THREE DECADES AFTER
STONEWALL
Washington march continues
demand for equality
By
Gery Armsby
Washington
Hundreds
of thousands of lesbian, trans, bisexual and gay people and their supporters
came to Washington April 30 to reaffirm the call for full equality. Under the
umbrella heading, "Millennium March on Washington," this event was the fourth
national march on Washington for lesbian and gay civil
rights.
After
a mid-morning march from the Washington Monument, large crowds of demonstrators
gathered for a rally on the Capitol lawn. The main theme was the demand to end
bashing and discrimination. The struggles for same-sex marriage rights, an end
to discrimination against gays and lesbians in military service, and full access
to HIV/AIDS drugs and treatment were also
raised.
Many
speakers reminded the crowd about the recent victims of racist, anti-gay and
anti-trans violence such as James Byrd Jr., Matthew Shepard, Tyra Hunter, Pvt.
Barry Winchel, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond and
others.
Verrett
Byrd, the nephew of James Byrd Jr.--an African American man lynched by racists
in Jasper, Texas, in 1998--told listeners, "We share the demand to have the
opportunity, the right, to live peacefully in a diverse
society."
The
loudest applause came when Byrd's sister and nephew stood arm-in-arm with
Matthew Shepard's parents on the stage. Shepard was the Wyoming victim of an
anti-gay lynching just months after the racist murder of
Byrd.
This show of unity in the fight against racism and anti-gay bigotry was
reflected in portions of the rally that featured a multi-national line-up of
speakers.
Some
speakers and march ers alike expressed their disappointment that the crowd was
overwhelmingly white, criticizing organizers for not doing enough to involve
people of color in the
planning.
A
significant number of lesbian, gay, bi and trans activists and organizations had
opposed the weekend of activities altogether. They cited poor timing and
courting of big-business endorsements for the
march.
However,
the march and rally turned out large numbers. In particular it drew a great many
young people, including members of gay-straight alliances from high schools
around the
country.
Of
the four national lesbian, gay, bi and trans marches held over the past two
decades, this was the first held in an election year. The march's politically
moderate leaders urged marchers to support Democratic Party presidential
candidate Al
Gore.
The
Clinton-Gore administration was portrayed in speeches and slogans as the most
"pro-gay" presidential administration in history. Clinton's role in the
disastrous and fatal "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy against gays and lesbians in
the military was ignored. Both Clinton and Gore were invited to speak but
declined, instead sending videotaped campaign ads and a seemingly endless supply
of "Gore 2000"
stickers.
Attacks
were levied against Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, the presumed Republican
presidential candidate, for his record opposing gay adoption and hate crime
legislation. But no mention was made of the racist Texas death machine Bush
oversees, although many lesbian/gay/bi/trans organizations had voiced opposition
to the death penalty last spring.
Many
of those organizations, along with other lesbian/gay/bi/trans activists, have
also joined the fight to win a new trial for African American journalist Mumia
Abu-Jamal, now on death
row.
Elijah
Crane, a Rainbow Flags for Mumia organizer, handed out fliers on the Mall and
talked with marchers about Abu-Jamal's case. She told Workers World: "He is a
staunch freedom fighter and winning his liberation has everything to do with our
struggle for liberation. That's why I'm telling as many people as possible about
the upcoming May 7 Day for Mumia at Madison Square
Garden."
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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