Because organizers made extensive use of online social media tools to recruit and organize participants, the event was organized faster and more economically than those previous events. Organizers spent $156,000 to produce the event, and raised approximately $260,000. The surplus funds are being used by Equality Across America to pursue full Federal equality for LGBT people.
March route 15th Street NW closed for staging between I Street NW and M Street NW. The march began at the intersection of I Street NW and 15th Street NW and initially headed south on Vermont Avenue NW then turned right on H Street NW. The march proceeded west past
Lafayette Park, south on 17th Street NW, and then east on the closed portion of
Pennsylvania Avenue immediately facing the
White House before turning south on 15th Street NW. Finally, the march followed Pennsylvania Avenue to the
United States Capitol.
Workshops There were a series of workshops, including one on tactics for repealing "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a law prohibiting gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces. Cleve Jones and Sherry Wolf held a workshop at Busboys and Poets café, with several hundred attending, on The Struggle for LGBT Liberation.
Speakers LGBTQ activist Lady Gaga delivers a speech. After the march a rally at the
US Capitol featured more than 30 speakers, including: •
Jarrett Barrios – President of the
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts and President of the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) •
Dustin Lance Black – American screenwriter, director, television producer, and LGBT rights activist •
Julian Bond – chairperson of
NAACP and former
Georgia State Senator who has often likened the
US gay rights movement to the
Civil Rights Movement, as he did in a
Washington Post op-ed explaining his reasons for participating in the march •
Staceyann Chin –
spoken word poet,
performing artist and LGBT rights activist •
1st Lt. Daniel Choi – openly gay
United States Army combat veteran and
Arabic linguist whose discharge from the
New York Army National Guard under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is currently being reviewed •
Penelope Williams -
Dominican American bisexual and
immigration right activist, spokesperson for national
bisexual rights group
BiNet USA, officially introduced
bisexual speaker
Lady Gaga •
Lady Gaga – singer and
bisexual-identified LGBTQ activist •
Michael Huffington –
conservative bisexual activist, former United States Congressman, film producer •
Tanner Efinger – March Organizer and Founder of Postcards to the President •
Cleve Jones – the march's co-chairperson and longtime gay rights activist •
David Mixner – civil rights activist and best-selling author •
Nicole Murray-Ramirez – LGBT rights activist and a San Diego city commissioner •
Chloe Michelle Noble –
bi-
queer human rights activist and founder of Homeless Youth Pridewalk and Operation Shine America •
Cynthia Nixon –
lesbian-identified bisexual actress, most notably from
Sex and the City •
Reverend Troy Deroy Perry II – founder of the
Metropolitan Community Church •
Christine C. Quinn – first openly gay speaker of the
New York City Council Speaker •
Bill Rosendahl – openly gay
Los Angeles City Council member •
Judy Shepard – mother of brutally murdered gay
University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard and co-founder of the
Matthew Shepard Foundation •
Babs Siperstein – the first openly transgender member of the Democratic National Committee • Maxim Thorne – Senior Vice President of the
NAACP •
Urvashi Vaid – LBGT activist •
Lawrence Webb – first openly gay, African-American elected official in the
Commonwealth of Virginia,
Falls Church City Council member • Sherry Wolf -author, LGBT and socialist activist, associate editor of International Socialist Review •
Kit Yan – slam poet, musician, activist, and out transgender man
Endorsements . The National Equality March was endorsed by many of the major national LGBT organizations, including
GLAAD,
HRC,
MCC, the
Task Force, and
P-FLAG. In addition, it was endorsed by other organizations, such as the
Screen Actors Guild, including many SAG members who individually endorsed the march as well. As well, the march was endorsed by other individuals, politicians, such as Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, faith leaders such as Rabbi and President of
North American Reform Judaism,
Eric Yoffie, and others. == See also ==