March for Equality

Today, I witnessed history. The National March for Equality brought tens of thousands of people from all over the country to one place in order to demand equality for every citizen. I can't express how proud I was to be a part of something to magnificent, so I won't even try. But I would like to share my some of my experience.


I learned today about the injustice that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people face when it comes to their relationships. I learned that the Defense of Marriage Act does not actually do as its title suggests: it does not defend marriage, but it restricts marriage so that the union will only be legally recognized if it involves a man and a woman. While some states are making strides towards legalizing gay marriage, unless we as a nation call for the change, equality will not be reached.

The Don't Ask Don't Tell policy that was enacted under President Clinton in 1993 has forced gay and lesbian people in the military to hide who they really are and lie to their peers, so that they will not be discharged for who they love.

It's not just about the laws being repealed - although that is the biggest part. But it's about the message behind the laws as well. Cynthia Nixon gave a made a very poignant point in her speech that brought the laws to a bigger perspective, "When a country has different laws for different categories of people, it sends its population a message. That the different group of people with lesser rights are somehow inferior, and less deserving of respect, and are in fact, not fully human. That message is heard loud and clear by the worst elements in our society. And it instructs them that if they are looking for someone to bully, or beat, or even kill...if they are looking for someone vulnerable to prey upon, gay people are a ready target. And that is why this movement is not just about our ability to get married...it's not even just about our ability to stand up publicly and declare our love for the person we want to spend the rest of our life with. It is about demanding equal rights, equal responsibilities, equal opportunities, equal treatment and equal protection under the law, so that we can herald in a new day."

Repealing these laws are change I can believe in. We have the audacity of hope. Yes we can. Obama has voiced his desire to do this for the past two years. And this march was our act of asking the president to stop speaking - please act. The fatigue of the speakers was palpable. They were tired of waiting. Tired of their concerns being put aside while health care reform, Afghanistan, and our economy are on the fore front. Their voices want to be heard. They need to be heard.

I listened to numerous speakers whose stories invoked such emotion in me I couldn't help but shed a few tears. One 18 year old boy told us of how he had attempted suicide twice because he was so depressed. A former leiutenant told us of how he was discharged and forced out of West Point for voicing his sexuality - he said that he believes there are many things worth fighting for, and love is worth fighting for. The chairman to the NAACP likened the LGBT rights movement to the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard who was brutally beaten and killed because of his sexuality, shared with us the sadness in her heart that her son could not be there to contribute to this day. A poet lifted our spirits with the notion that she doesn't think this change is just possible, yet it's inevitable. We as a humanity progress, and this will happen in our lifetimes. And one congressman from Utah told us of how the Mormon headquarters is located in his constituency, therefore, the Mormon population there has a gay congressman representing them.

This was a day I will never forget. I look forward to the day to come soon when the two laws are overturned, because no one would be able to look an L/G/B/T person in the eye and tell him or her that s/he is any less human just because of whom s/he loves.

I choose to celebrate love, towards man, woman, kitten, tree, books, polar bears, or anything you may wish to direct your love towards.

Today, I learned the difference between acceptance and equality.