PRIDE TV: THE QUIET GAY HEROES OF SIXTIES SITCOMS

is john lewis gay

The civil rights giant, who died this month, was a fierce and early fenr of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer rights.

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JOHN LEWIS SAW GAY RIGHTS A MOVEMENT LIKE CIVIL RIGHTS

Is John Lewis Gay? Come and disver what has been said lately about this and what is John Lewis sayg about this. * is john lewis gay *

”A few weeks later, after a state Supreme Court lg, Massachetts beme the first state to regnize gay was an ally of the gay rights movement long before that, said Cathy Woolard, a former Atlanta Cy Council print.

IS JOHN LEWIS GAY?

Was C.S. Lewis gay? History may have ntralized the sexualy of the man ma a posthumo Christian superstar by a gay scholar/fan, but 's all still there. * is john lewis gay *

She beme the first openly gay elected official Geia when she was elected the early and mid-1990s, Woolard lobbied for the LGBTQ advocy group the Human Rights Campaign. It was the era of the ary’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, when the gay muny had few alli Washgton, even among Democrats. ”In his 1998 memoir “Walkg wh the Wd, ” Lewis said his nnectn wh the gay muny sprang om his experience of beg treated unequally a Black “simply bee you are different om the long-entrenched whe Anglo-Saxon Prottant standard that fed and ntrolled our society for s first two hundred years.

”ExploreLewis found himself a nfsor to those repentg of racismLewis’ endorsement of gay marriage me at a time when the public and most relig and elected officials were not supportive or were openly 1996, Print Bill Clton signed a bill fg marriage as a unn between one man and one woman, after sailed through both chambers of Congrs wh the support of Republins and most Democrats. All Geia lawmakers but two, Lewis and Democrat Cynthia McKney, voted 2004, more than 76% of Geians voted to adopt a state nstutnal amendment that banned gay issue divid Lewis om some of his civil rights peers. Others said that the stggle for gay rights was not the same as the fight for racial equaly.

A month after Geians adopted the nstutnal amendment, the late Bishop Eddie Long, senr pastor of New Birth Missnary Baptist Church Lhonia, led thoands of Atlantans on a march through Sweet Auburn opposn to gay rights. ExplorePhotos: John Lewis through the yearsKg himself never openly spoke about gay rights the 1950s and 1960s, but Lewis ced his mentor’s stance on terracial marriage – “Rac don’t fall love and get married.

PRIDE TV: THE QUIET GAY HEROES OF SIXTIES SITCOMS

Genealogy for John Lewis Gay (1871 - 1909) fay tree on Geni, wh over 250 ln profil of anctors and livg relativ. * is john lewis gay *

Supreme Court’s gay marriage cisn 2015, Bernice Kg, who had been appoted the CEO of the Kg Center, issued a statement wishg for the lg to enurage “the global muny to rpect and embrace all LGBT global cizens wh digny and love.

”Lewis’ support meant a lot to members of Atlanta’s gay muny the 1990s and 2000s, pecially when was hard to fd support even among one’s own relativ, said Anthony Antoe, an HIV activist. “Havg such a proment activist lear so supportive of not jt my gay life but my Black gay life… mattered so much, ” said Antoe, who anized several LGBTQ march the early 2000s, cludg one prottg the Long-Kg ’ early support and ntug prence at some LBGTQ events, cludg the annual October para Atlanta Pri, gave the movement nfince that uld acplish the difficult tasks ahead, Antoe felt like, “what n’t we change? Jt like many other celebri, has always been speculated the qutn - John Lewis is gay?

Yet, as often happens wh artists of this field, the mors that John Lewis is gay are persistent, which is surely annoyg. The g out of John Lewis would greatly benef lns of homosexuals all over the world who are still the closet. Celebri such as John Lewis never have admted they are homosexual, this is bee they are fely not gay or bee they are and don't want to go public.

JONATHAN D. LEWIS, GAY ACTIVIST AGAST PROP. 8 AND DADT, DEAD AT 64

* is john lewis gay *

But Lewis was also a stnch and early fenr of LGBTQ rights, havg sponsored more than a dozen bills throughout his reer as a lawmaker to protect and advance the rights of LGBTQ those bills was the Equaly Act, which prohibs discrimatn based on sexualy or genr inty, and of which Lewis was a lead sponsor, as well as the Rpect for Marriage Act, which aimed to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and legalize same-sex 1996, Lewis livered an impassned speech agast DOMA on the floor of the Hoe, a rare showg of public support for marriage equaly at a time when about two-thirds of Amerins opposed lettg gay upl marry, acrdg to a Pew poll. "It ni gay men and women the right to liberty and the pursu of happs. Wh this year’s Gay Pri Month markg the fiftieth anniversary of the uprisg at the Stonewall Inn Greenwich Village, the acplishments of LGBT hero of the past fifty years have been wily celebrated.

But along wh polil activists and social revolutnari, there were a number of entertaers who, the s surroundg the rebelln, brought a clear, if often exaggerated, gay prence to Amerin hom. He was a gay man.

In Hollywood the 1960s, life was played out the shadows for Dean and other gay actors who often played heterosexual hbands and fathers on televisn and movi. “I’m nearly the oppose of Pl Lyn, ” Dean told Boze Hadleigh that terview the late 1970s for the book, Hollywood Gays. When Hadleigh asked if he thought any of the public assumed he was gay, Dean shook his head.

AT A CROSSROADS ON GAY UNNS

“Not even gays. Only bee what you see on TV — a ser guy a su, unsg– isn’t how anyone thks of gay mal. “Have you ever been st as gay?

JOHN LEWIS GAY

“Do you thk wh the dtry ’s known you’re gay?

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* IS JOHN LEWIS GAY

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data-activy-map="le-byle-article-top">By <span class="byle-name"><a href=">Brooke Sopelsa</a></span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">As the hearse rryg John Lewis' body drove through Atlanta's Midtown neighborhood on Wednday, ma a lengthy and symbolic stop at a rabow crosswalk as dozens of people gathered on the siwalk to watch the procsn pass.</p><p class="">“It feels very appropriate that that stop was prolonged for John Lewis’ legacy," <a href=" target="_blank">Victoria Kirby York</a> of the <a href=" target="_blank">Natnal LGBTQ Task Force</a> told NBC News. "I believe his vol learship and support champng LGBTQ equaly — even prr to beg a ol thg for people to hop on the bandwagon for — was cril beg able to shift public opn across the untry.”</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">York add: “He was about civil rights, equaly and liberatn for everybody. Perd. Full stop.”</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Image: Members Of U.s. Congrs Oppose Same-sex Marriage Ban" height="1629" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., speaks at a news nference Washgton, D.C., on June 6, 2006, to oppose a proposal for an amendment to the U.S. Constutn that would ban same-sex marriage.</span><span class="ptn__source">Stt J. Ferrell / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag file</span></figptn></figure><p class="">The stop by Lewis’ motor — lastg nearly a mute — was an acknowledgement of his vol advocy over the years for the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer Amerins.</p><h2 class="">An early advote</h2><p class="">Lewis, who reprented Geia’s 5th Congrsnal District om 1987 until his ath on July 17, did not wa until was polilly safe to stand up for LGBTQ rights.</p><p class="">In 1996, when <a href=">65 percent of Amerins opposed same-sex marriage</a>, Lewis livered an <a href=">impassned speech</a> on the Hoe floor cryg the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA — feral legislatn that sought to fe marriage as exclively between one man and one woman — as a “mean” and “cel” bill.</p><sectn class="embed-widget embedWidget embed-widget__youtube embed-widget--medium"><iame loadg="lazy" tle="youtube embed" class="embed-widget__e-prentatn" src=" ameBorr="0" allowfullscreen=""></iame></sectn><p class="">“This bill is a slap the face of the Declaratn of Inpennce. It ni gay men and women the right to liberty and the pursu of happs. Marriage is a basic human right,” he said. “You nnot tell people they nnot fall love. Dr. Mart Luther Kg, Jr. ed to say when people talked about terracial marriage and I quote: ‘Rac do not fall love and get married. Individuals fall love and get married.’”</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">DOMA, nsired a polil promise at the time, easily passed both the Hoe and Senate and was signed to law by then-Print Bill Clton September 1996. It was the law of the land until 2013, when Uned Stat v. Wdsor chipped away at the heart of the legislatn. Same-sex marriage would not be legal across the U.S. until 2015, when the Supreme Court hand down s Obergefell v. Hodg cisn.</p><sectn class="le-vio le-vio---body"><div class="le-vio__background"><div class="le-vio__player"><div class="vioPlayer styl_vioPlayer__bL8AJ styl_adNotPlayg__Q51_C styl_alignDktopBottom__4cHaO styl_alignMobileBottom__bhgkQ" data-ttid="vio-player"><div class="vioSlate"><a href=" class="allowClicksOnPreview"><picture class=""><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet="><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet="><img loadg="lazy" src="></picture></a><div class="playButtonOuter absolute absolute-fill w100 dn-prt"><div class="absolute absolute-fill w100 df ems-center ems-center-m jtify-center jtify-center-m"><div class="play le-vio__play-button"><svg class="play--in" xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 15 15" prerveAspectRat="xMidYMid" style="max-width:30px"><path d="M0 0v15l15-7.41z" fill-le="evenodd"></path></svg></div></div></div></div><div id="88950341540"></div></div></div></div><div class="le-vio__"><h2 class="le-vio__tle"><a href=">John Lewis almost died several tim before 30. He survived, but other civil rights lears didn’t</a></h2><span class="le-vio__tail"><span>July 30, 2020</span><span>03:24</span></span><div class="styl_share__n3Syu le-vio__share dn-prt"><div class="styl_shareExpanr__hVk8d le-vio__share-expanr styl_hoverEffect___Dj4s"><span class="styl_shareDot__9pfRZ le-vio__share-dot"></span><svg class="styl_shareClose__6BZxR le-vio__share-close" viewBox="0 0 15 15"><le class="styl_shareLe__EJUjO" x1="0" x2="15" y1="0" y2="15"></le><le class="styl_shareLe__EJUjO" x1="0" x2="15" y1="15" y2="0"></le></svg></div><div class="styl_shareList___M8wC le-vio__share-list"><a href=" class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-facebook styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a><a href=" class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-twter styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a><a href="mailto:?subject=John Lewis almost died several tim before 30. He survived, but other civil rights lears didn’t& class="styl_shareLk__gSGN3" target="_blank" rel="noopen noreferrer"><span class="in in-email styl_shareIn__lVnRm le-vio__share-in"></span></a></div></div></div></sectn><p class="">York said Lewis’ early support for LGBTQ rights was unsurprisg, given his activism the precedg s.</p><p class="">“When you’ve stared ath the face solely bee of the lor of your sk, giv you a different view of jtice,” York said, referrg to Lewis' multiple <a href=">near-ath experienc fightg for civil rights, </a>cludg durg the famo "Bloody Sunday" prott on Alabama’s Edmund Pett Bridge 1965. “He put his body on the le to create the world that we all thought was impossible.”</p><p class="">“John Lewis’ moral pass overled whatever the stigma of the day was,” she add. “Equaly for black people means equaly for Black LGBTQ people, and equaly for Black LGBTQ people means equaly for all LGBTQ people, and I thk that was a clear through-le for him.”</p><h2 class="">A s-long ally</h2><p class="">Lewis would ntue to be on the foreont of nearly every major ngrsnal proposal to advance LGBTQ rights.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">On Lewis’ ngrsnal webse, there is a page dited to <a href=">LGBTQ issu</a>, which promently featur a powerful quote om Lewis.</p><p class="">“I fought too long and too hard to end discrimatn based on race and lor, to not stand up agast discrimatn agast our gay and lbian brothers and sisters,” reads. He then go on to quote Dr. Mart Luther Kg Jr., wh whom he led the movement for racial equaly, sayg, “Injtice anywhere is a threat to jtice everywhere.”</p><div><sectn class="related related--sgle dn-prt" data-activy-map="related-article-body-related" data-ttid="related" aria-label="Related ntent"><h3 class="related__tle">Related</h3><div id="related" class="related__ems"><div class="related-em related-em__sgle"><div class="related-em__thumbnail-wrapper"><a href=" data-icid="related" class="related-em__lk related-em__picture-lk"><picture class="related-em__thumbnail__image"><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="" height="60" width="60"/></picture></a><span class="related-em__eyebrow"><a class="related-em__label" href="><span>News</span></a><a href=" data-icid="related"></a></span></div><div class="related-em__-wrapper"><h3 class="related-em__tle"><a class="" href="><span class="related-em__eyebrow">News</span></a><a href=" data-icid="related" class="related-em__lk">Obama giv passnate logy as John Lewis honored at funeral MLK's Atlanta church</a></h3></div></div></div></sectn></div><p class="">Lewis was a -sponsor or vol advote for over a dozen ngrsnal bills that sought to eher expand LGBTQ rights or lim anti-LGBTQ discrimatn, cludg the Employment Nondiscrimatn Act (ENDA) and the Rpect for Marriage Act.</p><p class="">The Human Rights Campaign, the untry’s largt LGBTQ advocy anizatn, noted that Lewis worked closely wh Rep. David Cicille, D-R.I., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., durg the draftg of the Equaly Act — which would modify existg civil rights legislatn to add protectns agast discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn and genr inty— and was a lead sponsor of the legislatn.</p><sectn class="embed-widget embedWidget embed-widget__youtube embed-widget--medium"><iame loadg="lazy" tle="youtube embed" class="embed-widget__e-prentatn" src=" ameBorr="0" allowfullscreen=""></iame></sectn><p class="">Followg Lewis’ ath, Alphonso David, the Human Rights Campaign’s first Black print, lled Lewis “a hero and civil rights in who phed our untry closer to the promise of a more perfect unn.”</p><p class="">“Future generatns will learn how he faced down discrimatn wh urage and fiance, boldly challengg the Uned Stat to envisn a future where every person, no matter their race, sexual orientatn or genr inty, has an equal chance at the Amerin Dream,” David said a statement.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">Lewis appeared at an HRC fundraiser 2016 and told the crowd of mostly LGBTQ people, “You and I are partners.”</p><p class="">“We are part of an ongog stggle to reem the soul of Ameri, to help people this untry and around the world e to grips wh one simple tth: We are one people,” he add. “We are one fay. We are the human fay.”</p><sectn class="embed-widget embedWidget embed-widget__youtube embed-widget--medium"><iame loadg="lazy" tle="youtube embed" class="embed-widget__e-prentatn" src=" ameBorr="0" allowfullscreen=""></iame></sectn><p class="">York said she hop Lewis’ drive to fight for equaly — even if not for a group to which he belonged — will spire others to do the same.</p><p class="">“He gave full-throated, passnate appeals that all of God’s children be treated equally, and that that clud LGBTQ people, and that meant so much to me, both my reer as an advote and advotg for other margalized muni that I may not intify wh, like the transgenr muny and <a href=" target="_blank">tersex muny,</a>” she said. “He was a powerful example of how we should be dog advocy at the margs, and I hope every member of Congrs has taken a lson om him.</p><h2 class="">A changer of hearts and mds</h2><p class="">While Lewis’ LGBTQ advocy undoubtedly changed hearts and mds across mographic spectms, York, who is Black, said there was a special signifince and power havg a straight, cisgenr Black man as such a visible ally.</p><p class="">“I thk that all of those inti that he rried helped Black fathers, brothers, nephews all across the untry learn how to talk and accept their own children, their own relativ who had been hurt by homophobia and transphobia,” she said, addg that he “gave permissn for so many others who were potential alli to be able to step out of their fear” and support LGBTQ equaly.</p><sectn class="embed-widget embedWidget embed-widget__youtube embed-widget--medium"><iame loadg="lazy" tle="youtube embed" class="embed-widget__e-prentatn" src=" ameBorr="0" allowfullscreen=""></iame></sectn><p class="">“John Lewis is a man of ep fah — no one uld qutn that,” she add. “So for someone who is a man of ep fah to say that LGBTQ people matter, are equal and serve protectn and digny, that gave other people the language to be able to say the same thg their fai, their church, their hom. I believe that probably saved untls liv.”</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">In a soberg survey released this month, The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suici preventn and crisis preventn anizatn, found that 2 5 LGBTQ youth the U.S. have "serly nsired" suici the past year.</p><p class="">“I do believe that those numbers uld have been even higher if wasn’t for the full-throated advocy that John Lewis gave, and by him dog that, the permissn he gave to others to really show up as the fathers that they wanted to be for their children,” she said.</p><h2 class="">‘Power of his legacy’</h2><p class="">In a posthumo <a href=">op-ed The New York Tim</a> on Thursday, Lewis wrote: “Ordary people wh extraordary visn n reem the soul of Ameri by gettg what I ll good trouble, necsary trouble.”</p><p class="">York said this msage unrsr the “power of his legacy.”</p><p class="">“We all have the pacy to create change,” she said, addg that Lewis “started as a teenager dog work to brg equaly for all people, and that’s somethg that our youth should be exced about.”</p><div><sectn class="related related--sgle dn-prt" data-activy-map="related-article-body-related" data-ttid="related" aria-label="Related ntent"><h3 class="related__tle">Related</h3><div id="related" class="related__ems"><div class="related-em related-em__sgle"><div class="related-em__thumbnail-wrapper"><a href=" data-icid="related" class="related-em__lk related-em__picture-lk"><picture class="related-em__thumbnail__image"><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="" height="60" width="60"/></picture></a><span class="related-em__eyebrow"><a class="related-em__label" href="><span>NBC OUT</span></a><a href=" data-icid="related"></a></span></div><div class="related-em__-wrapper"><h3 class="related-em__tle"><a class="" href="><span class="related-em__eyebrow">NBC OUT</span></a><a href=" data-icid="related" class="related-em__lk">What do mean to be Black and queer Ameri today?</a></h3></div></div></div></sectn></div><p class="">“The protts and ralli over the urse of this summer are movg this untry forward,” she add. “If we n jt stay together — spe hurt feelgs, spe trma, spe the healg we’ve got to do together, spe our bldns to other people’s experienc — if we rema open to all, we n create a untry we n be proud of for our children and our children’s children.”</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">York said this g together of different groups is also part of Lewis’ legacy.</p><p class="">“It hasn’t been about one group over the other,” she said. “It’s been about all of gettg across the bridge together."</p><p class="">And, if Lewis' many supporters are succsful, that bridge uld one day <a href=">be named after him. </a></p><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow <a href=">NBC Out</a> on <a href=">Twter</a>, <a href=">Facebook</a> & <a href=">Instagram</a> </em></strong></p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><div class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--has-image expand-byle__thumbnail"><a href="><picture><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="" height="48" width="48"/></picture></a></div><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name"><a href=">Brooke Sopelsa</a></span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a><a href="" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-email"></span></a></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Brooke Sopelsa is the edorial director of NBC Out, NBC News' LGBTQ digal statn. </p></div></div><div class="expand-ntributors">Cynthia Silva<!-- --> <!-- -->ntributed<!-- -->.</div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment 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