Gay-rights advocates march in Washington
Published: October 12, 2009
Updated: October 14, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of gay-rights supporters marched yesterday from the White House to the Capitol. They demanded that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays.
Rainbow flags and homemade signs dotted the crowds filling Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as people chanted "Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama" and "We're out, we're proud, we won't back down." Many children were also among the protesters.
A few counter-protesters had also joined the tens of thousands of people in the crowd, which stretched several blocks by the afternoon.
Keynote speaker Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, linked the gay-rights struggle to the civil-rights movement, saying gays and lesbians should be free from discrimination.
"Black people of all people should not oppose equality, and that is what marriage is all about," he said. "We have a lot of real and serious problems in this country, and same-sex marriage is not one of them. Good things don't come to those who wait, but they come to those who agitate."
Some participants in the National Equality March said they woke up energized by Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military. He made the vow during a speech to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil-rights advocacy group but did not give a timetable.
March organizer Cleve Jones, creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, said he had initially discouraged a rally earlier in the year. But he and others began to worry Obama was backing away from his campaign promises.
"Since we've seen that so many times before, I didn't want it to happen again," he said. "We're not settling. There's no such thing as a fraction of equality."
Pop singer Lady Gaga got the biggest cheers on stage. She didn't perform but pledged to reject homophobia in the music industry.
Unlike the first march in 1979 and others in 1987, 1993 and 2000 that included celebrity performances and drew as many as 500,000 people, yesterday's event was driven by grass-roots efforts and was expected to be more low-key. Washington authorities don't disclose crowd estimates at rallies, though tens of thousands appeared to be in attendance.
Many marchers were outraged after the passage of California's Proposition 8, which canceled the right of gays to get married in the state.
Kipp Williams, a 27-year-old San Francisco resident, said he moved to California from the South seeking equality but realized after Proposition 8 that gay people are second-class citizens everywhere.
Contrary to the California Supreme Court's decision on the legality of the referendum, he said "there is no exception to the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution."
For Lt. Dan Choi, the day began with a jog around Washington's memorials, calling cadence at 8 a.m. with fellow veterans and supporters before joining the march. A West Point graduate, Arabic speaker and Iraq war veteran, Choi is facing discharge under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for revealing in March that he is gay.
He appeared later at a rally in his Army uniform and a piece of black tape over his mouth.
"Many of us have been discharged from the service because we told the truth," he said. "But I know that love is worth it."
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Reader Reactions
qhgirl
I am going to have to disagree with you one a point while women can raise a boy to be successful, honest, hardoworking, and a productive member of society. She can never teach him how to be a man because she doesn’t know what it means to be one that boy needs a positive male figure in his life and its vice versa for men raising girls.
Big B..
I went back and saw the earlier post.. sorry.. re the religion aspect.. but to be honest.. my point about raising good men not being a homosexual union problem.. still holds water. I do believe two women could raise a fine man.. However there are a lot of factors that go into raising a child.. positive role models of both sexes is generally important..
Ric4Me:
You did not ask whether or not divorce should be outlawed in your earlier post. The issue is legal recognition of same sex marriage and you brought divorce into this. The issues appear to be unrelated and the only link that I can see is an attempt to deflect the issue to something else. My comment was about the lack of logic to link the two.
No where in your qeustion about the rejection of my marriage license did you suggest that I did meet the legal criteria of marriage: you made a perosnal thing and therefore an abuse of power. When an official equally applies a law with out any personal feelings, such as a denying a marraige license to an unqualified couple: he or she is not abusing their authority. Why have any laws if they are meaningless or not equally enforced? While as a military member I could have had my petition for marriage rejected by my Commanding Officer: although that is rarely done. If that had happened? Wait for my discharge or breakup!
Why do hetrosexual (normal) couples get married? Mostly for the protection of the wife and any children. Traditionally, wives and children were totally economically dependent on their husband and father. In addition, children can’t legally decide for themselves and need a parent to decide for themeselves and protect them. A good man would not need legal recognition of his marriage as an incentive to do his job but some men do. Some of the economics have changed but children are threaten in other ways: sub par schools, violence, lack of moral and educational development, ect. Married Mothers and Fathers working today have a better chance of raising good children. In addition parental rights have been threatened: chld advocates not allowing parents to discipline their children is an example. In cases were the biololgical parents are not married, the raising of children gets into the legal area and more likely to be messy. Should we just let women and children fend for themselves? Survival of the fittest? Very evolutionary and atheistic?
honestly did you read anything that i just wrote?
( qhgirl )
you are attacking the wrong person, i didnt say anything about religion and you just picked an argument with me just to prove my point, READ MY POST AGAIN
Dave
I agree with you about children in single parent homes there is plenty of statistical evidence on that. However I am going to need some form of proof about gay parents raising children since they have such a hard time adopting children in the case of gay men I would like to see some stats on that.
-ric4me
BigB, what then would you suggest for a solution? Putting all the same-sex marriage stuff aside… how can we assure that all children, no matter to whom they are born, are raised to be good men and women?
Not at all, fight for what you believe in by all means, I dont understand it but im not against it. I was making a comment about an earlier post about something that i did not agree with
Dave -
Just saying something does not make it so. Single parenthood is a strong inidicator of future criminality but there is absolutely no empirical evidence to suggest that children raised in same sex households are more likely to be maladjusted. In fact, the only study even close to that theme concluded that children in same sex households are no more likely to be gay than the general population.
Secondly, you guys know that gay people cant have kids with each other right? Gay men can’t artificially inseminate each other.
I’m all for individual rights and not government imposition, regulation and control. If you support a nanny government that can tell you how to live your life then vote Republican I guess.
Big B…
While I respect your religious beliefs.. Raising good “men” has a lot to do with having parents (of whatever sex) involved actively in raising their children to achieve. Single parenthood.. especially the absence of a father figure seems to have one of the most detrimental impacts on the prospects for a child.. especially a minority.
Honestly.. go to our prisons.. poll the drug hustlers and gang members on the street.. they are NOT predominantly children of homosexuals.
I fully support the right of you and your church to disagree and to not perform/attend ceremonies to wed people of the same sex.. However, there are legal rights afforded to people who join into marital unions in this country.. including health care benefits.. legal status rights etc.. and those are the primary reasons why I would think most people would want to join into a legally recognized union.
Also, not to trivialize this issue.. but come on! we have so many other problems that we need to deal with.. honestly, allowing your neighbor to marry his boyfriend is NOT going to rip the moral fabric of your life apart… it isn’t going to make you lose your job.. it isn’t going to entice your child into joining them in their way of life..
I will say, I am conservative libertarian. I don’t want the government getting involved in “moral” issues and legislation. Because, I am sure that there are many passages that could be used to justify women just staying home and barefoot/pregnant.. and you may believe that in your religion.. but I don’t want my govt subscribing to your views.
Explain to me how this effects anyone but gay people?
Gay rights opponents will one day be looked back upon with the same sad hindsight as those who opposed integration or interratial marraige. Get with the times, this isn’t 1840, this isn’t Saudi Arabia, this isn’t Salt Lake City. Time to evolve folks.
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