|
From Jesse’s
Journal
| My most memorable experience
as a young gay activist in the Seventies was attending the first March
on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights (1979). Along with Jack Campbell,
the late Staci Aker, and the late Alex Ramon Muni, I represented Florida
at a conference held in Houston to organize the March, where I met up-and-coming
leaders like Eric Rofes. |
 |
Jesse
Monteagudo
|
The March itself, held on October
14, 1979, was the end of a exciting weekend that included the first Third
World Lesbian and Gay Conference, Pat Bond and Tom Wilson Weinberg concerts,
and a fun-filled, if crowded, night at the Washington, D.C. Club Baths
(it was 1979). The second March on Washington was in 1987, by which
time lesbian and gay rights had become a life-and-death struggle. Though
Michael and I visited the Quilt and took part in The Wedding (we have the
papers to prove it), we decided not to get arrested in front of the Supreme
Court, as did many other activists. For the third March on
Washington, in 1993, we Floridians did not start walking until 5 p.m.,
by which time the Rally was halfway over. Thus we missed Larry Kramer crash
the stage or Lea DeLaria express her lust for Hillary Rodham Clinton. We
did see a contingent of "Gays Without Dates", cute boys on trees, and lesbian
comic Robin Tyler, who organized the post-parade Rally, in a military uniform.
Speaking of Tyler, the star
of Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom is now at the center of controversy
due to her suggestion that we hold a fourth March on Washington. Though
named the "Millennium March on Washington for Equal Rights", Tyler's March
will actually be a Rally on the Capitol Mall, to be held on April 30, 2000.
Tyler, who envisioned herself as "executive producer" of the March, first
proposed her idea at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF)
Creating Change Conference. After the NGLTF rejected her suggestion, Tyler
took it to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Universal Fellowship
of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), where she won the endorsement
of those groups and their respective leaders, Elizabeth Birch and the Rev.
Troy Perry. A third group, the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Organization (LLEGO) soon joined in as a third major sponsor.
Following LLEGO's endorsement,
a diverse list of groups jumped on board to endorse the March. They include
Apple Lambda, the GLBT Employee Group of Apple Computers; Camp Sister Spirit;
Dignity/USA; the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association; Gay and Lesbian Parents
Coalition; Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America; the International
Association of Lesbian and Gay Children of Holocaust Survivors; One Institute
and Archives; Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); and Q-Spirit.
Community leaders like Larry Kramer, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Michelangelo
Signorile and the Rev. Mel White also came on board. There is also grassroots
support for the March, as reflected in a recent Advocate poll in which
84% of those surveyed agreed that "gay men and lesbians should march on
Washington, D.C., in the year 2000".
Though LGBT support for a
Millennium March is large and impressive, so is the opposition. Many of
us who remember Tyler's performance as "executive producer" of the 1993
Rally do not want her around to repeat that fiasco in the year 2000. Unlike
previous Marches, which came about after months of community deliberation
and consensus, the Millennium March was decided upon by a few self-appointed
leaders without input from the masses - or from other leaders. Those leaders,
many of who have groups and egos of their own, have made their feelings
known, loudly and clearly. Organizers of previous Marches, as well as the
heads of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Gay
and Lesbian Victory Fund, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Los
Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership
Forum joined the NGLTF in questioning both the political strategy and the
timing of the March. Political leaders and commentators like Barney Frank,
Paul Harris, Stephen Miller, Kenneth Sherrill, Barbara Smith and Nadine
Smith; movers and shakers who seldom agree on anything, have come together
in their common opposition to the Millennium March.
There are many reasons to
oppose the Millennium March, not the least of which is the arrogance of
Birch, Perry, Tyler and Martin Ornelas-Quintero, Executive Director of
LLEGO, in deciding to hold on a March and expecting the rest of us to go
along with it. A March on Washington costs a lot of money, both to the
organizers and to the participants, money that could benefit local queer
or AIDS organizations. The March is ill-timed: 2000 is an election year,
when our communities' time would be better spent registering voters and
working to elect gay or gay-friendly candidates.
As a "veteran" of three Marches
on Washington, I know how important a March can be in terms of community-building,
outreach, public relations, and good plain fun. However, I must reluctantly
agree with those who oppose the March, for many reasons. Putting together
a March is hard work, and I am sure that most people who answered the Advocate
survey in the affirmative are not going to volunteer. Though a March on
Washington is an incredible ego-boost for those of us who take part in
it, it accomplishes very little on a practical basis. We spend too much
time partying and not enough time lobbying our legislators, a difficult
task since most Senators and Representatives tend to be out of town whenever
there is a March. Though President Clinton met with LGBT leaders before
the 1993 March, this did not keep him from back-tracking on the issue of
gays in the military or signing the Defense Of Marriage Act. A million-person
March can't change a legislative, executive or judiciary mind, nor take
the place of much-needed educational and political work on the state and
local levels.
As President Clinton once
said, the era of big government is over. Outside of gays in the military,
needle-exchange, DOMA and several other issues, the direction of our lives
is being determined from our state capitals. It is the State of Florida
that decided that my lovemaking is a crime; that does not want me to adopt
children; and that refuses to guarantee my rights to housing or employment.
It is in the State of Florida, and not the federal government, where the
Christian Coalition has made headway; where it helped elect a conservative
Legislature and where it looks forward to the likely election of a conservative
Governor who will join the Legislature to give it anything it wants.
Though our community's future
in Tallahassee is dim, it is in Tallahassee -- and in our other state capitals
-- where we must make ourselves heard. That is why I support the Federation
of Statewide Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Political Organizations'
proposed 50-state action, "Equality Begins at Home", scheduled to be held
during the week of March 21-27, 1999. Endorsed by the NGLTF, and by statewide
groups such as the Human Rights Task Force of Florida (HRTFFL), "Equality
Begins at Home" will bring together thousands of queer people and our friends
to march, rally, lobby and speak out at a time when our Legislatures are
in session. A statewide march will be more representative of our communities
than a Millennium March, if only because many of us who can't afford to
go to Washington will be able to go to Tallahassee. Besides, it is good
to try something new once in a while. Though the practical effects might
not be greater than those achieved by a March on Washington, it does not
hurt to try. I welcome your comments. You may reach me c/o this publication
or by e-mail at monteagu@bc.seflin.org |
