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LGBT groups in town are coming together to organize a response to the anti-gay assault reported this week near the Hawthorne Bridge.

Two men told police they were punched and harassed near the bridge after holding hands in Waterfront Park last Sunday evening. Now, Basic Rights Oregon, Cascade AIDS Project, the Q Center, and Pride NW are asking anyone who supports the rights of people to hold hands in public without fear of a beat-down to meet at 7:30 pm Sunday night, May 29th, on the west side of the Hawthorne Bridge and hold hands across the entire span.

“This is one of the first times all of the big groups in town have worked together on something that’s not Pride,” says organizer and Q Center boardmember Stephen Cassell, who says he thought of the action plan in the middle of the night and quickly posted the idea on Facebook. “The point is to show that we are here and that we have support.”

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

13 replies on “Against Hate? Hold Hands Across the Hawthorne Bridge This Sunday”

  1. You might have gotten the time wrong; Just Out is reporting that this is happening at 20:30 on Sunday (http://blogout.justout.com/?p=33613).

    Other fun facts: The Hawthorne bridge is 1,382 feet long. That means if each person accounts for 4 feet of hand-holding length, they need 346 people to show up to make this work.

  4. @Sonja: I was assuming that they wouldn’t try and make people stretch their arms out to their maximum ability to do so. The average American is 5.54 feet tall (when averaged across genders), so they’d need a minimum of 250 people to do this, but then you’d need to factor in the lost arm span length to actually hold hands. That gives us about 4.96 feet of usable arm per person, raising the needed body count to 279 people.

    Considering that this Sunday is part of a holiday weekend and many people are out of town; I’ll be pleasantly surprised if this actually works out for the organizers.

  7. @Graham – I was told 7:30, but since it’s still in the works, they may have moved the time. I’ll check and change the time in the post if it’s different.

  9. @Smirk: Just Out updated their story four minutes after I posted; that’ll teach me to post too quickly. Any word if they’re doing this on the North or the South span?

  10. I would recommend the South span, as there isn’t much clearance on the North end for Pedestrians and bikers due to a support structure for I5.

    Might be able to make this, also have holiday plans and not sure when getting back. I will put off my usual trolling to support this.

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