UPDATED– A notice distributed by the Los Angeles Police Department released late Tuesday raises the prospect that the long awaited ‘Day of Decision’ on Proposition 8 has been scheduled. The document, obtained by Queerty, is an email that’s been sent out to local Los Angeles residents and businesses informing them of a “Prop 8 Decision Day & Rally March” planned for April 20th, next Monday.

The permit was filed by Christopher Street West, the group responsible for Los Angeles’ gay Pride Parade and a frequent coordinator of gay rallies in the West Hollywood area. Calls to CSW were not returned as of the time this story went to press, but it does appear from the email that CSW knows something we don’t.

Here’s a text version:

“LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION OF PENDING

FIRST AMENDMENT EVENT

Attention E-Policing Subscriber: The following information pertains to an upcoming Special Event Permit Application recently filed with the Los Angeles Police Department Board of Police Commissioners. This notification is provided in an effort to minimize the impact the event(s) may have on your neighborhood and/or business. If you have any questions concerning the details of this event, please contact the applicant (below) or the Los Angeles Police Department, Special Events Permits Unit, at (213) 847-1640. 4/20/2009 Prop 8 Decision Day Rally & March TIME 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

ASSEMBLY: Santa Monica Blvd between LaBrea and Highland Avenue (Secondary Assembly Loc). (March to begin from original assembly loc in City of West Hollywood)

ROUTE:

East of Santa Monica Blvd;

North on Cahuenga,

west on Hollywood Blvd; North on Highland Ave;

West on Franklin Ave;

South on LaBrea to Santa Monica Blvd (City limit). (March to continue west into City of West Hollywood).

CONTACT: CHRISTOPHER STREET WEST (CSW) [Redacted]”

Gay civil rights groups across the country have been eagerly anticipating the long-awaited decision to the Prop 8 hearing held in early March, though most legal experts expect the court will uphold the Proposition, which constitutionally banned same-sex marriage in California last November.

Maybe we’re reading too much into the document, but it doesn’t get more clear than calling an event “Prop 8 Decision Day Rally & March”, does it? The question is, why has Christopher Street West kept this news to itself? A massive coalition of grassroots LGBT activists going under the name Day of Decision has protests and rallies set-up that will be finalized as soon as a date is determined, but as of press time, the group seems unaware that a date’s been set.

The idea that a gay organization would not immediately share this news with other gay groups so that they could have time to organize is surprising to say the least. We seriously considered the possibility that this was just some random Prop. 8 rally and march, but after rereading it a few times– and looking at the planned protest march route, which mirrors some of the November Prop. 8 demonstration routes, it’s obvious that this planned event is meant to be large in scope.

So, there you go folks. It seems at least one major gay rights group thinks Monday, April 20th is the day, though we’d really like to know why they’ve shared this information with the LAPD and not with their fellow gay orgs. Well, cat’s out of the bag. Get organized.

UPDATE:

So, it turns out that the notice was a “clerical error” on the part of the L.A.P.D. We still think it’s sort of strange that the LAPD would schedule a rally and march without a date set, but this seems to be a week in which gay and lesbian issues keep getting messed up by “ham-fisted” computer snafu’s. Apologies to CSW for assuming they were holding out on us. Email follows.