Oh My Godot: National March for Equality October 10-11 2009

Showing posts with label National March for Equality October 10-11 2009. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Vox Populi Aequitas

This past weekend thousands converge on Washington for the National Equality March in Washington speak out for equal rights for all citizens in the U.S., including the right for all Americans marry. Serendipity intervened Congress who was supposed had a break for many members to their home states, had their holiday weekend suspended so they could stay in session working on passing legislation on ground breaking health care legislation. Some of the Congress person who have argue against the need for such federal legislation couldn't avoid the call for action.

Destiny, PG, Tom and Wicked were among those who marched speaking out and demanding equality for all. The March ended up at the steps of the Capitol in a rally for equality. PG sent along some pictures of the day.

OMG says thank you to Destiny, PG, Tom and Wicked for marching.

Photos: Prairie Girl

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Out Spotlight CI

Programming Note: Today's March for Equality (live) and highlights of President Obama's keynote speech to the Human Rights Campaign from last evening's event can be seen in the US, starting at 1:30 EST on C-SPAN.

Watch the National Equality March on C-Span's Live Feed here. (Thanks NEM)

In 1988, Dr. Robert Eichberg and Jean O'Leary celebrated the first National Coming Out Day, in honor of an historic march for gay and lesbian rights DC one year earlier. Since then, October 11th has been a day for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community, along with their allies, to speak openly about their sexuality and encourage others to do so as well.

What do a former Marine, several peace activists, a handful of ministers, an interracial lesbian couple, and an average Joe have in common?

Their faces graced five billboards posted throughout the city of Memphis in conjunction with today, National Coming Out Day. The billboards, using the local LGBT community were paid for by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center (MGLCC), that also advertised the center's website. "We want people to realize that these are your neighbors. That's why we chose all local people, rather than using stock photos," "These are the people who go to your church. These are the people who you work with. These are the people in your community."

One billboard showed former Marine Tim Smith in uniform and reads, "I'm gay and I protected your freedom." Smith was ejected from the Marines under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy 20 days before he was set to deploy to Iraq.

The billboard, the only of the five, was ripped to shreds less than a week after it was put up. MGLCC director Will Batts said in a statement."We choose not to be stopped by fear. Instead, our community unites in solidarity and with the belief that we too deserve equality," "Although we are saddened by yesterday’s hateful expression of intolerance, we are proud of the local Memphian that chose to be the face on the billboard."

What could have been a roadblock to some has become a rallying point. Tim Smith's Coming Out Day billboard was put back up and last Sunday MGLCC members and gay rights advocates gathered in front of First Congregational Church to rally against hate in response to the destruction. 250 people filled the seats at First Congregational Church, to come together in response to the hatred, not to run but galvanize the community in fighting hate.

"The next time we hear somebody say, you're not fit to serve [in the military] because you're gay or lesbian, what are we going to do?" Batts asked. "Raise our voice!" the response yelled by the crowd.

Tim Smith,was greeted with a standing ovation upon approaching the podium after Warren's speech. The son of conservative parents in a small Mississippi town, he joined the Marines in 2001. He said it was the Marine code of "honor, courage, and commitment" that helped him find his voice and become honest with himself and others about his sexuality.

Smith came out to his friends and his church. When a military chaplain found out, Smith told the man he believed God loved him despite his sexuality.

"The chaplain had nothing else left to do but follow the rules," Smith said. He was discharged from the military under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

Regarding the destruction of the billboard bearing his image, Smith says the vandals actually galvanized his commitment.

"They will not rob me of my honor by making me run and hide," Smith said. "If anything, they've galvanized my commitment to this community."

After the rally, county commissioner Steve Mulroy agreed: "My message to the billboard vandals is thank you for galvanizing the community and symbolizing what we're up against in Memphis."

Last night in the keynote speech to the Human Rights Campaign, President Barack Obama recommitted to the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Today at least 35 people from Memphis are joining the thousands of others in Washington, D.C. for the National Equality March.

In the last 40 years many brave gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals have made themselves open and vulnerable coming out to family and friends. And as they have taken this risk in greater and greater numbers they have changed an astounding number of hearts and cultural attitudes. Their courage and fierce insistence on the right to be themselves and love who they love is still steadily increasing empathy and understanding and the generation who come after them are already benefiting so from it. For that we all say thank you.

Today we celebrate those Americans who have spoken out and acknowledged their sexual orientation, and we reaffirm our commitment to fighting the fear and discrimination that still prevents others from doing the same. National Coming Out Day reaffirms that there's more that unites Americans than divides us.

As we make progress on the path to equal rights, many are contributing in their own way by sharing their stories and standing up for tolerance in their communities. These actions will go a long way toward beating back the fear and discrimination that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Americans continue to face every day. - Senator Barack Obama (2007)

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are. - John Pierpont Morgan

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Out Spotlight C

Today's Out Spotlight is the National Equality March. Next Sunday, October 11, 2009, tens of thousands will come from all over the United States to gather in Washington DC in order send a message to the Nation, the United States Congress and the President, a message that ALL citizens of the United States are equal and all should have equal rights.

The 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution states: Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This means ALL people and this includes the right to marry whomever they wish and not be discriminated against because of how and whom they chose to love.

The National Equality March is to remind the nation, Congress and the President of the United States that DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996, which defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional and should be repealed.

President Barack Obama's election platform included the full repeal of DOMA. However, on June 12, 2009 the Department of Justice issued a brief defending the constitutionality of DOMA in the case of Smelt v. United States of America, suggesting a sharp reversal by the Obama administration. On June 15, 2009, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese sent a four page letter to President Obama in response to the Department of Justice brief, in which he laid out the case of LGBT people as equal human beings and urged, "We call on you to put your principles into action and send legislation repealing DOMA to Congress. On September 15, 2009, representatives Jerry Nadler of New York, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Jared Polis of Colorado introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA. The bill had 91 original cosponsors.

Longtime gay activist David Mixner, who called for a national march on Washington said the march “to empower our young and to show the nation that anything less than full freedom is unacceptable.”

This is why the March for Equality is so important, the voice of a nation calling for change and holding those accountable for the promises they made.

The March will begin at 12:00 noon and will end on the west lawn of the Capitol building with a rally following beginning around 2:00 p.m. with three hours of inspirational speeches and music. Thirty speakers representing the diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its straight allies, will include: David Mixner; national March co-chairs Cleve Jones, Lt. Dan Choi, and Nicole-Murray Ramirez; Julian Bond, civil rights leader and Chairman of the Board for the NAACP, the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the U.S, St. Olaf college student Richard Aviles speaking on behalf of student activists; Judy Shepard, who lost her son Matthew because of anti-gay hate, Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, Former US Rep Michael Huffington, Reverend Troy Perry, Comedian/Activist Kate Clinton, to name a few.

The producers of Hair, on Broadway, have announced that the musical will be going dark on Sunday, October 11th so its cast can go to Washington and support the March.

As Destiny told OMG about NFL Player/Pro Bowler, New Orleans Saints,Scott Fujita. Listen to his interview support the March and the call for equality.

The march and rally are a culmination of events from the weekend kicking off on Friday October 9, with workshops, groups and gathering of people united for equality.

Some OMG'ers will be traveling to Washington for the National March, but there is something for each one of us to do. For those who live in the US find a group who is gathering in your area that day, and write your Representatives in Washington asking for the repeal of Defense of Marriage Act. For those outside the U.S. stay informed about your own country's rights for the LGBT community and become a voice of change and a supporter of equality with you live, and encourage your government to ask the US to repeal their discriminative laws against LGBTs.

This march is not the final step but the first one in building a national grassroots network that will continue until full equality is achieved