National Equality March Turns on New Wave of Activists

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(Boston, MA 10/12/09) An estimated 150,000-200,000 LGBT people and straight allies filled the streets of Washington and the Capitol Lawn for the National Equality March on Sunday, October 11, 2009. The turn-out was remarkable given that the event had no marketing budget and minimal institutional support: it was promoted through Facebook, the Internet, and word-of-mouth. Locally, Join the Impact MA took the lead in generating interest, chartering 5 buses to make the trip including a “youth bus” for high school students co-organized by Project 10 East and GLSEN. The March, which took place in sunny 70-degree weather, marked a crescendo for the nationwide wave of grassroots activism that began last November.

If I had to describe the marchers in one word, I would say “young.” While there was a sprinkling of gray hair, the median age had to be under 25. Most attendees were part of the Millennial Generation that has come of age since 2000; many were standing up for equality for the first time ever. Relatively few attendees’ names would be likely to appear on the lists of established LGBT organizations. And yet if this highly-motivated generation is somehow engaged in work for equality across America, the Movement that began at the Stonewall Inn 40 years ago will grow by leaps and bounds and double its longevity.

Marchers gathered at the Ellipse, McPherson Square, and along 15th Street in the heart of Washington, stepping off at Noon. On the sidelines the Daily Show’s John Oliver interviewed marchers with his characteristic whimsy. Symbolically the parade was led by a mass of high schoolers from across the country. Join the Impact MA marched alongside sister organizations Broadway Impact, Join the Impact Chicago, and Join the Impact Texas. The parade passed by the White House, then proceeded down Pennsylvania Ave. to the Capitol Lawn where speakers addressed the crowd from a stage on the steps of the Capitol.

The speeches evoked the implacable intensity of Act Up and Queer Nation a generation ago. Movement visionaries Cleve Jones and David Mixner, who called for the March earlier this year, each spoke in the thundering voices of Old Testament Prophets about the need for a comprehensive equality strategy that eschews incrementalism and encompasses the whole country.

The icons of the new generation of activists are people like Lady Gaga, Dustin Lance Black, Judy Shephard, Lt. Daniel Choi (ret.) and Sherry Wolf (author of Sexuality and Socialism), all of whom spoke, along with lead organizer Kip “Equality” Williams of San Francisco and civil rights leader Julian Bond. A hagiographized Harvey Milk lives on in memory for thousands whose impetus to community action came as a result of watching the film Milk.

The most moving experience of the March for me was sitting in while 50 Massachusetts high schoolers shared their experiences at the March in a group discussion afterwards organized by Ed Byrne of Project 10 East. The phrase “life-changing experience” aptly summarizes the reactions of the teens who spoke up. Contrasting the buoyant enthusiasm of the under-30’s who turned out in force on Sunday with the negativity toward the March on the part of some older Movement worthies, I might have worried about an emergent generation gap in the LGBT Equality Movement. But I know from the welcome I received on Sunday and in Join the Impact MA that activist youth are only too happy to collaborate with movement veterans and other LGBT people generally toward common objectives. Blessedly Movement 2.0 lacks the rancor which has marred so many other community enterprises since Stonewall.

Everyone, whether they supported the March or not, now has an interest in keeping these new and capable Movement stake-holders involved in pro-equality work across the country, especially in Maine and Washington State this year. Join the Impact MA is hosting a community meeting on Friday evening, October 16, at 7 PM in the Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St. in Harvard Square, Cambridge to debrief about the March and plan local next steps.