Gay-rights advocates march in Washington

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."