Thanks to everyone who pledged and help make the Lemonade Campaign a huge success.

Yesterday 15 of the Phelps clan (Fred himself didn't show up) picketed for 1 hour, 24 minutes and 50 seconds in front of the Denver City/County Building.

But over 100 people pledged online to the Lemonade Campaign, and over 100 people showed up for the Diversi-Tea yesterday. It has been an incredible outpouring of community support.

Denver -- Fred Phelps, of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, and organizer of the website www.godhatesfags.com, is coming to Denver on Thursday, March 25 to picket District Judge John Coughlin because of his ruling in the McLeod/Clark case.

The Colorado Anti-Violence Program has been asked to release the following statement on behalf of Dr. Elsey McLeod.

Community pledges will raise money for every minute Phelps pickets

Denver - The Colorado Anti-Violence Program and the Center’s Legal Initiative’s Project (CLIP) today announced the kick-off of a 10 day "Lemonade Campaign", asking Colorado community members who oppose Fred Phelps' message of hate to pledge money for every minute that he pickets here in Denver.

State and National Statistics Reflect Increased Violence in the Context of Legislative, Judicial, and Political Victories

Denver – Reported incidents of bias-motivated violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in Colorado rose sharply in the second half of 2003, echoing a national trend of backlash in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning sodomy laws on June 26, 2003.

While nationally the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) saw a 24% rise in the aggregate data for bias-motivated violence from July through December of 2003, Colorado the statistics are even more extreme. During the first half of 2003 reports of hate crimes were actually down 23% (66 to 51) over the same period for 2002 in Colorado. But from July to December reports of bias-motivated violence skyrocketed 133% over the same period in 2002, one of the greatest increases from NCAVP reporting agencies.

Rep. King says that hurt feelings, low self-esteem, and depression are a "choice."

Denver - Saying that the resolution would "further accentuate victim mentality" and that students who are experience name-calling "don’t have to have hurt feelings, low self-esteem, or be depressed . . . it is a choice," Representative Keith King (R-El Paso) voted with five other members of the House Education Committee along partisan lines to kill a resolution supporting "No-Name Calling Week."

The Colorado Anti-Violence Program is pleased to announce it will be hosting the Annual Roundtable of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs in Denver May 7 to 9, 2004. The board of the NCAVP will meet May 10 to 12, immediately after the Roundtable.

The 27 member agencies of the NCAVP addresses the pervasive problem of violence committed against and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV-affected communities.

Denver -- The Colorado Anti-Violence Program released today its annual report on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) domestic violence. The report, produced by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, includes data from 12 member agencies around the country about domestic violence affecting the LGBT relationships.

This seventh NCAVP annual report on LGBT domestic violence includes statistics and stories gathered in Colorado and places them in a national context. The report contains demographic information about LGBT domestic violence trends, compares the community's experience of domestic violence in 2002 with the previous year, and describes the levels of violence with the LGBT community.

Highlights of the report include stories from LGBT survivors of domestic violence, a discussion of issues specific to LGBT survivors, as well as a section on HIV and domestic violence.

The report will be released simultaneously by all NCAVP members across the country at 12 pm EST. Copies of the report are available in PDF (see links above) or by calling the Colorado Anti-Violence Program.

Annual Report is Definitive Publication on Anti-Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender Violence

Denver -- The Colorado Anti-Violence Program, in conjunction with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), announced the upcoming release of its 6th annual report on violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. NCAVP's report is the most definitive such publication on anti-LGBT hate violence in the nation. Information on incidents, offenders, victims and law enforcement response in Chicago, Cleveland, Colorado, Columbus (OH), Connecticut, Houston, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and San Francisco is included in the report. Pennsylvania also contributed information to the report.

Denver -- The Colorado Anti-Violence Program released its annual report on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) domestic violence today. The report, produced by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, includes data from 12 member agencies around the country about domestic violence affecting the LGBT relationships.