LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
It's Time to March on Washington! |
by Howard Armistead |
Call your friends. Tell them to meet you on the Mall in Washington, DC on Sunday, April 30, because it's time to march again for our full and equal rights as American citizens. The last Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual National March on Washington drew 700,000 people and transformed thousands of lives. It was one of the largest civil rights marches in the history of the United States and the largest gathering of gay and lesbian people in the history of the world. No one who was there will ever forget it. Each time our movement has gathered in massive numbers in our nation's capitol, it has propelled our movement forward like no other single event, swelling the memberships of our national organizations and inspiring activists in state and local organizations on to great goals and achievements. The previous lesbigay National March on Washington in 1987 gathered over 500,000 people, from every state in the Union, demanding their rights. The 1987 March was every bit as powerful and perhaps even more emotional than the '93 March on Washington, because it marked the end of abject hopelessness over the AIDS crisis, since the Federal government finally moved to approve AZT only a few weeks before we gathered on the Mall. For those 150,000 who led the way at the first national gay march in 1979, the feelings were no less miraculous. They witnessed a phenomenon unimaginable to those valiant drag queens and Greenwich Village queers who rioted against police harassment and discrimination at the Stonewall Rebellion ten years earlier, following the death of their beloved icon and diva, Judy Garland. Indeed, our movement has come a long way in our struggle for civil rights and equal rights. Like our predecessors in the Women's rights movement and the Black civil rights movement, our progress is resisted by right wing bigots at every turn. But together we make steady, if incremental progresstwo steps forward, half a step back, then forward again. We, too, know, we shall overcome hate, prejudice and injustice. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence held out the promise of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" not to just some citizens, but all citizens: lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered, too. Ironically, Jefferson's promise cannot be fulfilled until gay and bisexual men and women are allowed to serve openly and proudly in the US Armed Forces, to defend the promises of our Founding Fathers to all citizens. We can no longer tolerate our national armed forces serving as a cauldron of homophobia and homo hatred. A nation that conveniently looks the other way when lesbians and gays serve during times of war, can no longer be allowed to deny us equal rights under the law, and the benefits our straight brothers and sisters receive by serving our country. We will no longer accept second class citizenship in our own country! And that goes for all the other rights and privileges we are denied as tax paying citizens in our own country as well. We demand our equal rights! We demand them now ! IT'S TIME TO MARCH! So call your boyfriends in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle. It's time to march! Telephone your girlfriends in Miami, Minneapolis and Boston! It's time to march. Write your exlovers in Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia to meet you in DC, it's time to march! And email your "sistas" in Atlanta, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Diego, Detroit, Cleveland and Indianapolis and tell them, "Get up off your ass and get ready, because, IT'S TIME TO MARCH ON WASHINGTON TO DEMAND OUR RIGHTS!" Meet me on the Mall in Washington, DC on April 30 for the biggest party and civil rights demonstration you have ever been to. It will transform your life, and you will never forget it. America needs to hear our voices. Loud. Strong! And PROUD! So make your plans now. Today! Hotels are filling up but there are still rooms available and you can contact the March Organizing Committee for more information at 202-467-8100 or www.mmow.org. For hotel reservations call 800-554-2220. Make your flight reservations. Plan your road trip. Check the train schedule or organize your car pool. Because now is the time for all good queers to March on the Nation's Capital and demand that our voices be heard:"End second class citizenship for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and all sexual minorities!" NOW! We shall overcome! We will win equal rights! We will make Washington, DC our queer capital city for a day! It's time to march again. Homophobes and bigots; back into your caves for good! Howard Armistead is a gay rights activist and AIDS researcher. He lives in Los Angeles where he is the executive director of IPATH, the International Project for Affordable Therapy for HIV. Second Millennium March Bus Added Due to the popularity of the CAMP Rehoboth Millennium March bus trip, a second bus has been added. The buses will depart Rehoboth at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, and will leave D.C. to return to the beach at 9:00 p.m. the same evening. "The tickets are going fast," says CAMP Rehoboth's Kathy Weir, "so make your reservation as soon as possible. Tickets are only $10 and that includes a Washington Metro Day Pass (a $5 value)it's a real bargain." CAMP Rehoboth is also offering financial assistance to anyone who has trouble paying for a ticket. "It's going to be a fun trip," says Lori Kline of Lori's Caf. "There's a lot of enthusiasm and energy and it's a great way to make new friendsand it's my birthday!" The buses will depart from the parking lot of County Bank, 4299 Highway One (across from AMES) in Rehoboth. Reservations are required and can be made by calling Kathy at CAMP Rehoboth, 302-227-5620. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 3, Apr. 7, 2000. |