Join the National Equality March

OCTOBER 11: many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies recognize it as National Coming Out Day--a day to raise awareness and pride over ignorance and fear. The day was first observed in 1988, to commemorate the second "National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights."

In 1987, half a million people marched on Washington, D.C. to demand civil rights for LGBT people, and to pressure President Ronald Reagan, who remained silent while thousands died of AIDS, to take action.

We've come a long way since then in terms of support for LGBT equality, but this seismic shift in visibility and thinking is out of sync with the law: It's still legal in most states to discriminate against employees on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, same-sex marriage is still illegal in most states, and many still hold bigoted views that have violent, and sometimes deadly, results.

Even in Massachusetts, transgender people are not yet explicitly protected from discrimination. And just a few months ago, the suicide of 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover--a Springfield boy who faced incessant anti-gay bullying at school--was a tragic reminder of the deadly consequences of hatred and inequality.

There is still a ways to go to reach true equality, but we can get there if we stand up together. I'd like to invite everyone to take the next step this October 11, 2009, by joining thousands of LGBT people and allies to march on Washington, D.C., as part of the National Equality March demanding "full equality for all LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now."

This past November, when California's Proposition 8 banned gay marriage, tens of thousands took to the streets in California and across the country. This setback became a step forward: the launch of a new grassroots movement for LGBT equality.

It was these protests, many of them called by regular people who'd never organized before but felt compelled by their outrage to take action, that inspired longtime activist Cleve Jones to call for the march on Washington.

Jones, who got his start working with Harvey Milk and was the historical adviser for the recent film Milk, had this to say in an interview with the Windy City Times: "A door has opened to us, and if we push really hard, we can win full, real equality. Not just marriage equality or visitation rights. Actual equality."

It's important to remember that equality has never been handed down from above, but won from below when regular people stand up and refuse to take "no" for an answer. Millions of people are on our side, and millions more will question their homophobia and transphobia if we build a movement to challenge them, just as the civil rights movement changed millions of minds about racism.

Now is the time for us to make history by making LGBT inequality history.

Activists from western Massachusetts have already begun organizing to bring busloads of people down to the National Equality March on October 11, 2009. To get a spot on the bus or to get involved in organizing--or to donate to help ensure that low-income people can attend--visit equalitywmass.blogspot.com.
Gary Lapon, Northampton, Mass.

First published in the Rainbow Times.