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From: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 1:40 PM Subject: discrimination against gays and lesbians at the Pepsi Island [a magyar nyelvu szoveg a level vegen talalhato] Please read the letter below, and if you agree, sign it and forward it to as many people as you know, and send copies to: - [log in to unmask], or to any other email address for Pepsico Inc. you may find; - [log in to unmask], the email address of the Pepsi Island Festival; - [log in to unmask], of Pepsi Hungary. The district mayor of the third district of Budapest, Hungary, Istvan Tarlos, has put pressure on the organizing committee of the Pepsi Island International Music Festival (http://www.sziget.hu/pepsisziget) to ban gay and lesbian organizations from the festival, claiming that he fears their activities - information about safe sex, legal services, crisis services for gays and lesbians, and cultural programs - will convert young visitors to homosexuality. On July 10th, under this pressure, the organizing committee signed an agreement saying that there would be no dissemination of information by these groups. This action on the part of the district mayor is unconstitutional, discriminatory, and oversteps the boundaries of his political authority. Further, the acquiescense of the organizers to this pressure demonstrates a lack of commitment to the fundamental and equal human rights of all people. We believe that the main sponsor of the event, Pepsi, has a moral responsibility to ensure that events under their sponsorship and which bear their name and logo uphold the fundamental value of equal human rights. The Hungarian representative of Pepsico Inc. has so far failed to clearly condemn the position taken by the mayor and the festival organizers. We, the undersigned, expect Pepsico Inc. to: 1. make it clear that the Pepsi Island festival is an island of tolerance, not intolerance; 2. suspend their sponsorship of the festival if this discriminatory intent is not renounced. 1. Hadley Z. Renkin 2. Sander Bremer 3. Kende Anna 4. Serguei Alex. Oushakine 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.