The New York Civil Liberties Union has launched a new program to engage New York City young professionals between the ages of 24 and 40 in the civil rights/social justice movement.

Are you a young NYCLU supporter who is able and excited to …

- serve as an ambassador for a great organization and contribute your skills and creativity to the forming and shaping of this group,

New York is the first state in the country to sign a contract with the federal government to implement a national identity card. National IDs would violate Americans' privacy rights by helping to consolidate data and facilitate tracking by the government. The government, your employer and your neighbors don’t need to know where you go or what you buy.

Come to the forum, "Your Papers Please: What the Real ID Act Means for American Values," to learn more about the Real ID Act and how to stop it.

St. John’s Episcopal Church
51 Colonial Circle
Buffalo, NY 14222

A Celebration of Activism with Jim Hightower

Sponsored by Common Cause/New York and New York Civil Liberties Union

This event features New York area activists featured in Jim's new book, including:

Martin Dunn, Dunn Development, Queens
Justin Krebs, Drinking Liberally

And representatives of:

Slow Food USA
Blue/Green Alliance
League of Young Voters
ACORN

Musical entertainment will be provided by the Granny Peace Brigade.

Tuesday, March 11, 7 to 9 p.m.

Get the flier!

Click here to view or download the flier.
Are we really protected by New York's abortion law?

As federal protections of abortion access are weakened, New York’s leading reproductive rights organizations have been asking this question. The Bush administration has filled the courts with ultra-conservative judges that have made devastating decisions regarding women’s health. The Supreme Court’s unprecedented move to uphold the federal abortion ban last April was a wake-up call that we must fight to ensure that New York continues to protect and respect a woman’s ability to make private reproductive health care decisions.

South Suffolk Chapter of the National Organization for Women, Pro-Choice League, Inc., the Suffolk County NYCLU and Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Inc. present "Brunch with Bill."

Come hear legendary reproductive and civil rights activist Bill Baird speak on "Choice: Past, Present and Future."

Sunday, March 16
11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Snapper Inn
500 Shore Drive, Oakdale

Joining the discussion will be:
Hon. Patricia Eddington (3rd AD)
Hon. Ginny Fields (5th AD)
Hon. Phil Ramos (6th AD)

Since the 1960s, Bill Baird has been fighting for, and securing, our privacy and reproductive rights. Among Baird’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases establishing rights to privacy, birth control and abortion, is Baird v. Eisenstadt, the 1972 case which laid the groundwork for, and was quoted in, Roe v. Wade the following year.

Get the flier!

Click here to view or download the flier (PDF).Join the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Urban Youth Collaborative for a community screening of three youth produced films on New York City school safety and the School to Prison Pipeline.

The evening will include a community gallery and discussions of the issues and ways to take action.

The Big Gay Variety Show!
Monday, March 24, 8 to 10 p.m.
Therapy, 348 W. 52nd St., NYC

Hosted by the NYCLU’s Young Professionals, the Big Gay Variety Show will feature fun and exciting performances by songstress Our Lady J; Another Gay Movie's Michael Carbonaro; Mac Award-nominee Kate Pazakis (The Sexless Years); comedian Jeff Hiller; Melanie Adelman and Ellie Dvorkin from Mel and El: This Show Rhymes; hip hop artist Soce the Elemental Wizard; Transamerica's Bianca Leigh; Todd Buonapane from Broadway's 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; comedienne Poppi Kramer from The Biggest Loser; comedian Shawn Hollenbach; singing sensations The Dreams; and the Sizzle Twins.

What: A forum on GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act.

GENDA would add gender identity and expression to the list of protected classes in the state's existing Human Rights Law. It would protect transgender individuals and those who don’t fit the stereotyped norm of gender, like a feminine man or masculine woman, from being denied or fired from a job, harassed in the workplace, evicted by their landlords, refused service in a restaurant, given inadequate medical care and otherwise treated as second-class citizens solely because of their gender identity and expression.

Enjoy an evening of funky, folky, fabulous fun with Nellie McKay and other young and emerging artists at the "Voices for Change" concert to benefit the NYCLU.

Where:
Thalia Theater, Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street

Who:
Nellie McKay, Jenny Bruce, Clinton Curtis, Megan Fogarty, Rachael Sage, Liana Stampur and Lucy Woodward.

The NYCLU Civil Liberties Discussion Series takes place from 7 – 8:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month. Each session consists of two parts: a guest speaker and open discussion.

Each month the Discussion Series hosts a speaker from the NYCLU, ACLU or other advocacy group to discuss a current civil liberties issue or controversy.

Please join us Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. in our offices at 125 Broad St., 19th floor.

Following the presentations, NYCLU staff will lead a discussion with the speakers and attendees. Pizza and drinks will be provided to get the discussion going.

AN INNOCENT MAN IN GUANTANAMO: Five Years of My Life

When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 4

Where: South Court Auditorium
Humanities and Social Sciences Library
5th Avenue at 42nd Street

Cost: $15 general admission and $10 library donors, seniors and students with valid identification

Buy tickets now.

In October 2001, 19-year-old Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen and legal resident of Germany, traveled to Pakistan to learn more about his Muslim faith. A few weeks later, on the day he was to return to Germany, Kurnaz was arrested at a police checkpoint without explanation. Kurnaz was then handed over to the U.S. military and transported to a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. After two months, Kurnaz was taken to Guantanamo and held prisoner for five years.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has launched a new program to engage New York City young professionals between the ages of 24 and 40 in the civil rights/social justice movement.

Are you a young NYCLU supporter who is able and excited to …

- serve as an ambassador for a great organization and contribute your skills and creativity to the forming and shaping of this group,

Join the NYCLU at the second annual peaceXpiece Earth Day concert and fair! Stop by our table for information, giveaways or just to say hi.

Noon Saturday, April 19 at the Central Park Bandshell.

Admission Free!

The fesitval includes creation of a 1,000 piece green mural; performances by five nationally touring music acts including Matt Pond PA, Glint and supernumblivemachine; and keynote speeches from political leaders including NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.

Click here for more information.

Get the flier!

Click here to view or download the flier.
New York was the first state in the country to agree to President Bush’s Real ID Act, America’s first-ever national identity card. Join a panel of experts to learn what a national ID system will mean for your privacy, security and wallet. Find out what you can do to stop the Real ID Act.

Your Papers Please: What the Real ID Act Means for American Values

Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m.

This vigil will honor the life of Lawrence King and other LGBTQ youth victims and survivors of violence, and allow LGBTQ/allied youth, providers and others to come together and inspire each other.

Friday, April 25 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Christopher Street Park

Directions: A,C,E,F,V to West 4th Street; 1 to Christopher Street

Glow-sticks will be distributed for the vigil, or bring your own.

For more information, please contact Erica Braudy at ebraudy@nyclu.org or 212.607.3361.

Join the NYCLU at the fifth annual Brooklyn Peace Fair! Stop by our table for information, giveaways or just to say hi.

Saturday, April 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
At Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus
1 University Plaza, at the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb avenues

Admission Free! (Must bring photo ID)

Speakers and presenters include: Debbie Almontaser, Eric Adams and Major Owens

Performances by: Abiodun (Last Poets), Aja Monet (Def Poet), Ajah-Yo (Afoxe), Amanda Diva and Friends, Dragons of Zynth, Invincible (Anomolies), Mental Notes, Queen God!s, Ra Hendrix, Remi Kanazi, Stephanie Rooker, The Raging Grannies and their Daughters

Get the flier!

Click here to view or download the flier.
Monday, April 28
8 p.m.
103 Jerome Greene Hall
Columbia Law School
116th St. and Amsterdam

Forty years ago, students at Columbia University and throughout the United States brought major universities to a standstill with massive student protests and strikes that drew world attention to causes such as racism, war and injustice.

Since then, student activists have looked back at the events of 1968 to draw inspiration and learn lessons from their predecessors. What is the role of students in a national or global movement for justice? Was the student movement of the 1960s ultimately successful? How do today’s student activists work to address wrongs of the government and their institutions?

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008 join hundreds of New Yorkers in Albany as we help win marriage fairness, transgender non-discrimination protections, safe schools for LGBT youth, and more funding for our community’s health and human services needs.

Last year more than 1,100 people from all across New York ascended on Albany to tell elected officials face-to-face that all families deserve fairness and protection. This year, come with us to show our sheer power and determination. We are counting on you!

The Real ID Act will create America’s first-ever national identity card system.

Under the Bush Administration's vision, a Real ID card will become an internal passport for Americans and part of everyday life --a way to keep track of your movements, your activities and your lifestyle. In addition, the plan will have a disastrous impact on immigrant communities, workers and the LGBT community. Come find out what you can do to help stop the Real ID Act.

Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m.
Vassar College
Rocky Hall 200
Poughkeepsie, NY
Free and Open Admission

Speakers include: Udi Ofer, Advoca

Earlier this month, Texas authorities raided a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) ranch and took more than 400 children into state custody. As the custody hearings regarding these children continue, questions of the child, parental and religious rights implicated in the controversy continue to emerge.

As part of the NYCLU's continuing Civil Liberties Discussion Series, Lisa Graybill of the ACLU of Texas will discuss the civil rights and civil liberties issues at play in FLDS case.

Please join us Tuesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. in our offices at 125 Broad Street on the 19th floor.