Should We March on Washington in 2008?
Response to a Call for an
LGBT March on
Washington
By Eric Roles
Contributing Writer
On June 1st the Working Group of
Perfect Union published, in its entirety,
a call to a march on Washington by
Robin Tyler. I sent copies of a shortened
version of this call—one that appeared
in the Washington Blade — to 25 friends
and colleagues who are veteran move
ment activists. I sought to sample their
opinions about the wisdom of such a
march and the factors that led them to
support or oppose such an event.
This brief report is intended to sum
marize the complicated responses to
my email and to highlight common
themes that emerged from the respons
eatfe no way do I intend to suggest my
outreach created a random survey of
activists or leaders. Instead, this was a
convenience sample, hence subject to
generalizability limitations. At the same
time, I believe many of the findings list
ed below merit consideration as discus
sion of a possible march continues. We
in the Perfect Union Working Group
are aware that participants on our site
often think deeply about the complicat
ed strategies related to community
organizing, and we want tq honor this
thinking by providing more food for
thought.
• ' • 'h ■- .>
Overall Response '
Of the 25 people who were sent foe
email, 18 responded in
writing in some
way or another.
Five of these
responses were
hurried and con
w • .
-
The Millennium March on ^Washington for Equality passes the Washington Monument Sunday; Aprill 30, 2000.
Thousands of people converged on the Nation Mall in support of gay and lesbian rights, (ap PhokVKamanko Pt§c)
tamed no specific opinion pr points of
support or concern. Thirfleen people
offered opinions about t^e potential
march; these opinions ranged from
enthusiastic support to strfing opposi
tion. Of these 13 respondents, I classi
fied 3 as supportive of die march, 2 as
opponents, and 7 as either mixed or no
opinion. Several of the "mixed" or "no
opinion" respondents seemed as if they
would be supportive of some kinds of
actions and not others, or supportive of
mardies occurring at specific times and
not others*. £■*'; -
An additional three
people approached me
face-to-face (2) or on die
t telephone (1). Because
K these response^ were
K continued page 6
A Reply to Eric Rofes
Veteran National March
Activist Answers the
Surrey Report
By Robin lyier
Contributing Writer
On both local and national levels, the
LGBT community has become the ulti
mate scapegoat Since we are losing
ground that we never actually had, we
owe it to ourselves and to the next gen
eration to take our struggle into the
streets. We currently do not have a sin
gle civil right at tire federal level. We are
treated like non-citizens in this country,
and we need to get as angry, as com
mitted, and as passionate about this
issue as we did around the AIDS crisis.
We are not fighting for our lifestyles; in
this climate, we are fighting for our
lives.
First of all, let me thank Erie Rofes for
taking the time to reach out to seasoned
activists, and for soliciting your
droughts and concerns. It is my nope
that foe discussion about the March
will take place in ever growing larger
leadership circles. In this time of crisis,
we all need to come together with a sin
continued page 11
g . imi J t ■>' i'*. I
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