Yesterday afternoon, six queer activists were arrested for protesting the inclusion of straight conservative city supervisor Gavin Newsom in the Gay Pride Parade. The activists attempted to join the march carrying a banner that read “Queer Mutiny-Not Consumer Unity,” highlighting the mayoral candidate’s growing track record of preying upon marginalized communities to gain support from wealthy constituents.

These activists are now being held on ludicrous felony charges just two days after publicly decrying Newsom’s policies in the annual Gay Shame Awards. All six activists are being held without bail and are facing felony charges of Threatening a Public Official, Felony Conspiring to Threaten a Public Official, & Felony Conspiracy to commit a Crime, with at least one activist receiving an additional misdemeanor charge of obstructing or resisting a public officer.

This is clearly a gross attempt to demonize peaceful demonstrators, and is ironic in that the only ones to behave violently at all were first Newsom’s staff and then the police themselves. What was intended as a small, peaceful, spontaneous act of expression will quickly become a nightmare of legal fees and bureaucratic wrangling if these absurd charges are not dropped immediately. Gay Shame is asking that everyone call the D.A.’s office and request that he drop all charges, and that the prisoners be released with time served, so that the victims may return to their jobs and friends and families and lives.