The strategist behd the 1963 march will posthumoly receive the Printial Medal of Freedom this year. As a gay man, his posn the movement was qutned. But now he is nsired "an amazg role mol" for activists of lor who are also gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr.
Contents:
- MARCH ON WASHGTON PAVED WAY FOR GAY RIGHTS TOO
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS THE UNED STAT: NATNAL MARCH ON WASHGTON FOR LBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS
- ADVOT FOR GAY, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS MARCH FOOTSTEPS OF BLACKS
- HOW 2013 BEME THE GREATT YEAR IN GAY RIGHTS HISTORY
- MARCH ON WASHGTON LBIAN/GAY RIGHTS
- GAY RIGHTS
- GAY AND LBIAN MARCH ON WASHGTON
- CHILEAN LAWMAKERS REJECT PLAT AGAST GAY TN MISTER
- THREE MEN ARRTED DURG GAY SNA RAID VENEZUELA RELEASED OM JAIL
MARCH ON WASHGTON PAVED WAY FOR GAY RIGHTS TOO
* gay rights march on washington 2013 *
Gay pneer Jack Nichols stated, “We had marched wh Mart Luther Kg, seven of om the Mattache Society of Washgton 1963, and om that time on, we’d always had our dream about a (gay) march of siar proportns. From 1979 to 1993, a seri of natnal march on Washgton for lbian and gay rights drew, at first, tens of thoands and later hundreds of thoands of people – culmatg the April 1993 March on Washgton for Lbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberatn that attracted an timated 1 ln monstrators.
We rolled our ey at the few anizg mtee members gog on and on about electronic bullet boards and somethg ll Ameri, sudnly, a guy om Arkansas named Bill Clton began to surge the polls, and he ed the word "gay, " and he said he'd get rid of the ary ban, and a bunch of other thgs that spired hope. Here are the primary mands, followed by the full platform:"We mand passage of a lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr civil rights bill and an end to discrimatn by state and feral ernments cludg the ary; repeal of all sodomy laws and other laws that crimalize private sexual exprsn between nsentg adults. ""We mand legislatn to prevent discrimatn agast lbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenr people the areas of fay diversy, ctody, adoptn and foster re and that the fn of fay clus the full diversy of all fay stctur.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS THE UNED STAT: NATNAL MARCH ON WASHGTON FOR LBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS
Organizers are turng the 50th anniversary celebratn of the March on Washgton to far more than a history lson — vowg to e the memoratn to ph for votg rights, immigratn reform and gay rights, and unrsrg jt how much the civil rights movement has transformed. * gay rights march on washington 2013 *
"Full Platform of the 1993 March on Washgton for Lbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and LiberatnActn Statement Preamble to the PlatformThe Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr movement regniz that our qut for social jtice fundamentally lks to the stggl agast racism and sexism, class bias, enomic jtice and relig tolerance.
We mand passage of a Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr civil rights bill and an end to discrimatn by state and feral ernments cludg the ary; repeal of all sodomy laws and other laws that crimalize private sexual exprsn between nsentg adults. We mand legislatn to prevent discrimatn agast Lbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenred people the areas of fay diversy, ctody, adoptn and foster re and that the fn of fay clus the full diversy of all fay regnn and legal protectn of the whole range of fay end to abe and exploatn of and discrimatn agast end to abe and exploatn of and discrimatn agast olr/old implementatn of the remendatns ntaed the report of the Health and Human Servic Task Force on Youth Suici.
ADVOT FOR GAY, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS MARCH FOOTSTEPS OF BLACKS
From the Whe Hoe and the Supreme Court on down, gay rights advot have won a strg of victori this year. Many Amerins rema opposed to same-sex marriage, but support for gays and gay marriage has been risg — particularly among young people. * gay rights march on washington 2013 *
Organizers are turng the 50th anniversary celebratn of the March on Washgton to far more than a history lson — vowg to e the memoratn to ph for votg rights, immigratn reform and gay rights, and unrsrg jt how much the civil rights movement has transformed. Groups such as the NAACP have embraced the multifaceted msage ahead of ftivi, argug that solidary is required to prevent sid discrimatn and that cultural shifts have given a platform to women’s rights issu and equal treatment for gays. The Senate iated bate on the natn’s “broken” immigratn system by passg a bill June that offers undocumented people a path to cizenship, more stat are approvg gay-marriage laws and the Supreme Court recently stck down a 1996 law that prevented legally married same-sex upl om obtag feral benefs tied to marriage.
Obama has been the "gays' LBJ, " says Jonathan Rch, a rint scholar at the Brookgs Instutn, parg the current print to Lyndon Johnson, who signed to law the Civil Rights and Votg Rights Acts of the 1960s. This year's Supreme Court cisns on gay marriage might well have turned out differently if the ernment still had an active tert argug for discrimatn, says Aaron Belk, director of the Palm Center at San Francis State Universy, which studi transgenr ary service. "Our journey is not plete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else unr the law, " he said, "for if we are tly created equal, then surely the love we m to one another mt be equal as well.
A five-pot platform for the march lled for passage by Congrs of a “prehensive” lbian and gay civil rights bill; a printial executive orr banng discrimatn based on sexual orientatn the feral workforce, the ary, ferally ntracted private employers; repeal of all anti-gay/lbian laws; an end to discrimatn child ctody disput for gay and lbian parents; and protectns for gay and lbian youth agast discrimatn at home or schools.
HOW 2013 BEME THE GREATT YEAR IN GAY RIGHTS HISTORY
The gay rights movement the Uned Stat began the 1920s and saw huge progrs the 2000s, wh laws prohibg homosexual activy stck down and a Supreme Court lg legalizg same-sex marriage. * gay rights march on washington 2013 *
Items add to the platform beyond those clud for the 1979 march clud a ll for legal regnn of lbian and gay relatnships; repeal of sodomy laws applyg to nsentg adults; an end to discrimatn agast people wh HIV/AIDS; reproductive eedom for women; and an end to racism the U. While march anizers were generally optimistic over a Clton Whe Hoe, some exprsed ncern that the new print appeared to be backg down om his promise to lift the ban on gays the ary followg opposn to the proposal by many Congrs.
Another vol msage livered at the march was strong opposn to Colorado’s Amendment 2, a ballot measure passed by voters that banned ci and unti the state om adoptg anti-discrimatn laws protectg gays and lbians.
MARCH ON WASHGTON LBIAN/GAY RIGHTS
In a break om the first three ‘gay’ Washgton march, which were iated by dividual activists, the Millennium March was iated by the Human Rights Campaign, the natn’s largt LGBT civil rights group, and the Rev. Rather than seek put om grassroots activists and lol LGBT groups, HRC and Perry formed a march mtee on their own and hired lbian edian and events producer Rob Tyler, who had been llg for another gay march, as the march’s executive producer.
GAY RIGHTS
In a prs release announcg the march, the mtee boasted that rporate sponsors were beg led up to help fance the march and a long list of celebri, most of whom were gay or lbian, would be performg at a ncert durg the weekend of the planned march. Longtime gay rights advote David Mixner is creded wh iatg the march an effort to build on the groundswell of LGBT activism on social media generated by the approval by California voters of Proposn 8, a ballot measure that overturned the state’s same-sex marriage law.
San Francis gay rights lear Cleve Jon, founr of the Nam Project that created the AIDS Memorial Quilt, beme volved as one of the lead anizers along wh lbian activist Rob McGehee and gay activist Kip Williams. 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.
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.
GAY AND LBIAN MARCH ON WASHGTON
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. Wh this work I beme iends wh two young gay men who had graduated om the Rho Island School of Dign—Fred Gorman and Gregory Gazaway—and we were taken unr the wgs of a group of olr lbian activists, cludg Margaret Cello and Marla Erlien, both of whom were Radil Ameri edors, along wh Ja McGlghl, Nancy Wechsler, Ann Holr, Judy Andler, and San Levene. It was eher at the march or at a gay pri para New York or Boston that I first wnsed the imprsive and spirg spectacle of a large number of ACT UP activists marchg together and chantg "Act Up, Fight Back, Fight AIDS.
There was somethg about my willgns to put my body on the le—we didn't know what to expect and whether the police would rpond vlently—that signalled my epeng mment to the gay and lbian movement specifilly and polil activism more generally.
CHILEAN LAWMAKERS REJECT PLAT AGAST GAY TN MISTER
In retrospect, I n see that the 1987 March on Washgton played a role my cisns to epen my volvement gay/lbian and AIDS activism, apply for a job at Gay Communy News 1988, and go to graduate school to study gay and lbian history 1989. Many Amerins today are faiar wh the history of the Cold War and how Amerin lears and policymakers fought munism abroad, but ls know of the liberate efforts rried out by the feral ernment to prevent the spread of munism the Uned Stat—cludg the surveillance and persecutn of spected “homosexual” cizens.
THREE MEN ARRTED DURG GAY SNA RAID VENEZUELA RELEASED OM JAIL
Johnson about their tentns:A group of homosexual Amerin cizens, and those supportg their e, is picketg the Whe Hoe, today, lawful, dignified, and orrly prott— the bt Amerin tradn—agast the treatment beg meted out to fifteen ln homosexual Amerin cizens by their ernment—treatment which nstantly mak of them send-class cizens, at bt. Johnson, brought ccial urgency, energy, and visibily to the movement for LGBTQ+ rights across Ameri and laid the foundatn for the gay liberatn movement—more radil than the prev homophile movement. Followg notable ton for LGBTQ+ equaly the 1970s, cludg the electn of openly gay polician Harvey Milk to ernment office and the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s removal of homosexualy om their list of psychiatric disorrs, the gay liberatn movement beme more vol and celebratory than ever before.
At least 25, 000 protters marched past the Whe Hoe, gatherg Lafayette Square and on the Natnal Mall to mand that the ernment:Pass a prehensive lbian/gay bill CongrsIssue a printial executive orr banng discrimatn based on sexual orientatn the Feral Government, the ary, and ferally ntracted private employmentRepeal all anti-gay/lbian lawsEnd discrimatn lbian mother and gay father ctody sPrott lbian and gay youth form any laws which are ed to discrimate agast, opprs and/or harass them their hom, schools, jobs, and social environments. Durg the 1980s, the HIV/AIDS crisis, which disproportnately killed gay men the Uned Stat, led to a new wave of protts Lafayette Square—particularly rponse to Print Ronald Reagan’s refal to acknowledge the severy of the epimic. The 1993 March on Washgton for Lbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberatn remas one of the largt protts Amerin history, wh approximately one ln atten; other large march clu the Millennium March (2000), the Natnal Equaly March (2009), and the Natnal Pri March (2017).