National march on washington for lesbian and gay rights

On October 14, , the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights happened here. Around , gay and lesbian Americans and their allies descended on the capital city from all across the United States to demand their voices be heard. The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C., on October 14, The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C.

on October 14, The first such march on Washington, it drew between 75, and , gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people, and straight allies to demand equal civil rights and urge the passage of. The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C., on October 11, [1][2] Around , people participated.

[3]. Its success, size, scope, and historical importance have led to it being called, "The Great March". [4]. Pass a comprehensive lesbian/gay rights bill in Congress. Issues a ial executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Federal Government, the military and federally-contracted private employment. The last Equality March was held in Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key.

As thousands descend on Washington, D. Here, we take a look back through the photographic archives of the Blade at five previous major LGBT demonstrations in D. Similar to the four LGBT Washington marches that followed in subsequent years, there were conflicting reports on the size of the turnout. The U. Park Police, which at the time gave crowd estimates for public events, initially estimated the turnout for the march to be 75, but later said between 25, and 50, people turned out.

gay march on washington 1993

Whatever the turnout, the event drew national media attention to the LGBT rights movement and, according LGBT advocates, motivated thousands of LGBT people to become active in the movement to secure their rights who were not involved before. The march began near the Capitol and traveled along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House before ending on the grounds of the Washington Monument, where a rally with speakers was held.

Activists familiar with the Oct. Supreme Court decision upholding state sodomy laws, which made it a crime for consenting adults of the same gender to engage in sexual relations. This time, U. Park Police estimated the turnout to be at least , Organizers declared the turnout to be well over ,, making the march and rally the largest LGBT demonstration ever held in the U. Media coverage of the march and rally was heightened by the decision by creators of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to display the quilt for the first time on the National Mall on the same day as the march.

During the days following the march, some participants staged a civil disobedience demonstration on the steps of the Supreme Court to protest the sodomy law ruling that resulted in arrests. Among the speakers at the march rally, which was held on the grounds of the U. Capitol, where gay U. Jesse Jackson. Bush was . By the time the march took place on April 25, Bill Clinton, who expressed support for gay rights during his election campaign, had been in office for just over two months.

While march organizers were generally optimistic over a Clinton White House, some expressed concern that the new appeared to be backing down from his promise to lift the ban on gays in the military following opposition to the proposal by many in Congress. Thus a major theme of the march and its large rally at the site of the U. This prompted organizers to declare they had reached their goal of drawing a turnout of a million people.

As with the previous two gay marches, U. Park Police issued a significantly lower figure, putting the turnout at , Paul Wellstone D-Minn. In a press release announcing the march, the committee boasted that corporate sponsors were being lined up to help finance the march and a long list of celebrities, most of whom were gay or lesbian, would be performing at a concert during the weekend of the planned march.

Infuriated over what they called a top down, undemocratic structure, many LGBT activists denounced the proposed march and vowed to organize a boycott. But as criticism mounted, HRC and Perry agreed to make changes to broaden the organizing committee and vowed to make the march the most diverse LGBT event ever held. Transgender activists and LGBT people of color were brought into leadership positions. Similar to the march, the National Mall appeared filled with march participants on April 20, , prompting organizers and many observers to estimate the turnout to be ,