SOUNDBITES — “Not stated in this article is the fact that on October 11, Congress is in recess, and so no one who goes to Washington would be able to speak with their elected officials. This is asinine. If showing our numbers is to represent power, it should be paired with direct action.” —Pam Spaulding, addressing one of many concerns about October’s planned march on Washington [PHB]
pam spaulding
‘On October 11, Congress is in recess, and so no one who goes to Washington would be able to speak with their elected officials’
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Douglas Gibson Jr
So talk to you representatives during summer recess and then attend the march in October!
Wolf
Jeez beat it with a stick till its dead.
You guys do know the March is a symbolic one right? Like the March in 65?
Trooper
What is to stop these people from lobbying their Congressmen/women in their own states? You make it sound like the only time one can possible do this is in Washington, D.C. and on this particular weekend! There are 362 other days in the year –
This event is planning on pulling in 435 delegates from every Congressional District in the United States. From there, they will be provided the tools on how to either support or remove from office, those that support or hurt our cause. Phone banking and canvassing tools, talking points, etc. How can this be a bad thing? The apathy of the LGBT people is sometimes disappointing… I mean, come on people! Do you see Barack honoring any of his campaign promises to us yet?? Get out of your chair and on a train/plane/car and be a part of history.
See you in Washington on Oct 10-11, 2009!!
InExile
@Douglas Gibson Jr: I agree with you, talk to your representatives in the summer and march in October.
There are always a million reasons NOT to do a march but there are far more reasons to do a march such as Prop 8, DADT, DOMA, ENDA, Hate Crimes legislation, and the civil unions President Obama has promised but not delivered. We must demand our full equality or it will never happen.
March October 11th!!!!!!!
dgz
@Wolf:
you’re right, marches are symbolic. but *we’re* not the target audience, the legislature is. otherwise, why have it in DC?
and y’all need to stop confusing apathy with discontent and frustration with “leadership.”
galefan2004
You don’t need a million reasons not to do a march. You just need one. They simply DO NOT work. They have never worked for any cause. They have never worked for gay rights. They didn’t even work for black rights. If MLK Jr wouldn’t have been killed no one would have even remembered the “I Have a Dream” speech that he gave. I also agree with DGZ that apathy should not be confused with frustration. The problem is that the gay and lesbian population are so completely differentiated that they are hard to unite under any one flag, and the truth is that if the leadership was completely different we would still have issues with it. It seems to me that most people want to do their own thing until it comes to time to actually do it. If you don’t like the leadership and you don’t like the march come up with something better and do it. No one is really stopping you from forming a smaller group in your community. No one really needs to teach you how to do so, its not rocket science. No one is stopping you from spreading the word about equality, no one is stopping you from organizing, no one is stopping you from contacting your legislator. We can do all those things, and we don’t need a leader to make us do it. However, there is no real reason to give money to HRC or any other “gay.inc” type of organization as compared to keeping the money in our own local community working on our own local issues.