HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MARCH FOR GAY RIGHTS - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MARCH FOR GAY RIGHTS
• 200,000 MARCH CAPAL TO SEEK GAY RIGHTS AND MONEY FOR AIDS
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS THE UNED STAT: NATNAL MARCH ON WASHGTON FOR LBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS
• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• GAY RIGHTS
• GAY ACTIVISTS QUTN MARCH ON WASHGTON
• NATNALMARCHON WASHGTONFOR LBIAN ANDGAY RIGHTS
• GAY US AMBASSADOR TO HUNGARY MARCH BUDAPT PRI MARCH

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MARCH FOR GAY RIGHTS

Shoulr to shoulr, arm arm and hand hand, hundreds of thoands of lbians, gay men and other homosexual rights advot om across the natn marched past the Whe Hoe to the Mall yterday, mandg an end to discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and appealg for more funds to fight AIDS. The marchers, cludg many dyg of acquired immune ficiency syndrome, the disease that has so vastated the gay muny, staged a spired, lorful procsn down Pennsylvania Avenue NW, held a long afternoon rally near the Capol and ma a somber pilgrimage to a giant quilt unfurled on the Mall at sunrise memory of the timated 25, 000 who have died of AIDS the Uned Stat. Chantg "We're Not Gog Back, Gay Rights Now" and "We Are Everywhere, California to Delaware, " the monstrators marched dozens of ntgents and affy groups, cludg those posed of AIDS patients, gay llege stunts, gay senr cizens, parents and iends of gays, gay veterans, gay upl and gay rights anizatns.

" The signs, T-shirts and banners -- "Blogy Is Not Dty, " "Dyke om Oh, " "Get Ready for the Gay 90s, " "Let Us Love Peace, " "Teach, Don't Preach, " "Condoms, Not Conmnatn, " and "I Love My Gay and Lbian Friends" -- said much about the march and s msage. "We wanted to reprent the l- lege and show that there are gay people Iowa, " said Jeanie Rowe, 21, a senr soclogy major at Grnell College who sported a "Kiss Me, I'm Gay" T-shirt.

" Durg the slow, 20-block procsn, marchers led up 30 abreast behd a phalanx of AIDS patients, many wheelchairs, and many well-known civil rights, labor, relig, women's rights and gay rights activists whose participatn was tend to unrsre the human rights aspects of the event. " Lucile and Melv Wheatley of Laguna Hills, Calif., members of Parents and Friends of Lbians and Gays, said they marched for their gay son, who died three years ago of a ndn unrelated to AIDS.

200,000 MARCH CAPAL TO SEEK GAY RIGHTS AND MONEY FOR AIDS

Ocsnally the digizatn procs troduc transcriptn errors or other problems; we are ntug to work to improve the archived a monstratn remiscent of the civil rights march of the 1960's, 200, 000 people, gay Amerins and a diverse aln of their supporters, marched here today, llg for more Feral money for AIDS rearch and treatment and for an end to discrimatn agast monstrators said they had e to rekdle the spir of the 1963 March on Washgton led by the Rev. 'Gays Are a Uned Force'Organizers, who said 300, 000 people participated, said was the biggt gay rights march ever, exceedg one Washgton 1979 that drew 79, 000 monstrators. ''We are here today to show Ameri and the world that the gay movement is larger, stronger and more diverse than ever, '' said Buffy Dunker, an 82-year-old grandmother who announced 10 years ago that she was gay.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS THE UNED STAT: NATNAL MARCH ON WASHGTON FOR LBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS

Wh mic and a statement om Dan Bradley, a Whe Hoe ai the Carter Admistratn, who suffers om Bradley said he took greatt satisfactn the fact that ''after a lifetime of stggle and fear, I had the urage 1982 to say, loud and clear: 'I am gay and I'm proud. ' '' Participatn Is UrgedThat msage was echoed throughout the daylong monstratn, as a succsn of speakers urged participants to stand up for their rights and to fight agast the stigmas and stereotyp often attached to homosexuals.

Jse Jackson, a ndidate for the Democratic Printial nomatn, pledged his support for gay rights, while llg for creased Feral spendg on AIDS rearch and said: ''We gather today to say that we sist on equal protectn unr the law for every Amerin, for workers' rights, women's rights, for the rights of relig eedom, the rights of dividual privacy, for the rights of sexual preference. On Tuday, several gay lears are to take part a monstratn on the steps of the Supreme Court, prottg the Court's 1986 cisn upholdg a Geia statute outlawg rights lears are seekg passage of legislatn that would amend the Civil Rights Act on 1964 by extendg protectn agast discrimatn based on ''affectnal and sexual orientatn. 15, 1987: Thursday, Late Cy Fal EdnHow we handle rrectnsA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 1 of the Natnal edn wh the headle: 200, 000 March Capal to Seek Gay Rights and Money for AIDS.

Marks Ridger, ed., Speakg for Our Liv: Historic Speech and Rhetoric for Gay and Lbian Rights (1892-2000), available as an eBook (2012) through Howard Universy Librari. The Early Gay Rights Movement In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, found Chigo the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights anizatn the Uned Stat. Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group ’s small group published a few issu of s newsletter “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter.

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

Ernment signated Gerber’s Chigo hoe a Natnal Historic Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

Addnally, 1948, his book Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey proposed that male sexual orientatn li on a ntuum between exclively homosexual to exclively Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group. ”Though started off small, the foundatn, which sought to improve the liv of gay men through discsn groups and related activi, expand after foundg member Dale Jenngs was arrted 1952 for solicatn and then later set ee due to a adlocked the end of the year, Jenngs formed another anizatn lled One, Inc., which weled women and published ONE, the untry’s first pro-gay magaze. Post Office, which 1954 clared the magaze “obscene” and refed to liver Mattache Society Mattache Foundatn members rtctured the anizatn to form the Mattache Society, which had lol chapters other parts of the untry and 1955 began publishg the untry’s send gay publitn, The Mattache Review.

That same year, four lbian upl San Francis found an anizatn lled the Dghters of Bilis, which soon began publishg a newsletter lled The Ladr, the first lbian publitn of any early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr followg year, Print Dwight D. In 1961, Illois beme the first state to do away wh s anti-sodomy laws, effectively crimalizg homosexualy, and a lol TV statn California aired the first documentary about homosexualy, lled The 1965, Dr.

GAY RIGHTS

”In fear of beg shut down by thori, bartenrs would ny drks to patrons spected of beg gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drks but force them to s facg away om other ctomers to prevent them om 1966, members of the Mattache Society New York Cy staged a “sip-”—a twist on the “s-” protts of the 1960s— which they vised taverns, clared themselv gay, and waed to be turned away so they uld sue. They were nied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Juli, rultg much publicy and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor Stonewall Inn A few years later, 1969, a now-famo event talyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall clanste gay club Stonewall Inn was an stutn Greenwich Village bee was large, cheap, allowed dancg and weled drag queens and homels the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn.

After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village. " This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad.

”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement. Johnson is seen at a Gay Liberatn Front monstratn at Cy Hall New York, a large crowd memorat the 2nd anniversary of the Stonewall rts Greenwich Village of New York Cy 1971. 1 / 12: NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagChristopher Street Liberatn Day Shortly after the Stonewall uprisg, members of the Mattache Society spl off to form the Gay Liberatn Front, a radil group that lnched public monstratns, protts and nontatns wh polil officials.

GAY ACTIVISTS QUTN MARCH ON WASHGTON

Siar groups followed, cludg the Gay Activists Alliance, Radilbians, and Street Transvt Actn Revolutnari (STAR) 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, New York Cy muny members marched through lol streets memoratn of the event. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pk Triangle to a symbol of gay Polil Victori The creased visibily and activism of LGBTQ dividuals the 1970s helped the movement make progrs on multiple onts. Addnally, several openly LGBTQ dividuals secured public office posns: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, Cy Council 1974, beg the first out Amerin to be elected to public Milk, who mpaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, beme the San Francis cy supervisor 1978, beg the first openly gay man elected to a polil office asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that reprents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pri.

Baker signed and stched together the first rabow flag, which he unveiled at a pri para followg year, 1979, more than 100, 000 people took part the first Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights.

In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn published a report about five prevly healthy homosexual men beg fected wh a rare type of 1984, rearchers had intified the e of AIDS—the human immunoficiency vis, or HIV—and the Food and Dg Admistratn licensed the first mercial blood tt for HIV 1985.

NATNALMARCHON WASHGTONFOR LBIAN ANDGAY RIGHTS

Two years later, the first antiretroviral meditn for HIV, azidothymide (AZT), beme rights proponents held the send Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights 1987. But after failg to garner enough support for such an open policy, Print Clton 1993 passed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, which allowed gay men and women to serve the ary as long as they kept their sexualy a rights advot cried the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, as did ltle to stop people om beg discharged on the grounds of their 2011, Print Obama fulfilled a mpaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12, 000 officers had been discharged om the ary unr DADT for refg to hi their sexualy. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was officially repealed on September 20, Marriage and Beyond In 1992, the District of Columbia passed a law that allowed gay and lbian upl to register as domtic partners, grantg them some of the rights of marriage (the cy of San Francis passed a siar ordance three years prr and California would later extend those rights to the entire state 1999) 1993, the hight urt  Hawaii led that a ban on gay marriage may go agast the state’s nstutn.

The law prevented the ernment om grantg feral marriage benefs to same-sex upl and allowed stat to refe to regnize same-sex marriage certifit om other marriage rights backtracked, gay rights advot sred other victori. In 1994, a new anti-hate-crime law allowed judg to impose harsher sentenc if a crime was motivated by a victim’s sexual Matthew Shepard ActCourty of the Matthew Shepard FoundatnMatthew Shepard, who was btally killed a hate crime 2003, gay rights proponents had another b of happy news: the U. Gay rights proponents mt also ntent wh an creasg number of “relig liberty” state laws, which allow bs to ny service to LGBTQ dividuals due to relig beliefs, as well as “bathroom laws” that prevent transgenr dividuals om g public bathrooms that don’t rrpond to their sex at birth.

Gay Marriage Legalized Massachetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and the first legal same-sex marriage was performed on May 17, 2004—a day when seventy-seven other upl across the state also tied the knot. Conservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn on June 2015. From 1981 to 1985, I had been a mostly straight stunt at Wleyan Universy Connecticut, where I had participated abortn rights, anti-apartheid, antiracist, antiwar, femist, gay/lbian, and stunt activism.

GAY US AMBASSADOR TO HUNGARY MARCH BUDAPT PRI MARCH

Around this time I also began volunteerg at Gay Communy News, first helpg wh the weekly mailg of the paper on Friday nights, then assistg wh layout and prooeadg on Thursday nights, later jog the Board of Directors, and fally beg the newspaper's ordatg edor 1988 and 1989. Shortly after I began volunteerg at GCN, I started attendg meetgs and monstratns anized by the Gay and Lbian Defense Commtee, which was mpaigng agast Governor Michael Dakis's polici agast placg children wh gay and lbian foster parents. Through GCN and GLDC I got volved wh a social and polil work of about two dozen gay and lbian activists, several of whom were edors of the journal Radil Ameri, which was the procs of puttg out two special issu on AIDS.