Ready for Another March?

a march isn't a bad idea. but honestly, we're all just sitting on our asses. a march is not going to give us the recognition we need, and it's not going to show people that we're a legitimate cause. i mean, the people who i've talked to have never heard of matthew shepard. they've never heard of lawrence king. these are the emmett till's of our day, and people haven't even heard of them. and, the majority of people who i've talked to think that twenty states have legalized marriage completely, rather than the five. i live in new england, and the majority of people do not think that there is a gay issue. they don't think gays are discriminated against. a march in D.C. is going to help, but i think we should be more outspoken. yes, we need the support of the government, but we need the support of the people too. how do you think the Civil Rights movement was won?

I expected an article about the success of the march but was surprised to read an article about the failing of HRC. I am not an apologist for HRC nor have I ever attended one of their black tie dinners but I am confident that the organization has its place in our struggle. Even in our disappointment with Obama (and the democratic majority in Congress who should be held accountable too) it is still refreshing to see the President of the United States stand before HRC and speak to the dignity of all people. The march does appear to have moved the needle slightly, to which I am thankful, but I would argue seeing Obama speaking to gay and lesbian Americans at the HRC dinner on the nightly news is also instrumental in convincing straight people they have a vested interest in equality.

The idea of another march is fine. We worked for months with the DC Host Committee and the NEM national committee to help make the march weekend and events a big treat for everybody. I would happily do it all over again, and I'm sure we could do even better the next time. But there is something more important happening. As a result of the march, Equality Across America (EAA) is now well-positioned to put pro-LGBT activist "boots on the ground" wherever an LGBT candidate needs support or an anti-LGBT candidate needs to be shown the door out of office. EAA can work synergistically with groups like Victory to change the political landscape. If it takes more marches to keep this initiative, lets have more marches. But working the precincts and the streets is where political change can really be made. Money helps but it is never enough. I hope and trust we will demonstrate this for the 2010 elections and strike great fear into the hearts of all the anti-LGBT bigots in public office.

Does anyone remember MLK, Jr.? You know, the guy in the 60s who successfully led the civil-rights movement for Black equality. May I suggest that we do what he said at the time was the only thing that would lead to Black equality, and what ultimately was the only thing that led to Black equality: continuous marching in front of the White House, continuous protest, and continuous civil disobedience. The LGBT community also needs to hit Bigot Obama where it hurts: his messiah complex. Obama sees himself as the embodiment of MLK, Jr.'s "Dream." We need to point out that in reality, he has betrayed the "Dream" by enforcing discrimination against Gays and by failing to use his presidential powers to achieve Gay equality where possible (such as by issuing an executive order on DADT).

We do not get anywhere in life just sitting on our backside! Politicians have a very bad habit of making promises to get our vote, and then they also have a very bad memory when it comes to fullfilling those promises . It is up to Gay men and women to ensure that they do not forget and the only way to do that is by being in their faces, CONTINUOUSLY! If it takes one march to do the job, or if it takes twenty marches, we must not and cannot sit still any longer. This is our lives, our well being, and the well being of future generations, that we are fighting for; the heterosexuals are not going to do it for us, in fact a lot of them would just as soon we would go away. But we are not, we have been given Hope, and we will fight for what is rightfully ours!

The HRC never has been a serious lgbt activist organization. It's really just feel good dinner theater for wealthy queers.

Having participated 35+ years ago in the marches on Washington protesting the Viet Nam war, i believe successive marches which get larger each time do build momentum for change. Keep the pressure on, have another march on DC, have concurrent marches throughout the US. Let the country and the administration know we will not be marginalized or ignored. We expect the equal protection of the law.

The young guy on the picture is really cute.

The whole point of marching is mindless unless you have a specific goal and are willing to challenge authority. Obama says this, and promises that, blah, blah, - If he is not challenged by would he even bother? No one has challenged him on why he continues to dismiss gay soldiers being the commander and chief of the armed forces. G.H. Bush didn't bother to fire any gay soldiers during the gulf war. DADT is a fight about what powers does congress posses to run the military for the president, for which they don't. All integrations in the military were done by executive order. And then we need to ask the messiah Obama why he continues to defend DOMA via Eric Holder and expect us to donate more cash for his coffer? And if we cannot marry why should we pay more taxes that benefit that institution creating a transfer of wealth from gay working couples to lazy opportunistic liberal straight couples.

I was very opposed to the march but I was very wrong. I realized that days before the march. This article is right one. We need to threaten to march again. They need to know we can keep point to this White House's broken promises. We need to start organizing another one. This time I'll be with it from the start.