LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today announced a suit on behalf of Los Angeles mural artist Mike McNeilly against the City of Los Angeles demanding that the city allow the artist's patriotic murals to remain on display. The ACLU/SC suit on behalf of the artist cites his First Amendment right to engage in non-commercial political speech.

"Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we have seen Americans reaching out to each other as never before. In our own ways, many of us have sought to display both our shared love for this country, our concern for those who lost their lives, our admiration for those who have displayed uncommon courage in the midst of the chaos that surrounds us, and our devotion to the principles of freedom and democracy at the heart of our Constitution. Mike McNeilly is one such person," said Dan Tokaji, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California.

A few days after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, McNeilly erected a large mural entitled "9-11" with the words "God Bless AMERICA" beneath the images of a New York City firefighter, an American Flag and the face of the Statue of Liberty. The mural was erected on a privately owned building in Westwood with the consent of the building's owner. On September 21, 2001 the City of Los Angeles issued an order asking the artist to remove the "9-11" mural. McNeilly refused to take down the mural and has recently erected a new mural entitled "Liberty and Justice 9-11".

"There is no justification for such infringements on private noncommercial speech," said Tokaji. "This is especially true when the City not only tolerates but welcomes both commercial and noncommercial artworks of comparable size on other buildings, from the many lively paintings on buildings lining Sunset Blvd., to paintings of classical musicians next to the 110 freeway downtown, to giant-sized paintings of Shaquille O'Neill and Wilt Chamberlin on a hotel near the Staples Center."

"If there is anything that we should learn from our history," said Tokaji, "it is that the values that people are so talking about these days ? freedom and democracy ? are most in jeopardy in times of crisis. Now is a time when we should be most vigilant to protect those freedoms that make this country great and that unite us as Americans."

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California hailed yesterday's expansion of domestic partners' rights, as Governor Gray Davis signed into law AB 25, Assemblymember Carole Migden's proposal to build the rights and responsibilities the state confers on those who register as domestic partners.

"This is a pivotal moment in California's relationship to same-sex couples and their families," said Christopher Calhoun, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the ACLU of Southern California. "The state is clearly on the path to equality for same-sex couples, and there's no turning back."

"No other state in America has made these kinds of strides in recognition of same- sex couples without being forced to do so by a lawsuit," said Calhoun. "That makes California a political leader in recognizing same-sex couples and their families �_ and that makes this new law truly historic."

No other state except Hawaii and Vermont, both of which faced legal challenges from same-sex couples, has offered so many rights to same-sex couples.

The victory on AB 25 was hard-won. Civil rights organizations and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community groups throughout the state, led by the ACLU of Southern California, the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE), and People For the American Way, put together a grassroots campaign to demonstrate the breadth of support in California for expanding domestic partners' rights.

"For the first time in California's history," said Calhoun, "there were more letters, phone calls, e-mails, and faxes in support of an LGBT civil rights bill than in opposition. That's not because the right suddenly stopped opposing equality for LGBT people, but because the LGBT community and its allies mobilized an unprecedented campaign to communicate to legislators and to the Governor their support for AB 25."

Pro-AB 25 activists, co-ordinated by the ACLU/SC and CAPE, attended pride festivals, book festivals, concerts, flea markets, and shopping districts throughout the spring and summer and also organized on-line. Corporate allies Working Assets and PlanetOut helped organize letter and e-mail campaigns.

AB 25 adds numerous rights to California's domestic partner registry, among them:

the right to sue for wrongful death

the right to make medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner

the right to make financial decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner

the right to adopt a partner's children using the same process stepparents use

the right to relocate with a domestic partner and receive unemployment benefits

the right to use the state's statutory will form

the right of a surviving partner of a state employee to continued health coverage

the right to use dependent health coverage without a state income tax penalty

the right to use sick leave to care for a partner

the right to file for disability benefits on behalf of a partner who is unable to do so

AB 25 also requires insurance companies that make dependent coverage available to include domestic partners and changes the age from 65 to 62 for opposite-sex couples who wish to register.

"Our work on securing equality for same-sex couples is far from finished," said Calhoun. "Even with the passage of AB 25, there are hundreds of rights and responsibilities granted to married couples that are denied to same-sex couples. AB 25 is a big step forward on a long path, but it is not our final destination."

LOS ANGELES - Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, The First Amendment Project of Oakland, CA and a large number of local and national artists announced that they are protesting the removal of Alex Donis' exhibit, "WAR," from the Watts Towers Art Center.

The show, which is comprised of a series of paintings featuring fictionalized pairings of LAPD officers and gang members in same-sex dancing poses with companion text from renowned African-American poet and performance artist, Keith Antar Mason, stirred controversy. The Watts Community Action Council warned of protest and possible violent action by members of the Watts community. The Art Center Director, Mark Greenfield, in consultation with Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department General Manager Margie Reese, decided to take the exhibition down.

In a letter to Mr. Greenfield and Ms. Reese, the groups and artists urge the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department to live up to the requirements of the First Amendment and take a stand for artistic expression by reinstalling the show as soon as possible. Furthermore, they called for a policy to ensure that First Amendment rights are protected in the future.

The letter states, "a government sponsored art space cannot legally cancel an exhibition of constitutionally protected expression merely because the art may offend the sensibilities of certain members of the community."

"Art challenges the very notion that there is only one way of seeing things, " said Heather Carrigan, Director of Public Policy at the ACLU of Southern California. "No one is required to like Mr. Donis' art, but everyone should be allowed to make that judgment for him or herself."

Svetlana Mintcheva, Arts Advocacy Coordinator at the National Coalition Against Censorship, said that "if warnings of controversy and possible violence succeed in silencing expression, then violence prevails over freedom and democratic dialogue."