[Marxism] National March for LGBT Equality October 10-11 Washington, D.C.

[Dan DiMaggio <dan.dimaggio@xxxxxxxxx>]

NATIONAL MARCH FOR EQUALITY
WASHINGTON, D.C. OCTOBER 10-11, 2009

Sign up here and spread the word: http://www.nationalequalitymarch.com/

On October 10-11, 2009, we will gather in Washington DC from all across
America to let our elected leaders know that *now is the time for full equal
rights for LGBT people.* We will gather. We will march. And we will leave
energized and empowered to do the work that needs to be done in every
community across the nation.

This site will be updated as more information is available. We will organize
grassroots, from the bottom-up, and details will be shared on this website.

Our single demand:

Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.

Our philosophy:

As members of every race, class, faith, and community, we see the struggle
for LGBT equality as part of a larger movement for peace and social justice.

Our strategy:

Decentralized organizing for this march in every one of the 435
Congressional districts will build a network to continue organizing beyond
October.

-----------

Some background on the march:

There are growing calls within the LGBT rights movement for a national march
on Washington in the fall (most likely October 10 or 11) to demand full
equality for LGBT people.  This reflects a growing frustration with the
inaction of the Democrats on this issue.  See below for Cleve Jones'
statement. Jones is one of the more prominent activists in the LGBT movement
and is featured in the film "Milk" where he is the young kid befriended by
Harvey Milk who becomes one of the lead organizers of the movement. I've
also pasted an article from David Mixner, another prominent LGBT activist.


http://www.towleroad.com/2009/05/cleve-jones-joins-call-for-national-lgbt-march-on-washington.html

Cleve Jones Joins Call for National LGBT March on Washington D.C.


<http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef01156fa6da61970c-pi>

[image: 
Guestblogger]<http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef01156fa6d89f970c-pi>CLEVE
JONES: Exclusive

*Cleve Jones is a longtime LGBT rights and AIDS activist and author. He
conceived of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and co-founded the San
Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1983. He worked as an intern in Harvey Milk's
office in 1978.*

Response To David Mixner's Call For A National March On Washington For LGBT
Rights

One of the great pioneers of our movement, David Mixner, has issued a call
for a national march on Washington, D.C. this
fall<http://www.davidmixner.com/2009/05/march-on-washington-for-marriage-equality-2009.html#more>.
In his call to action, David powerfully articulates the frustration and
impatience growing among supporters of LGBT equality throughout the United
States.

[image: 
Jones]<http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef0115709c1423970b-pi>Over
the past six months I have been contacted by many of the emerging new
leaders of the grassroots movement created in the wake of Proposition 8,
some eager to organize a march on Washington. Up until now, I have
discouraged plans for a march, based mostly on my memories of the cost and
difficulties of previous marches. I also had high hopes for our new
President and the Democratic majority in Congress.

As I write this, we in California are still waiting for the State Supreme
Court's decision on Proposition 8. Today is the 30th anniversary of the
White Night Riots and tomorrow is Harvey Milk's birthday. Next month we will
observe the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and the birth of the
modern LGBT Movement.

Across the country, a new generation of LGBT leaders is rising up, learning
how to organize, speak out and fight back. These young activists reject
compromise and delay; “the tranquilizing drug of gradualism,” described so
aptly by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They are demanding nothing less than
full equality under the law for LGBT people in all fifty states.

*Continued, AFTER THE
JUMP...*<http://www.towleroad.com/2009/05/cleve-jones-joins-call-for-national-lgbt-march-on-washington.html>


In my travels throughout California and around the country, I have been
stunned and inspired by the determination and fearlessness of our young
people. This is the generation that is going to win. This is the time to
unite and push - as we have never pushed before - to achieve victory.

Sadly, at the very moment we are poised to reach our greatest goals,
President Obama and the Democratic leaders of Congress have turned their
backs, forgotten their promises and betrayed our trust. In recent weeks
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that repeal of the Defense of Marriage
Act is “not a priority.” President Obama has ignored the appeals of brave
young people serving in our military as they are drummed out of the services
for being gay or lesbian. Indeed, Lt. Daniel Choi who recently “came out”
publicly, was dismissed from the army, even though he is a highly valued
fluent Arabic speaker and a veteran of the Iraq war.

Apologists for the Democrats counsel caution and patience. They speak of
“political reality.” The time has come to change that reality.

I applaud and endorse David Mixner's call for a national march with the
following four suggestions:

— Schedule the march for the weekend of October 10 - 11, 2009. This is
National Coming Out Day and the 30th anniversary of the first national
march. Several subsequent marches and AIDS Memorial Quilt displays have also
occurred on those dates. The Columbus Day holiday provides a three-day
weekend for many and the weather is generally favorable.

— Have one demand only: “Full Equality Now - full and equal protection under
the law for LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50
states.” Let's stop settling for fractions of equality. Every compromise
undermines our humanity. We must declare our equality.

— Organize the march from the grassroots with a decentralized internet-based
campaign. Keep it simple; avoid bloated budgets and cumbersome structures.
The primary objective must be to turn out the largest possible crowd. We
don't need elaborate and expensive staging or fabulous dinner parties and
concerts - we need a million or more people in the street demanding equality
now.

— Encourage and enlist our allies in the broader progressive movement to
build the march. Involve the labor movement, racial, ethnic and immigrant
communities, progressive faith leaders, peace and social justice advocates
and other supporters. LGBT people of all ages and races recognize the
challenges facing our nation and our planet. We are eager to stand, as
equals, with our fellow citizens in meeting these challenges.

We are on the verge of a new chapter in the history of our country and our
movement. There is a bold new spirit and a powerful new resolve within our
communities. Now is the time. We are equal.

----------------
http://www.davidmixner.com/2009/05/march-on-washington-for-marriage-equality-2009.html#more
March on Washington for Marriage Equality
2009<http://www.davidmixner.com/2009/05/march-on-washington-for-marriage-equality-2009.html#more>
 May
20 2009

[image: 
1979_march]<http://davidmixner.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c90b153ef01156fa2ae64970c-pi>As
this Administration sits in offices plotting timeline charts on what
rights they feel comfortable granting us this year, clearly it is time for
us to gin up our efforts and stop waiting for them to hand us our God given
entitlements. Enough. I really can't stomach any more being told 'not now'.
As nice as it would be, no one is going to give us our freedom; we are going
to have to continue to fight like hell for it. It is demeaning to us to be
moved around on a political chess board like freedom is a move in some game.


We have to stop it.

Let's never forget that we are not talking about just another piece of
legislation nor just an executive order. What is at stake is over 1,000
rights, benefits, privileges and protections granted to all other Americans
and denied to the LGBT community. It is about the ability of those who
choose to serve their country can do so in total honesty and freedom. That
the vision of America is for our young as well as other young Americans.
Finally as we work toward full equality we must halt in its tracks the
efforts of a number of our fellow citizens to put in place a system of
Apartheid for LGBT citizens. The stakes are way too high for them to tell us
to wait until next year, or even until the next term.

Our freedom can't be negotiated in the political offices of the White House
and in the halls of Congress. Our goal is not to make their path easier but
to ensure that young LGBT citizens will not be beaten, denied the right to
serve, have their love demeaned in some sort of separate but equal system or
excluded from giving their gifts and talents freely to this nation. At this
moment, there is very little movement on any of these issues in the White
House and it appears that some even believe we should be happy with just
hate crimes legislation being passed this year.

I adore President Obama but not enough to allow his team to delay my freedom
for political convenience or comfort. It is unacceptable.

*My plea is for our LGBT leaders to call a March on Washington for Marriage
Equality this November and if they won't do it, I appeal to our young to
come together and provide the leadership.*

We need to come together in a display of powerful community unity to empower
our young and to show the nation that anything less than full freedom is
unacceptable. Clearly there are other issues that should be on the agenda
for the march but marriage equality is the lynchpin that deals with so many
of those issues. The most striking outside that institution would be the
freedom to serve in our nation's military - and that weekend I think we
could have a separate powerful event to highlight that.

Having organized a number of major marches in my near 50 years of activism,
I don't take this call lightly. Trust me, I know that there are times when
such marches are ineffective and poorly timed. Yet, I have also seen them be
extremely effective both in message and building momentum within the
movement. For the first time, we have the opportunity to have tens of
thousands of our straight allies and straight students join us and we should
organize the march to make it easy for them to be by our sides.

My experience has taught me the secret to any march is to keep the message
simple and to make it easy for others to join. Of course, our best
organizers must be enlisted in order to ensure that hundreds of thousands
attend in an orderly and safe fashion.

Tapping into my previous work, I would suggest the following for
consideration: On the Friday before the march 12,000 (approximately the
number of our service people that have been dismissed under DADT) led by our
veterans walk single file from the Pentagon to the White House until all
12,000 are across from the White House. Let the nation see visibly how many
of our citizens have had their careers destroyed while the military allows
convicted felons to serve. I would love to see 12,000 across from the White
House chanting "Let US Serve."

One of the lessons from previous marches is that everyone should be on the
Mall by no later than 3PM. We should not let logistics prevent people from
getting to the Mall or otherwise they won't be counted. Everyone must be
present before the evening news has to develop their stories. Each marcher
and organizer should be told that every single person has to be on the Mall
from 2PM to 3PM in order for us to have a success. How they choose to do
that I will leave to the organizers.

Watching press secretary Robert Gibbs dodge and duck answers on LGBT issues
while it seems almost every other group and issue is being discussed is so
depressing to me. The promise of the Democrats being in control was great.
They still can rise to greatness. It is not too late but they need our help
in lifting them out of their own fears and into the light.

President Kennedy had to deal with a recession, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban
Missile Crisis and so much more. However, when Dr. King and others filled
the streets of cities around America and yes, Washington, DC, the president
found the resources and time to stay by their sides. The time has come for
us to remove the current administration's option of shrinking from
leadership on this issue and to insist they rise to a new level of greatness
along side us as we all fight together for freedom. It is the only way.

ShareThis

Posted at 03:36 AM in Civil Rights<http://www.davidmixner.com/civil_rights/>,
Gays in the Military <http://www.davidmixner.com/gays-in-the-military/>, Hate
Crimes <http://www.davidmixner.com/hate-crimes/>,
HIV/AIDS<http://www.davidmixner.com/hivaids/>,
LGBT <http://www.davidmixner.com/lgbt/>, LGBT
History<http://www.davidmixner.com/lgbt-history/>,
March on Washington for Equality
2009<http://www.davidmixner.com/march-on-washington-for-marriage-equality-2009/>,
Marriage Equality <http://www.davidmixner.com/marriage_equality/>, President
Barack Obama <http://www.davidmixner.com/president-barack-obama/> |
Permalink<http://www.davidmixner.com/2009/05/march-on-washington-for-marriage-equality-2009.html>

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