If you can’t make it to Washington D.C., or if you’re there already, then here’s your place to follow all the live Twitter coverage of the National Equality March. Comments, photos, and videos, all streamlined right here on Queerty.
The hashtag is #nem.
If you’re on the ground in D.C., tell us what you’re doing, seeing, hearing, and demanding. Be sure to attach #nem to your tweets to ensure they arrive here.
And for the spectators? We’ve got you covered. The above widget will automatically update with the latest NEM tweets all weekend long.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
WATCH LIVE: C-Span is expected to cover the rally live at 2pm EST.
Aaron
Great! I’ll be checking back for updates. 🙂
Charles Merrill
No contest. Obama hit it the ball out of the park.
QL Dallas
Same speech he has given before. He was the only Black man in the room. But, no “action” announced and no timetable.
Joe Solmonese spoke before the Prez – what a real Weasely guy.
schlukitz
And thus spake Zarathustbama!
As the old Indian Chieftain said “Heap big talk, and no say nothing.”
And now all the HRCers and the Queerty Obamabots can go to sleep dreaming of sugar plum fairies.
QL Dallas
Bartenders at the gay bars last night said D.C. wasn’t any busier than usual.
QL Dallas
+500,000 LGBT here!
Bri
Anyone know how long the thing will last? I have to leave for work at 3:40 unfortunately. No matter what I think of the march, I still want to see what goes on.
PopSnap
Look at all you naysayers with egg all over your face. EASILY more than 500,000 people at the Nation;s capital tody!
hardmannyc
Great weather helped.
Old Timer
Washington Post reports “tens of thousands.” Looks like a repeat of 1993, when the organizers grossly inflated the count. Except back then, they did get 300,000. Not this time!
Andrew
ABC News Radio just reported 20,000.
Old Timer
Thanks for the info, Andrew. It doesn’t surprise me. This march is a joke, just as predicted.
Old Timer
The “march” is a joke. Instead of putting 20,000 people into Washington, D.C. to be ignored, they should have sent 10,000 to Maine and 10,000 to Washington State to work on the marriage and civil union ballot questions there.
But see, that would entailed actually doing something, and “doing something” is the last thing that the Drama Club marchers want. This is all about re-staging the high school “Flashdance” production, in a new form, forever. It’s all about how they feel, about the buzz. It’s not about knowing anything, or doing anything. It’s about feeding their nerve endings and nothing more.
Nice march, kids. Now just what the fuck did you accomplish?
BobinLA
i live in dc and the bars last night were just as busy as any other saturday night. nothing out of the ordinary. i walked down to march and having taken part in the millenium march in 2000 this march seemed much smaller in attendance. diverse group of people, but smaller.
Chuy
Why can’t we have a live feed???
Andrew
My friend in DC said the “West Lawn was half full.” The West Lawn can handle a crowd of “about 50,000.” Maybe ABC’s estimate of 25,000 is about right.
Old Timer
My friend in DC said the “West Lawn was half full.” The West Lawn can handle a crowd of “about 50,000.” Maybe ABC’s estimate of 25,000 is about right.
The little shindig was broadcast on CSPAN. The crowd barely made it past the reflecting pool. I’d say 25,000 would be a pretty generous estimate.
Chuy
It looks empty, for being a national march the crown on C-Span looks dismal. Get more people at Prides here in SOCAL.
InExile
Love all the people here bashing the march for their rights. Probably the same people in our community that do not vote or write/call their representatives! There is more to life than circuit parties.
schlukitz
InExile, the people here bashing the march, will probably travel to Maine and Washington to vote yes on taking away the right of LGBT people who fought hard and long to marry the partner of their choice.
They are the misanthropes of the LGBT community and they want to see us fall on our faces.
Pay them no mind. They are useless and of no importance. We will succeed without them.
Brian
My friends in DC said it was a small crowd and the “locals” are saying 10,000 to 20,000.
Brian
NBC Nightly News just called the Marchers “Interet-leftist-fringe.” Sounds exactly like something HRC would tell them.
Brian
Sorry, “Internet-Leftist-Fringe.” Estimated crowd at “tens of thousands” which seems consistent with other estimates of 20,000.
Jay NEMer
20,000 sounds about right.
Brian
L.A. Times reported “thousands” marched today.
Iwasthere
The desire of some here to see the march and it’s organizers fail woul be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. The lawn was way beyond full. Way overflowing. It thinned out sometime after Lady Gaga – but for the first hour or two it was huge. The estimates of those counting bodies and heads was from a low of 150000 to a high of 200000. Criticize the march if you want – question its effectiveness – but don’t weave bitter & uninformed gossamer dreams of failure. The march was a success. Get over that. Now go on to talking about whether it mattered. That might be debated. But not whether or not those who planned it pulled it off.
Brian
CNN reported “thousands” marched today.
YellowRanger
Just how many times did they have to re-count to inflate 20,000 to 200,000?
Old Timer
@Iwasthere, apparently something didn’t sink in with you, so I will say it again. The event was televised on CSPAN. The unimpressive crowd is there for all to see. You barely reached past the reflecting pool, and it’s not as if people were tightly packed. You got maybe 20,000 people, tops.
A success, you say. By what standard? Your organizers predicted half a milllion, and you got 1/25th of that, tops. The biggest congressional supporter of gay rights called it a waste of time. No one was in the Capitol building where you spoke. The media mostly ignored you.
And, while you were there, efforts on behalf of civil unions and gay marriage in WA and ME struggled for volunteers and money. So, tell me, where was your “success?” Was it because it gave you the ILLUSION of making a difference (Wow, we demonstrated at the Capitol! That’ll show ’em!!) and the ILLUSION made you FEEL good?
Well look, your feelings and a couple bucks buys a cup of coffee somewhere. Next time, try actually doing something that matters.
IwasThereToo
Organizers ALWAYS do this – wildly inflate the attendance. I was there and I would really need to see some evidence that the crowd was more that 20,000. We didn’t fill the West Lawn.
I had hoped for 100,000 to make a good showing. We weren’t even close. Too many gays are just plain lazy.
IwasThereToo
Associated Press just issued a report saying “thousands.” It seems the media is not buying the organizers insane claims of 200,000.
Jon
Those that are saying that the bars were not that busy this weekend are full of shit! At TOWN, the most popular gay spot in DC, the line was 30-45 minutes long just to get inside which was another 10-15 min wait. It never gets like that unless its a special occasion( Pride, New Years). And most of the other bars had lines or were packed also.
20,000 NEMarchers
I am a Land Surveyor. I looked at Google satellite images. The total area of the West Lawn is 120,000 square feet. About 30,000 square feet was taken by the stage area and security fencing. That leaves 90,000 square feet. Each person takes about 3 square feet. The West Lawn was never packed completely.
I conclude the crowd probably didn’t exceed 20,000.
EP-an1
Regardless of the size of the turn-out it was nice to see Gay people united and marching. They represented to me the many thousands of Gay people across America who could not afford to attend but might have wanted to be there.
Old Timer
@EP-AN1, nice try. But your organizers predicted half a million, and for a brief while the marchers were trying to claim a quarter-million until they were punk’d by the photos. If the 20,000 (tops) had actually decided to go work on the ballot initiatives in ME and WA, they could have accomplished something.
Iwasthere
The CNN website now has an article that desceribes the turnout as massive. They also describe the extent and its reach. I suggest you check it out. But, sadly i suspect you’ll still believe what you want to believe regardless of the facts or truths. Which is really unfortunate because 1) it’s kinda like the homophobic fools we’re fighting and 2) today was a victory not a defeat and anyone who cared about equal rights should celebrate if.
Old Timer
CNN can call it “massive” (whatever that means) but the pictures tell a different story. It was 20,000 tops.
CityRat
Been to the ’87, ’93, 2000 and today’s march. For all the posters who didn’t attend, and just looked at head counts of several photos, just so you know, a lot of us marchers didn’t even march up to the Capitol. But we marched and dispersed once we got near the East Gallery. Why? B/c it was so friggin crowded. The idea that there were only 20K participants is silly. Closer to 100K, IMHO, which is what the organizers planned for.
David
CNN said “thousands.”
Old Timer
@City Rat, no the organizers claimed half a million. And it was too crowded? Bullshit! I lived in Washington, and the Mall is big enough to swallow 20,000 or 50,000 people without anyone much noticing. Your march flopped.
Old Timer
Clarification: The organizers planned half a million. During the day, there were claims of 250,000. Pictures tell a different story.
CityRat
No Old Timer, not too crowded on the Mall, obviously — that wasn’t the route the March took – like previous marches, had you been to them. This one marched down Pennsylvania Ave. and emptied out near the duck pound north of the East Gallery which you should know since you lived in DC and all. Where it emptied out, it was very crowded and people dispersed from there. A lot of folks hung out for a while but never made it anywhere near the Capitol. I never did. It was too crowded to continue marching towards the little patch of grass near the podium and video screens. Why bother? It was a beautiful fall day in Washington for a march. There was a lot of good energy and a lot of young folks enjoying this beautiful day. I’m glad I didn’t encounter any negative people today like you. What a wet blanket.
CityRat
Unlike Old Timer and many other posters on this site, I will provide citations for any statements I make:
From the Washington Blade, September 18, 2009.
The U.S. Park Service, which is cooperating with organizers of the march, has long called on organizers of large events in the nation’s capital to arrange for at least one portable toilet for every 300 people expected to attend an event.
If Jones and National Equality March leaders abide by that request, which Park Service officials says is important for public health reasons, it suggests organizers are planning for an attendance of about 108,000 people.
Iwasthere
Here’s the link to CNN calling it “massive.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/11/U.S.gay.rights.rally/index.html
They also say this:
“At the Capitol on Sunday, the participants spilled from the western front of the building, where a podium was set up, onto Pennsylvania Avenue.”
And they also have photos – and you can see how far it stretches – so you’re right – pictures do tell a story, but not the one you want to believe. Emphasis on “want.” I suggest those who “want” to disbelieve in this march’s success, look within, and try to be honest with themselves as to why.
I don’t expect that – but I do suggest it.
Good luck to you all. And try to remember – that this really is one fight. And that victories belong not to the instigators or the organizers, but to those who long for change.
Iwasthere
Per CityRat:
You’re right. It’s my belief that they did expect that.
But you should have seen the smiles on those who organized the march. It not only exceeded their plans – it exceeded their hopes.
Old Timer
@CityRat, why of course. It was too nice a day for the ADD crowd to stay for the whole event. That’s what you’re telling us. Wow, such commitment. As for the portable toilets, that one’s interesting. The stuff here on Queerty was talking about half a million. In any case, your afternoon party drew 20,000 at most to the Mall.
By the way, I wonder how many were actually gay. The word from the media is that most of the marchers were college kids. I wonder how many were straight, and “bisexual” and “pansexual.” Not that they’re unwelcome or anything, but I wonder how many gay people were at that march. We’ll never know, given that we’ve got a bunch of people trying to lie about the total crowd estimate.
Old Timer
And they also have photos – and you can see how far it stretches
Yup, all the way to the reflecting pool, with big gaps in the crowd.
Iwasthere
O.T…
You’re right. CNN is actually run by Cleve Jones and David Mixner and the rest of the march steering committee, all of whom are pulling strings and cooking the press reports to deny the truths you know to be self-evident.
It must be hard to be so bitter. And in that regard I feel for you. But on the other hand, change is coming – why not be part of it… if, in fact, you want it to come.
By the way – my guess that the men kissing were probably gay. Although to be honest, I didn’t ask. The women kissing were probably gay, too. But again, I didn’t ask. But if there’s another march, and if in fact you do live in D.C. – you should check it out, and you can see for yourself.
You might also learn that it’s as easy to smile as it is to scowl. In fact, it might even be easier.
Bri
If anyone else here missed half the thing, you can watch it here:
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/10/11/HP/A/24091/National+Equality+March+in+Washington.aspx
Hope that URL works.
p.s. Old Timer needs to get over himself. What’s the point of continually shooting something down? I think 20k, if that is the correct estimate, is an embarrassing number – but there’s no point in getting your panties in a twist over it. Move on.
Old Timer
There were people here talking about 2 million gay people within a two-hour drive of D.C., half of whom were going to attend your 10,000-20,000 person march. Others said half a million. Now you have others claiming a quarter million, but it keeps ratcheting down. The highest claim I’m seeing now is maybe 100,000.
Look, just tell the truth. You got 10,000-20,000 people on a holiday weekend. And an endorsement from Lady Gaga. I’m sure she’ll do wonders for the ballot questions in Maine and Washington State, neither of which any of you will do anything for.
See, actually DOING anything isn’t what you’re about. It’s about the ILLUSION of doing anything. It’s much easier to pretend that you’re doing something, isn’t it?
Swellster
Andy Towle is reporting 200,000 to 250,000
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/10/interview-lady-gaga-at-the-national-equality-march.html
Who should we believe? A bitter bunch of do nothings? or a group of people who actually attended?
I really do not understand all of the bitchiness here. Why did you people want this to fail? Even if you didn’t support the effort, why wouldn’t you just shut up and and stay home? How does being right help our cause?
I could not attend because I was on business travel, I also am not convinced that it was the best use of resources, but I am certainly not going to sit back and piss on other people’s effort. It is not productive … it’s selfish and bitchy. If you didn’t want to go … just shut the fuck up and clap for those who did.
Old Timer
Towle says “the police” gave him that number, but it’s reported nowhere else on the Internet. In the comment thread he is contradicted by a number of people who were there and who say is was 10,000 to 20,000 people. And all you have to do is watch the CSPAN footage or take a close look at the photos on CNN’s website and you know that there weren’t anywhere remotely close to a quarter-million there.
The Gay Numbers
It is funny- everyone is wrong but Old Timer. Tolworoad is wrong. CNN is wrong. The DC policy are wrong. The organizers are wrong. Everyone is wrong, but Old Timer. I am glad I bowed out of the other diary with you man, you are fucking nuts.
scott ny'er
latimes:
Reporting from Washington – Tens of thousands of gays, lesbians and supporters marched through the nation’s capital on Sunday in a festive, forceful call for equality, then gathered for a boisterous rally at the Capitol.
nytimes:
The organizers were rating the march a success, saying that at least 150,000 people had attended, though the authorities gave no official estimate of the crowd size.
usatoday:
WASHINGTON — Thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched on Washington Sunday, the first step in a national effort to grant gays and lesbians equal rights on everything from marriage to serving in the military.
cnn:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — As thousands gathered Sunday in Washington for a march and rally focused on gay rights issues, lawmakers showed that some of the demonstrators’ key goals face major obstacles ahead.
bbcnews:
Thousands of people have marched through Washington to demand greater civil rights for gay men and lesbians. The protest took place a day after President Barack Obama said he would repeal a ban on gay people serving openly in the military. …
washington post:
The day after President Obama recommitted himself to the cause of gay rights — albeit at a pace that is too slow for many — thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans and their straight allies streamed past the White House and …
The Gay Numbers
The part you left out Scott was that the unofficial numbers were above 100k. The DC police do not as a matter of policy give out official numbers since I believe an incident with the million man march.
The Gay Numbers
And his the WH view of gay activists:
http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/10/11/white-house-thinks-demonstrators-internet-left-fringe-who-need-to-take-off-the-pajamas/
David
Why are Organizers lying about attendance? CultureWarrior tells the truth. Like many have said, and I was also there, maybe 20,000. Towleroad and others qualified their numbers by saying “organizers claimed 200,000.” If you were there – you know the crowd was about 20,000.
http://www.culturewarrior.com/?p=963&dsq=19878983#comment-19878983
jason
Lady Ga Ga performed at the march? Talk about trivializing our rights!! Can’t we do any better than women who walk around in their undies and who simply prop up male heterosexual fantasy?
scott ny'er
OK. That culturewarrior link was funny. Very snarky.
It deserves to be hotlinked again.
http://www.culturewarrior.com/?p=963&dsq=19878983#comment-19878983
David
Michael Petrelis is suggesting the same thing about organizers inflating their numbers. The consensus seems to be “less than 20,000.” Media that DID NOT take estimates from Organizers are saying “thousands.”
Petrelis Files: http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2009/10/numbers-game-crowd-estimates-by-media.html
Old Timer
Thanks for the link, David. The pictures are especially good.
scott ny'er
I’m not taking sides here but I like the truth. And it does seem like it’s far below the 100s that some are stating.
There’s got to be some peeps tweeting stuff like, “I’m here. I’m queer. But where the eff is everyone else!”. I know that’s what I’d be doing. And then I’d go back to cheering and showing support.
Andrew
Several friends went to the March – they were surprised at how small the crowd was. They don’t think it was more than 10,000.
Organizers don’t help themselves by lying. There will be satellite photos available tomorrow that will be enlarged and the people will be actually counted.
Old Timer
There will be satellite photos available tomorrow that will be enlarged and the people will be actually counted.
One by one, no doubt!
The Gay Numbers
Scott- I like the truth too, which is why I mentioning the unofficial estimate by the DC police. Why would they lie considering they can not be held to the number anymore?
Old Timer
I mentioning the unofficial estimate by the DC police.
Mentioning? More like “making it up.” There was no D.C. police estimate. The D.C. police has no crowd estimation abilities. Besides, all you have to do is look at the photographs and video on line and on CSPAN and you can see that the Equality children’s march was, in kiddie speak, an “epic fail.”
Oh sure, they felt all warm ‘n gooey, sort of like the high school drama club after they put on the upteeth “Flashdance” or whatever the obligatory musical is these days. (When I was a kid, the super-stagey Drama types did “Jesus Christ Superstar.”) The parents and teachers would pat ’em on the head and tell them how good it was, and they’d actually believe it.
The Gay Numbers
“As far as the attendance of the March goes, the police gave us a number of between 200,000 and 250,000. The turn-out of young people was spectacular and inspiring.”
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/10/interview-lady-gaga-at-the-national-equality-march.html
this information is easily verifiable if it were a lie since one could ask for the police official name to confirm that is indeed the information they received. It would be an odd lie to tell under the circumstances.
I know Old Timer is a troll who has been attacking anyone who disagrees with President Obama and attempted hijack other diaries trying to label gay rights activists as fringe.
However, I am posting the information for others like Scott who do not seem to be trolling. The fact is it sounds like this is not just an estimate that is made up by the officials of the march itself. It is something that is coming from police sources. Now, maybe the police are wrong, or maybe the march leaders are lying, but, like I said, that’s an odd lie to make considering it is easy to verify and people like Old Timer are more than willing to attack gay groups.
The Gay Numbers
By the way, a quick follow up- these MSM sources that others are touting as evidence- the thing is they did the reverse with the Birthers. They claimed there were several hundred thousand in attendance, but the police unofficial estimates were in the tens of thousands. I guess it comes down to do you think the police in both instances were lying, and if so, why would they lie?
Old Timer
Once again, “Gay Numbers,” who has been making shit up constantly, makes it up again. For starters, Towleroad didn’t source the “D.C. police,” as “Numbers” claimed. He mentioned “police.” There are about 20 different police forces with jurisdiction in D.C., and without a more specific reference, Towleroad’s supposed number can’t be sourced to anyone.
Secondly, Towleroad isn’t an unbiased source. Like Fox News and the teabaggers, Towleroad was a promoter of the Equality debacle. Any facts potentially in dispute need an independent source, which “Numbers” hasn’t provided.
Finallly, photos on the Internet and video shot by CSPAN make short work of any claim of 200,000 to 250,000 attendees. “Numbers” knows it’s bullshit, yet repeats it. Numerous people who attended the event have come forward in various places to say that the crowd was no more than 20,000 and probably much less.
Stop making it up, fanboi.
The Gay Numbers
Wow, you are really nuts. Like I said, if the march organizers are lying it is easy to verify given their statement regarding unofficial police statements means they had to talk to someone else to get this number- 150k in a quick google search appears a lot but again I can not verify it. We do not even need to go through all this random shit about aerial photos considering they can produce or not the names of their contacts with the DC PD. The whole let’s check aerial photos is just so crazy I am not even sure where to start. It is like that crazy shit that right did when they tried to discredit Dan Rather with the document they claimed was a forgery. Totally ape throwing poo crazy.
I guess the point is to sow doubt so that you can somehow support President Obama with this crazy talk? I hope you have some other goal other than talking crazy. At least Scott was talking facts.
I can not at this point understand what you get out of lying so much. In the other diary, you claimed to be an older gay man posting here. I know that I am up this much because I am working a job, taking care of a sick relative and working on building a business outside of my job, but if you an old guy as you tried to suggest, you are a really odd one staying up throughout the day and night to argue over crowds at a march that you claim is insignificant. This is like the oddness out of the White House tonight where they claim we are all the fringe, but they seem to be spending an unusual amount of time on what they claim are unimportant people.
For the record to other, and I am assuming you realized this, but just in case, I am pointing out the conflicting data in which some say 150k. Like I said in the prior post, I can not verify this, but it seems odd to make up a number from a source that is easily refutable.
However, like someone else said of you Old Timer, you are just a crazy troll trying to get attention away from President Obama’s lack of action so I will leave it to others to check it out for themselves rather than arguing with the top statements about march that you are making.
At the end of the day, who cares? I was not in favor of the march because it was haphazzardly set up. Still I appreciate the activism. The numbers are not what this about because Dan Choi, Judy Sheppard, David Mixner, Julian Bond, the NAACP and others were in attendance or supported this, and those people speak for the importance of DADT repeal, etc. more than your crazy ramblings and sychophancy do.
Wow, really, really crazy for me to be talking with some one this nuts so I will stop now that my business research is done for tonight. You can continue to post at this point. I am going to remain disciplined enough to ignore you crazy ass.
David
I spoke with a few more friends that attended. Nobody can believe it was more than 20,000. The organizers are lying. They’ll probably lie about the funds raised, too. We’ve been here before.
schlukitz
Joe Sudbay (DC) of AmericaBlog said on Monday Morning Open Thread:
This was quite a weekend. The National Equality March exceeded all expectations. I don’t think anyone expected 150,000+. The teabaggers had half of that number and the media fawned over them for days. The marchers for equality weren’t as vicious and nasty as the teabaggers, but are as determined.
http://www.americablog.com/
But, of course, Old Timer, who wasn’t there, is the ultimate authority on exactly how many people were present.
Like the Pope, Old Timer’s word is infallible and beyond dispute.
*Sarcasm font on*
Terry
MSNBC said there were 200,000 people in attendance – but since no one got an official count, we’ll never know, and it’s beside the point. The point was to show solidarity and a readiness to be called to arms. The naysayers that have posted since the parade are like the people who don’t get sofas to vote in elections but have all the time in the world to sit and pontificate online as to why things are the way they are.
Yet the numbers of participants does not matter much, nor do the ‘wet blankets’ that always want to rain on people’s parades; the marchers yesterday who took to the streets demanding equality were given a symbol of hope higher than any politicians promise: a rainbow in the clear-blue sky encircling the sun minutes before the parade started. I don’t know how many people saw it, but it was there. I saw it and pointed it out to everyone I could while it lasted. Everything is in divine order, but that was one of those moments that few who experienced it would ever refute.
Lastly, to those who say marches are pointless, I cannot disagree more. You cannot put that many flamers together and not start some kind of fire! Now it’s up to us to keep it going.
EQUAL RIGHTS NOW!
Jonathan
All of you are missing the point of this march. As the organizers repeated for weeks prior to the march, this was not about organizing to march but marching to organize. While the HIV rally was really small (disappointing) there were numerous training rallies held in the days before the march that were extremely well attended. The issue here was to get a grassroots effort going to go back to each of the 435 congressional districts to start working locally for federal change. The young LGBT community present was VERY inspiring…I’m talking 18-21 year olds who are more fired up and eloquent than many my own age.
I was at the rally and the march. 10-20k seems way to small. While the west lawn never filled up, the line of marchers could be seen stretching all the way up Pennsylvania Ave. to the White House. Many in the staging area were planning on remaining at the White House to protest throughout the rally, while others only came for the march and then immediately got back on buses and headed home. I met people from DC, NY, NC, WV, IL, CA, GA, FL, MD, and even as far away as AK. I would put the numbers at about 100k or perhaps a bit less.
And OLDTIMER, your arguments here were made at the march by many. Getting Maine and Washington in the win column is a priority for many. Many of the NY speakers urged their fellow NYers to donate time and money for Maine, since there is not currently a fight in NY.
Overall, glad I went. It was a start. And a chant heard over and over that day was “Fight in the streets as well as the Suites”. We need both.
Jonathan
Oh, and one more thing….
those reports of “thousands” from the news sources like the AP were written BEFORE the march even took place. I saw them online before I even left my hotel….
shaggytomato
I’m sorry, but why are we discussing this?
As a person who has been uninvolved in this discussion until a few minutes ago when I stumbled upon this page, I have to say that I’m actually shocked at the juvenile attitudes of (whom I assume are) adults.
Who really cares how many folks were there? Does it matter? Do numbers really mean anything? I was there and to be honest I don’t give a rats rear end how many people were showing their support beside me. I just care that there WERE people showing their support beside me. Part of the acronym, allies, or otherwise.
It is my personal belief that a demonstration like that is NOT for the benefit of the administration at all. Not remotely. It won’t make one iota of difference in what happens at a federal level. I do believe, however, that it is a demonstration for OUR community and for the rest of the country to see and say “oh, wow. So I guess these folks are pretty passionate about this then”.
We’re at a junction between worlds right now. Our youth can’t even BEGIN to conceive of the struggles their forefathers fought against (and the rights they fought for and WON that they take for granted). This march for me as a person still technically considered a ‘youth activist’ was about inspiring other people like myself to take up the mantle of The Greats, like Harvey Milk and Cleve Jones (who was breathtaking to see speak). If we want ANY movements to continue we have to give the youth a reason to fight. Try inspiring a 17 year old with a sit-in at a congressional hearing. Yeah, about as effective as a wooden sponge. Youth like visibility, they like being heard. Marching is the perfect way to give them a chance to make an investment in the future of this cause.
So just to wrap up, why in the world would our community shoot itself in the foot by arguing amongst itself? Why can’t we just agree that “any progress is still progress” and accept every march, demonstration, or positive change whether locally or nationally as a step in the right direction for the whole community? Divided we fall, folks. I really cannot wrap my head around why members of our community would argue something as petty as number of attendees. Its just such a childish ‘my march is bigger than yours’ mentality. Shocking to me.
Thank you for the opportunity to get a better picture of what our community can be like behind closed doors. It makes me very thankful that my local community is the way it is; supportive and very much a family. I feel for all you folks who have communities that operate otherwise.
schlukitz
Co-sign, SHAGGYTOMATO!
Well said.
Amber Rose Scarlett
You’re an idiot. OF COURSE numbers matter. Do you think anything would be accomplished if ten people showed up. Also, knowledge is power,so KNOWING how many people were there IS important. How can you even ask that???