Source: San Francisco Chronicle
On February 20, 2006 the San Francisco Chronicle reported, "Gathered around the plastic red-and-white tablecloths in the back room of a San Francisco hofbrau, 30 of the Bay Area's 'out' atheists were recasting themselves as the protagonists of America's newest civil rights struggle. As they described the strain of being openly atheistic in an increasingly religious culture, many wished their godless crusade would emulate one social movement in particular -- the fight for gay rights... Lori Lipman Brown... was hired last fall to be the Washington, D.C. lobbyist for an organization devoted to atheist causes, the Secular Coalition for America. She's believed to be the first paid lobbyist for the unbelievers in the nation's capital, the front lines of the culture wars. Now, all Brown is seeking is a constituency willing to go public... Brown stopped by the Van Ness Avenue restaurant Tommy's Joynt recently to address the faithless as part of a West Coast barnstorming tour to raise money and awareness for the atheists' new tack... Brown kept the politics light as she addressed the crowd... All she asked her fellow atheists to do was to let themselves be counted as atheists, as part of a movement."