Continental promo
||  News  ||
 
01/22/05-01/24/05

Gays and lesbians mark Inauguration Day with protests

Gays and lesbians mark Inauguration Day with protests

As President Bush began his second term in Washington, gay rights demonstrators joined others across the country to protest another four years of his administration. They marched through the streets of cities and towns, denouncing Bush's marginalization of gay people and his opposition to same-sex marriage. In Washington, D.C., thousands of protesters, including a number of gays and lesbians, were kept far from Bush, and about a dozen were arrested for trying to penetrate various barricades. Along the parade route from the Capitol to the White House, protesters roared boos and chants as Bush and then Vice President Dick Cheney passed by in their limousines.

At a large protest in Seattle, lesbian activist Meighan Doherty, 25, said she found Bush's inaugural address hypocritical and was not impressed with his focus on freedom, liberty, and equality. "He willingly marginalizes groups such as pro-choice, the gay community, and people of color if they do not agree with his personal values, particularly in the world of religion," said Doherty, outreach director for Action Northwest. The Seattle-based group provides training and grants for organizations interested in women's reproductive rights, labor issues, civil rights, marriage equality, and socio-economic justice.

The Seattle protesters carried signs reading, "I am not a second-class citizen" and "Gay rights are civil rights," as well as posters reading, "Axis of Evil," with a photograph of Bush, Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice, Bush 's nominee for secretary of state. At Seattle Central Community College, students marched through buildings, pounding on doors and encouraging others to leave. About 1,000 demonstrators then marched from the community college to the downtown area, where several people gave speeches.

In Lincoln, Neb., about 150 people, many of them gay and lesbian high school and college students, marched to the capitol for a rally supporting gay rights. Ruth Kepfer, a Lincoln High School teacher and cosponsor of youth group Gay-Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Straight Alliance, said the rally was planned for Inauguration Day for visibility, not to protest the inauguration.

But many in the crowd criticized Bush, who has promised to make a federal anti-gay marriage amendment a priority of his second term. "He doesn't have any room to comment on values," said Jill Francke, a 21-year-old student at Doane College in Crete. "He doesn't carry a banner of value about anything." Several people in the crowd carried signs reading, "We vote for values of equality" and "Hate is not a family value." Tom Kolbe, a 35-year-old middle school teacher from Lincoln, echoed Francke's sentiments. "These 'value voters' are the people who elected George Bush as our president," he said. "And to me, these are not values of equality. The people that have supported 'defense of marriage' across America also voted for Bush."

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Be the first to comment on this story.

Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max. HTML formatting and hyperlinks are NOT permitted.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • View From the Hill: The End of DADT?
    Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed that lawyers are exploring ways to ease enforcement of the military's gay ban, but cautioned that the law doesn't leave much wiggle room. He need look no further than DOD history for a lesson in altering the policy.
  • Hot Sheet: Week of July 5
    When you get back from that big 4th of July barbecue, unwind with Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno and your favorite B-movie-mocking, basic cable robots.
  • Hungry Like the Wolf
    A master of viola, ukulele, piano, and harp, Patrick Wolf is a music prodigy -- one who, the night before this interview, spit on a cop and got himself arrested.
  • Soapside: Advocate's Guide to Daytime
    Forbes March talks about playing gay, Otalia fans outraged, update on One Life to Live’s Patricia Maurceri’s firing over gay plot point, Phillip Chancellor III big reveal, and Erica Kane goes to Africa.
  • The Faces of Federal Prop. 8
    With the federal challenge to Prop. 8 moving full speed ahead, Advocate.com sits down with the two couples named as plaintiffs in the suit.
  • Mommy, the Gays Are Coming
    After a year of advancements and celebration for gay and lesbian Colombians, the community takes to the streets of Bogota for the country's biggest pride ever.
  • The Pride of Antwerp
    Advocate.com hits the gay-friendly streets of Antwerp with openly gay police commissioner Serge Muyters.
  • Excerpt: Mean Little Deaf Queer
    In an excerpt from her humorous and harrowing new memoir, Mean Little Deaf Queer, Terry Galloway recalls her early childhood, describing feelings of ugliness, confusion about gender, and being one of the boys.
  • Top Political Blogs
    From Joe.My.God to The Daily Beast, Advocate.com spotlights a few of the best blogs that cover politics, inside and way outside the Beltway.
  • The Diva of French Television
    A hot young screenwriter who has made gay OK for millions of French viewers, Nicolas Mercier sips champagne, dons a feathered hat, and says he wants to see Colin Farrell and Jude Law go at it.