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PERSPECTIVE
Editor’s Note
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
$30k for toilets?
This issue’s cover story documents
a debate brought to the forefront of LGBT
activists’ minds as Equality Across
America plans its National Equality March
for Oct. 11.
Some of the most strident opposition to the
march comes from those who feel the financial
and volunteer hours and resources being
poured into the event might have been better
used in other ways. It is a view I’ve shared
before, as recently as my trip to Pittsburgh,
Penn., for the Netroots Nation conference.
During the conference’s LGBT Caucus, I
suggested the march’s $200,000 budget would
have been better spent assisting local and
state grassroots groups attempting to organ
ize at home and change the hearts and minds
of voters.
“It doesn’t take a lot of money to make
an impact in places like Charlotte or in
Columbia or my hometown of Winston-
Salem, N.C.,” I told the group.
While in Pittsburgh, I met and inter
viewed Equality Across America’s director
Kip Williams. In a coffee shop a few blocks
away from the convention center, he
addressed the financial criticisms thrown at
march organizers. •
“In part, this criticism comes from a
mentality of scarcity’ he told me. “I think
that a successful march pushes forward the
whole movement, in both the local and
national levels. I think it is true — folks are
facing hard econmic times. A lot of folks who
want to go, won’t be able to. We’re encourag
ing people to do fundraising in their local
districts, to get people to the march who
couldn’t go otherwise. You can find resources
in the community to help people get there. As
far as finding the money, we’ve got a lot of
wealthy folks In our community. I don’t think
the money isn’t there. I think it most definite
ly is there. I don’t think the march takes
resources from Maine or California. A suc
cessful march pushes all forward.”
Equality Across America recently
released their budget for their events slated
for Columbus Day weekend, including vol
unteer receptions, a memorial service, a
march and a Capitol Hill rally.
Coming in at $199,550, the budget is
modest, at least compared to similar march
es in the past.
But one figure jumped out at me:
$29,500 has been set aside for port-a-johns.
That’s a full 15 percent of the weekend’s
entire budget.
More than twice that amount —
$64,000, or 32 percent of the total
budget — will be spent on deliver
ing, setting up and running the
main stage and its related items.
My mind goes haywire thinking
about how much good could be
accomplished with just half the march’s budget
for toilets, much less the full budgeted amount.
Famed AIDS Quilt founder Cleve Jones
told Q-Notes that the most effective lobbying
is done at the district level.
“It is important to understand how lob
bying works,” Jones said. “To really make an
impact you have to lobby in all the 435 dis
tricts. That is where the most effective lob
bying can occur, in the district level by peo
ple who live and work and vote in that dis
trict and go into those offices and build
relationships with the staff.”
I couldn’t agree more. And that’s why —
for all the thinking, conversing and debating
I’ve done — I can’t figure out how a nation
al march on Washington will accomplish
Equality Across America’s district-level
organizing goals. It makes no sense.
Ed Farthing, a former co-executive direc
tor of Equality North Carolina, echoed simi
lar thoughts.
“I think it is wonderful to organize in
all 435 congressional districts,” Farthing
said. “But that is local. All politics is local.
If you want to have a meeting in D.C. with
kveral thousand people, that’s fine. You
can hold a leadership conference or semi
nar. But, you can’t call it a march on
Washington. My vision of a march on
Washington is several hundred thousand
people showing up and wanting some
thing, not several thousand showing up
and maybe or maybe not attending some
meetings and trainings.”
A small march and rally in Washington
will accomplish very little. Folks will go to
Washington, feel good and get inspired. But
when they come back home, they’ll be
broke. Resources that could have been used
to organize at home will have been spent
traveling to and from D.C. and Williams’
“broader organizing goals” will die before
they even get started.
If Equality Across America organizers
truly wished to inspire grassroots, district-
level lobbying and action, perhaps they
could have used their $200,000 budget to
shore up local activists working with local
ly-elected U.S. House and Senate
representatives.
Jones and Williams spend an awful lot of
time talking about their “newer” and “bet
ter” strategy. But exactly what kind of effec
tive strategy do they have? If they’ve got
one. I’m not seeing it. >
^speakout^ ■ ^online q-poll^
^iciut your letter to the editor or any
other thoughts to
e(iitor@q-notes.com or click on over to
our website at www.q-uotcs.com ami
join the couversatiou there.
Web comments will he featured in each
issue. Limit letters to the editor to 150
words or less imd include
your name, city ami state and a phone
number where you can he reached.
Will you be attending the
national march on
Washington on Oct. 11?
See the options and vote at
www.q-notes.com/qpoll
4 SEPTEMBER 5.2009‘ftNotes