Wash your Smurfs sleeping bag and brush up on your "light as a feather, stiff as a board" skills, folks. On Monday night, a slumber party will happen in Dolores Park. OK, it's not so much a slumber party as it will be a "sleep-in," brought to you by the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, to protest legislation to enact uniform, citywide park closure hours.

Describing it as "a stand against the attack on homelessness," HMDC gives their side of the story:

"San Francisco prides itself on being a place that is welcoming and open to all. Our parks remain one of the City’s greatest public treasures and are spaces of recreation, sport, entertainment, and leisure. This proposed legislation threatens the accessibility and openness of our parks and comes on the heels of a spate of recent policies at City Hall that have sought to regulate public spaces, police bodies, and criminalize homelessness. With almost 30% of San Francisco’s homeless population identifying as LGBT, and many living on our streets and in our parks, we know who the real targets of this legislation are. This is yet another attack on the homeless, on queer people, poor people, and people of color, and on our right to exist in public space in our society. The Harvey Milk Club has had enough. Parks are for people and we believe this policy to be another step in the wrong direction for San Francisco."

That being said, it's already illegal to sleep in city parks. Supervisor Scott Wiener, author of the proposed legislation, explained his motivations to the B.A.R. thusly:

In response to the Milk Club’s statement, Wiener said, “I completely disagree with that characterization.” He said he’s been “a strong proponent” for services for homeless people, including securing housing funding for homeless LGBT youth, making more homeless outreach workers available, and supporting a youth meal program.

[...]

The actual purpose of his legislation is to “reduce the epidemic of vandalism and dumping in our parks,” said Wiener. He said it’s true vandalism and dumping trash in the parks is already illegal, too, but it’s “almost impossible to enforce vandalism laws in parks in the middle of the night. You have to catch someone red-handed doing the vandalism or doing the dumping.”

For more details about Monday night's sleep-in, check out the Facebook page.

* UPDATE from Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club:

Tonight we will gather in Dolores Park to stand in solidarity with those most impacted by the proposed park closure legislation. We will be assembling peacefully and civilly and ask all those choosing to participate to do the same. We are not seeking to destroy public property or wreak havoc. If you are planning to attend, we ask that you bring sleeping bags, blankets, tarps, signs, food, and water. Please no tents, candles, alcohol, drugs, amplified sound, or drums. Please note that by participating in this demonstration you risk running afoul of current City law that prohibits sleeping overnight in public parks. While we have been in communication with local law enforcement about our plans, participants need be prepared for all potential outcomes of engaging in this action.

See you tonight at 9pm in Dolores Park.