Why the National Equality March Was the Right Thing to Do

Why the National Equality March Was the Right Thing to Do

Twenty-four hours ago, roughly 200,000 people marched the streets of Washington, DC to demand equal rights for LGBT citizens. It was a very visceral display of activism, and one that drew folks from red states and blue states to remind Congress and the Obama administration that we're watching and waiting for action on equality.

Critics have said a lot of things about the march. They said that it would be a public relations nightmare, with not enough people showing up to create the meme that this was a movement. They said it would be seen as a bunch of white people protesting an African-American President. They said it was a distraction from statewide battles for equal rights. They said it was cobbled together half-heartedly.

These critics were wrong on all counts.

While the National Equality March had a shoestring budget, and a five-month window to organize, the event succeeded in bringing what might have been the most diverse (and certainly the youngest) crowd of LGBT supporters to Washington, DC.  The turnout was high, and it was representative of just about every state in the union. And while I originally thought the March might detract from battles in Maine or Washington for equal rights, I'm now pretty sure that this March only capitalizes on the momentum we've got to beat back some anti-gay ballot measures in those states.

A few thoughts:

• This march threw people out of their comfort zones, and that's a good thing. Many LGBT institutions and activists thought this march was too rushed or misplaced in its mission. I'd argue that this march is a sign of where we're at in 2009 with activism. By many accounts this wasn't a top-down organized event. it was driven by activists on Facebook, Twitter, and networks of young people and activists who are far removed from the institutional LGBT scene. That's a good thing. Part of creating a grassroots movement is decentralizing the power, right? The reason this March was successful was because, I would imagine, most of us who attended felt like we owned a little part of it.

• There was more diversity -- both in terms of age and race -- than at any other national LGBT event I've been to. There's still progress that needs to be made when it comes to working with the wide range of communities that make up the LGBT population, but this was a very good sign. The number of people at the march under 30 years of age blew me away. What a success this March will have been if it can merge the activism, history and organizing lessons of 30-40 years ago, with the passion and commitment of today's Post-Prop 8 activists.

• Obama himself reminded us in his talk at the Human Rights Campaign dinner on Saturday night that we need to hold him accountable. That was part of this March's mission. It wasn't to agitate in a destructive way, but rather to send the message that no President deserves a free pass when it comes to advocating for equality. Of course, already we're seeing that potentially anonymous White House sources are lambasting the march as nothing but a bunch of pissed off bloggers. If the White House really thinks that, they're dead wrong. First, this march was bigger than the blogosphere. And second, the White House shouldn't underestimate the power of a bunch of pissed off bloggers.

• If even 1/3 of the energy from this weekend's march filters its way back into the 50 states, we're going to be better off as a movement. Folks like Rep. Barney Frank are right to emphasize that local and state action needs to happen. But this action needs to happen in tandem with a national plan of action. How amazing will it be to see activists from this weekend go back to states like Michigan and work hard for a statewide employment non-discrimination act, or work hard in Illinois to move a marriage equality bill through the state legislature, or head to California and work to repeal Prop 8, or Florida to overturn the state's ban on gay adoption. The right can have their trickle-down economics. We can have our trickle-down grassroots activism.

A bunch of pictures from the National Equality March are below the fold. Whatever thoughts or conceptions folks had about the March beforehand, one thing is clear in its aftermath: we're better off as a national movement for equality with its having happened. As the T-shirt says in the picture up above, quoting Harvey Milk, this March helped "burst down those closet doors, once and for all."