The FINANCIAL — Tens of thousands of gays, lesbians and supporters marched through the nation's capital on October 11 in the largest demonstration for gay rights in nearly a decade. They demanded President Barack Obama to keep his promises to end discrimination against gays.
"Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama" some chanted Sunday, according to AP. Others cried out, "We're out, we're proud, we won't back down." Some taking part in the National Equality March woke up energized by Obama's promise to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military. He made that pledge in a speech Saturday night to the Human Rights Campaign, nation's largest gay rights group.
“I think this march represents the passing of the torch,” said Corey Johnson, 27, an activist and blogger for the gay-themed Web site Towleroad.com, The New York Times reported. “The points of power are no longer in the halls of Washington or large metropolitan areas. It’s decentralized now. You have young activists and gay people from all walks of life converging on Washington not because a national organization told them to, but because they feel the time is now.”
But at the rally, some gave the speech low marks for lacking anything new and failing to acknowledge several major issues confronting the movement, the same source informs. In the words of Billie Myers, a musician who spoke to an eager crowd of tens of thousands on the west lawn of the Capitol, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t like your speech.” The president did not lay out a timetable to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, voice support for any of the battles going on at state levels to allow same-sex couples more recognition under the law nor mention the march.
Unlike the first march in 1979 and others in 1987, 1993 and 2000 that included many celebrity performances and drew as many as 500,000 people, Sunday's event was driven by grassroots efforts, AP wrote. Washington authorities don't disclose crowd estimates at rallies, though the crowd appeared to number in the tens of thousands, overflowing from the Capitol lawn.
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