Lead organizer Israel Luna just sent over a press release announcing that this weekend’s the protest outside the Cinemark Legacy Theatre in Plano, which was originally set for Friday, has been moved to noon on Saturday, Dec. 13. Read the full press release after the jump.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Israel Luna
NoMilkDallas@gmail.com
LOCAL LGBT ACTIVISTS SET TO PROTEST PLANO-BASED CINEMARK THEATERS DECEMBER 13
LGBT COMMUNITY, ALLIES ENCOURAGED TO JOIN “NO MILK FOR CINEMARK†MOVEMENT
DALLAS, TX – Dallas LGBT activists are encouraging the greater LGBT community and its allies to join the “No MILK for Cinemark†boycott and participate in a public protest scheduled for noon Saturday, December 13 at the Cinemark Theater located at 7201 N. Central Expressway (75 & Legacy) in Plano. Organizers of the “Boycott Cinemark†movement strongly urge everyone to see the movie “Milk†but to see it at non-Cinemark theaters stating, “Don’t let Cinemark profit from Harvey Milk’s legacy!â€
“Milk†is director Gus Van Sant’s incredible film about Harvey Milk, the human-rights activist and San Francisco city supervisor who was murdered in 1978. “Boycott Cinemark†organizers have created a web site, www.NoMilkForCinemark.com, as well as a Facebook Group, dedicated to signing on 50,000 people to the movement. Local indie filmmaker, Israel Luna, is leading the Dallas boycott against Cinemark with a protest scheduled for opening weekend.
After seeing “Milk,†Luna was inspired by Milk’s passion and drive to make a change and disheartened by the hypocrisy displayed by Cinemark’s leadership. “Being in the movie industry I was especially insulted when Cinemark’s CEO, Alan Stock, still planned on making a profit off of a movie that seemed to stand for everything that he’s against,†Luna said.
Luna has planned a smaller protest starting at 6pm Friday, December 12 – the evening that “Milk†opens at local Cinemark Theaters – as a lead up to the full gathering scheduled for noon on Saturday. More information about the Dallas protest can also be found on Luna’s web site, where he’s dedicated a page to the boycott, at www.LaLunaEntertainment.com. Those interested in joining the Dallas protest may also contact Luna directly via e-mail at NoMilkDallas@gmail.com.
So can we expect Joe Blair to dress up like Jerry Faldwell or not?
I still don’t get why this protest will try to keep straight people form seeing a movie about a gay hero. Think about it – if someone decides to leave Cinemark, do you really think they’re going to trun right around and drive right over to the Angelika. No – chances are they’ll just go home.
This protest of the week bullshit is starting to get old fast. What we really need to do is to start engaging our potential allies in real dialogue and outreach – that means labor, women’s groups, and especially the Latino and African-American communitites. I suppose the protesters will feel better after they see themselves on the TV news, but what will they really have accomplished?
At least people are getting up off the couch and doing something. The apathy in our community has not gone unnoticed. I think Harvey would approve of this protest.
Peaceful protests were a key strategy behind every major successful civil rights movement. Protests keep the topic on the front burner and conversations & debates continue at the supper table, break room and in the media. Protests create tension and needed drama that the issue can longer be ignored. This tension often results in the creation of alliances between groups such as Labor, women’s rights groups and other minorities that have suffered similar discrimination.
Protests strategies need a large number of participants & events for it to be effective. A handful of protestors does not create tension nor drama. The African-American civil rights movement is an excellent example of this point. They peacefully marched in volume and in quantity and eventually won their equal rights.
Continuing the drama on Saturday is worth it even if a few people decide not see the movie due to the protest….which I seriously doubt will happen.
By all accounts Harvey Milk was smart, politically savvy and a big picture thinker. I don’t think he would have thought much of this “protest.” LOL
If the people that want to do something can’t come up with a better idea than scaring straight people in Plano away from seeing Milk then they really do need to stay on the couch IMO.
OK Dave C….so what are you doing to help create change?
Wanda Syke’s interview on Jay Leno happened because of one thing….she was a visible protester on Prop 8. She received national media attention and though humor…made the Prop 8 supporters look very silly and ignorant for their beliefs.
That is a great example of protesting being VERY EFFECTIVE.
Sit on your couch if you chose….but would be much more effective if you join the movement to keep our cause alive. IMO!
What do I do?
I vote, I help gay and gay friendly campaigns and I give money and when I see an effective protest idea I join in. What do you do Dante?
Going after all the people that supported Prop. Hate isn’t going to win the next election for us. We can’t intimidate these people into not believing what they believe.
Also, protesting all the people and the companies they work for that gave money to the other side looks a lot like hate. The NO side out raised the YES side by millions. Money wasn’t why we lost.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/24603325/samesex_setback
BTW, There are hundreds of people, companies and organizations that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars more than this one guy. If we are going to protest all the people that gave money to the other side then can someone tell me why we are start at the bottom of the list of donors with this Cinemark guy and his $9999? That is about enough for a couple thousand yard signs. If this protest was successful and the guy never gave another dime what difference would it make in the next election?
Why not protest the Knights of Columbus or the Boy Scouts? They both gave over a hundred thousand dollars as organizations!
Look this whole idea about the Milk/Cinemark protest/boycott came from SF and the same people that took my money and ran a crappy campaign. I am done that HRC crowd. They can try to distract others with these witch hunt protests ideas but I am not going along with it.
I know why we lost and I know what we need to do about it. We need to start following some smarter people.
Just as a matter of clarification: The protest at the Cinemark has nothing to do with HRC. It was organized by people outside what is commonly seen as the “leadership” of the LGBT community.
Alan Stock’s $9,999 contribution to Yes on 8 was definitely not at the low end of the list of donations. There were hundreds of very small donations.
And I say this to everyone who has complained about the way the No on 8 campaign was conducted: If you don’t like the leadership we have, step up and lead yourselves.
“Lead, follow or get out of the way.”
(And no, Dave C., this isn’t directed at you. I am just talking about our community in general.)
Well Tammye, you may not consider $9999 on the low end but it sure isn’t the high end. There are hundreds of people that gave more and many much more than this guy did. Look at the list. This guy isn’t on the bottom but he IS way down on the list.
Don’t agree about HRC either. They may not have anything to do with this Plano thing and they may be backing away from this protest idea now but yeah, They were the ones pushing for the protests. My guess is it has something to do with deflecting blame from their poor leadership in the campaign.
“Lead, follow or get out of the way.â€
Yeah, I get it. I am leading myself and I won’t get in the way of anyone doing the same but I don’t think wanting new leadership and calling for it and debating it is a bad idea because I think I speak for at least a few when I say I have had it with following and giving money to people that don’t know what they are doing.
Amen Mark, who said “Protests strategies need a large number of participants & events for it to be effective. A handful of protestors does not create tension nor drama.” I think this is the KEY to the dissention in the community about some of the protests.
I also agree with Laura, who said “The apathy in our community has not gone unnoticed.” This primarly, in MY opinion, is one of the key reasons that we lost Prop 8.
Knights of Columbus gave over $1 million, National Organization for Marriage $1 million, Focus on Family and AFA – $500k each. I think what Tammye was trying to say- was really, Stock’s contribution was towards to the lower end – not mid or high honestly. There’s more in our own state that gave 5x (and above) that $9999.00 amount (nice… no gift tax!)
So when do we get over all of this, come together, and get off our butts and organize one team and have one plan?