The National Park Service doesn't provide headcounts of attendees, but estimated 150,000 people attended the march. The Equality March is seeking wider civil rights, and dammit, I think our marriage needs to be recognized. Medical decisions, social security, pensions and more are the reasons why this matters. If someone took them away from straight couples, they'd be furious, too. Everyone deserves equal rights.
United Press International said that demonstrators were energized Saturday night by a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama, who vowed to target the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act. (They both need to go). Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, a gay man and Army veteran said at the Capitol rally, 36 states allow housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and 29 states permit firings on those grounds. Same-sex marriages are legal in only a handful of states -- including Massachusetts, Vermont, Iowa and Connecticut. Depriving gays of the right to wed, Rosendahl said, deprives them of 1,100 rights.
Some of the signs read "We're trying to lower your divorce rate," and "Jesus had two fathers" (clever!!). 
This is an amazing time in our history, and Tom and Jeff noted that there were an unbelievable number of young people there- who all believe in equal rights. They said that this new generation is going to wipe out all inequalities. I hope so. I think that too many people even our age (40s) hold hatred and prejudice in their hearts. The younger generation seems to accept all people a lot more than our generation does.
**After the rally, Tom and Jeff went to see a high school production of RENT in DC. I bought 2 tickets a month ago, but Baltimore's Comic Book Convention was happening that same day, so that's where I went. More to come on that!
No comments:
Post a Comment