Gay rights coalition converges on U.N.

NEW YORK (PP) — A coalition representing more than 50 homosexual and gay rights organizations converged on the United Nations yesterday, demanding an end to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

About 500 members of the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights peacefully marched from Washington Square Park for a rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.

Representatives from such groups as the Gay Teachers Association, Lesbian Feminist Liberation and Gay Activists Alliance spoke from a podium to a cheering audience of sympathizers.

Coalition spokesman David Thorstad read a letter addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim decrying what he called "the U.N.'s silence on the rights of gay people."