Adoptees to Hold Black Tie Rally at Oscars

Bastard Nation will be holding a "black tie rally" in support of open records for adult adoptees at the 1997 Academy Awards Show in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium on Monday March 24th. This event is a positive response to the nomination of the British film "Secrets and Lies" for multiple academy awards.

"Secrets and Lies" tells the story of a British adult adoptee who accesses her original birth records, searches for and is reunited with her birthmother. The film has already won numerous awards including the Golden Globe award for best actress, the Palm D'or at Cannes and has received five Oscar Nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.

The purpose of our event will be to make the public aware that, while an adoptees original birth record has long been available upon reaching the age of majority in Britain and elsewhere, this is not the case in most of the U.S and Canada. This is especially important in light of the significant press recently received through the films "Flirting With Disaster", "Secrets and Lies" and a recent episode of the popular television show "Melrose Place", all of which suggest that an adult adoptee can easily access his or her birth records. Birth records are still unjustly sealed for adoptees in 48 of the 50 united states. This is a violation of both adult adoptees' civil rights and freedom of information.

Bastard Nation in the fastest-growing international adoptee-rights movement in the adoption reform movement today. Visit our website at http://www.bastards.org/ for information on our mission and services to the adoptee community, including the Terminal Illness Emergency Search (TIES) program, Internet Activism Workshops, RegDay Involvement and more.

Contact Michelle Hilbe at 805- 927-2929 (hilbe@thegrid.net) or Damsel Plum at 415 704-3166 (damzy@bastards.org) for more information.