexual activity, and in some countries homosexual acts are punishable by death.

A Vatican official said the church opposes "unjust discrimination," including "all violent or discriminatory criminal laws against homosexuals," according to Catholic News Service.

But the Vatican is concerned that a formal U.N. declaration would put pressure on countries that do not recognize same-sex unions, the news service reported.

Leo Egashira, 54, a Seattle resident who's on the board of DignityUSA, said many lay Catholics support gay rights and "we want the non-Catholic public to realize the Catholic Church is not monolithic."

Plus, he said, "we want the Catholic Church to know that they cannot get away from this unchallenged."

Greg Magnoni, spokesman for the Seattle Archdiocese, said the issue was complicated but that Archbishop Alex Brunett would be open to meeting with Dignity if the group requested it.