History of Marches for LGBT Rights

It is time for another March on Washington! Here's a history of past marches:

The Marches

1979

The first march on Washington for LGBT rights, known officially as the The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, was a groundbreaking grassroots movement that had a crucial positive impact on the gay community. Tensions were high, as Anita Bryant's “Save Our Children” campaign was eliminating hard-won anti-discrimination laws across the nation, and San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated during the year the march was being planned. The demonstration provided a needed outlet for the energy and frustrations of a budding gay rights movement.

Most large, established gay rights groups didn't get involved at first. They didn't believe the demonstration would attract enough people to make a statement, and weren't willing to risk a public disappointment. As enthusiasm continued to grow and it became certain that the event was happening, they began to give their help and support. Between 100,000 and 250,000 people marched that day, and the media extensively covered the event.

Despite the large turnout and high visibility, the march did little to change government policy. Its main benefit was to the LGBT community itself. It was the largest public display for lesbian and gay rights up to that point, and showed the nation—and LGBT people themselves—the true size and power of the movement.

1987

Like the 1979 march, this started on a grassroots level, although major organizations were quicker to support it in light of the previous success. The AIDS epidemic was a serious new problem in the United States, and the glaring lack of government action to combat it was one of the main topics of the protest. The first listed demand, however, was “the legal recognition of lesbian and gay relationships”, including many things LGBT activists today hope will come with marriage equality—the right to co-adopt, share insurance, inherit property and visit one's spouse in the hospital.

Activities surrounding the march lasted for six days and included a community wedding and the first unveiling of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. According to police on the scene, about half a million people attended. Civil rights leaders Cesar Chavez and Jesse Jackson spoke before the crowd; Jackson's speech was especially significant since he was considered a frontrunner in the race for the Democratic Presidential candidacy. He offered his support to the gay and lesbian community, saying “let's find a common ground of humanity... [W]e share the desire for life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equal protection under the law.” This act of diplomacy was a sign that the gay rights movement was gaining mainstream appeal. The '87 march also marked the starting point for National Coming Out Day, a yearly reminder that simply being openly LGBT raises community awareness and helps remove social stigma at the local level.

1993

Known formally as the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, this become the largest public demonstration in United States history, drawing an estimated one million people. George Bush, Sr. had just lost his bid for re-election, and the mood was lighter than the one surrounding the 1987 march. The event received an unprecedented level of media coverage, including a cover article in Newsweek and front-page stories in newspapers across the country.

The interconnectedness of all social justice was a major theme in 1993. The stated demands condemned “racism and sexism, class bias, economic injustice and religious intolerance” as well as homophobia. The board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gave the march a full endorsement, which created the first direct tie between the gay rights and civil rights movements. It was also the first time that the event's title acknowledged the role of bisexuals in gay rights activism. As in 1987, participants created a great number of related events that further enriched the experience, from conferences and lobbying to dances and religious ceremonies.

2000

The Millennium March, as the 2000 event was called, was the largest gay rights march in history and the first to occur in the U.S. during an election year. Organizers expected the political energy to result in the largest LGBT voter turnout ever during the upcoming Presidential election. For the first time, the current President (Clinton) addressed the crowd—by video, as he chose not to attend in person for security reasons.

National Equality March

Hundreds of thousands of LGBT rights activists marched on Sunday, October 11, 2009 from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against LGBT people. Unlike the first march in 1979 and others in 1987, 1993 and 2000 that included celebrity performances and drew as many as 500,000 people, the event was driven by grassroots efforts and was expected to be more low-key. Though there were no official crowd estimates, mainstream media outlets estimated as many as 200,000 people participated. Many organizers were outraged after the passage of California's Proposition 8, which overturned the right of gays to get married in that state, and over perceived slights by the Obama administration.

The march drew support from corporate sponsors and celebrities, who were less afraid to be publicly gay-friendly than they had been in the past. United Airlines and Showtime gave money to the event, and singers Garth Brooks and k.d. lang, among others, put on an “Equality Rocks” concert to raise money for the Human Rights Campaign. Planning for the Millennium March was more controversial than for the previous demonstrations, as some activists were disappointed by the “top-down” approach to organization and what they saw as crass commercialism. Still, the march was widely considered to be a success, boasting a turnout of up to a million people.

Where do we go from here?

Any successful campaign must learn from the past, and there is plenty to learn from the four previous marches on Washington. One of the leaders of the first march said in 1999 that “we've got visibility...[b]ut we don't have one basic thing that we asked for in 1979.” Ten years later, the LGBT movement is stronger than ever, anti-discrimination laws are more firmly in place, and marriage equality is a reality in some places in the United States.

Grassroots activism works.

Traditionally, individuals and small groups have spearheaded the national LGBT rights marches. In fact, originally, the nation's largest gay rights groups only participated once local efforts had ensured that the march was on its way. This organizational step gives emerging leaders a powerful voice and gives the next generation of activists a training ground for creating change. It also ensures that even small groups within the overall community have a chance to be heard and influence the final plans.

Injustice of any kind affects us all.

These marches have acknowledged the importance of racial, economic and sexual justice to achieving full equality for LGBT people, and in return have received support from a wide variety of sources. With the current focus on gay marriage, this message rings truer than ever—denying legal status to a minority group's relationships sets a dangerous precedent for discrimination across the board. We need to reach out to the people who have been supportive in previous marches and support them in their efforts as well.

If we're not moving forward, we've moving backward.

Twenty-six states have already written marriage inequality into their Constitution, and others are chipping away at laws that secure domestic partner benefits. Now is the time to act, before these discriminatory bans become the status quo. Marchesl give a boost to the already energized lesbian and gay rights movement and show the courts, the legislature and the public how many people care about this issue.