Robin Tyler calls for march on D.C.

Longtime gay rights activist Robin Tyler on Friday put out an official call for another gay and lesbian march on Washington, D.C., to take place before the next presidential election. Tyler initiated calls for the first gay rights march on Washington in 1979 and the 2000 Millennium March. She also was a stage producer for the 1987 and 1993 marches. She is cofounder of StopDrLaura.com and Don'tAmend.com, a marriage equality organization. In her most recent call, Tyler admitted she was the "deep throat" who leaked to the gay press that the FBI was investigating the mysterious loss of tens of thousands of dollars from the Millennium festival and that she had vowed to "never again call for an LGBT march." "I came away from the debacle swearing I would never again get caught between the insanity of the politically correct left, on the one hand, and the need for major organizations to dominate, control, and financially gain from any and every event." But now the gay community is "under siege" by a radical right that is raising tens of millions of dollars by making gays the "ultimate scapegoats," Tyler said. "How many state constitutional amendments need pass before we get angry?" she asked. "How many of our so-called friends in elected office, and other Democrats, need to betray us by supporting marriage segregation, while accepting awards at LGBT dinners, as if civil rights stops at the altar?" "Where are the celebrities who publicly ran to our defense during the AIDS crisis?" Tyler continued. "Don't Barbara Streisand and Cher think their gay and lesbian children should have the right to marry? Would they appear at our next march and say so? What about Madonna? Would Elton John come on the main stage? How about Angelina Jolie?" "This is not a march about marriage equality," Tyler said. "This needs to be a march-- finally--demanding all our civil rights.... Unless we show a strong and united presence before the next presidential election, our community will be once again sacrificed."