Great news if you are struggling to stay healthy while HIV-positive and thought you had a friend in Cleve Jones: He’s dropped any plans to have your back in October at the National Equality March. (UPDATED. See below.) Also worth mentioning: There will be no direct demands for the the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, marriage equality legislation, or killing the Defense of Marriage Act.
Jones, whose rise to activism fame rode squarely on the shoulders of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, scrapped a planned AIDS vigil that was going to go down Oct. 10 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. How come? Because, says co-organizer (and there are a lot!) Kip Williams, they couldn’t get their act together. Officially, according to Williams (pictured, below): “There were a number of organizations considering taking the lead. In the end, no one had the resources or capacity to step up.” (You’ll recall that Jones previously turned his back on AIDS-y things, including the AIDS Quilt.)
Uh huh. So what will take place in the vigil’s place on Saturday? Training sessions with HRC and NGLTF. Same diff!
Critics might suggest this is what you get for not giving yourselves enough time to plan a national march on Washington. Oh, those critics!
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.
But here’s the real rub: Lest you thought you were traveling to D.C. to demand marriage equality, an end to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, or the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, well, YOU ARE WRONG.
That’s because as as a subsidiary of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization (currently WhiteKnot.org, but “eventually” the Tides Foundation) that accepts tax-deductible donations, NEM’s parent organization Equality Across America cannot legally “influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities,” the Bay Area Reporter reminds us.
Except, uh, that’s exactly what Equality Across America’s website is doing! EAA’s site says its “One Single Demand” is “equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. … Equal Protection encompasses many issues, including: Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) so that every marriage in every state has the same federal rights. Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell so that LGBT persons may serve in the military openly and with the same rights as their straight counterparts. An end to workplace discrimination for everyone with an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that protects everyone.”
That, uh, sort of sounds like a direct call for legislative decisions to us.
But to clear up any confusions, Williams says attendees will be “marching for full federal equality in all matters governed by civil law,” and not for stupid things like marriage equality or ending DADT or passing ENDA. Of course, he has to say those things, or Equality Across America and Tides would be violating federal tax code. And Jones doesn’t want to repeat history.
But wait a second: Isn’t this sort of thing exactly what we’re accusing groups like the National Organization for Marriage of doing? Fronting tax-exempt money (from the Mormon Church) to influence legislation?
Now, if you still plan on attending, what can you expect to see? Aside from lots of portable toilets? Well, President Obama has been invited, but there’s no word on whether he’s coming or, you know, not. Meanwhile, with a month to go before the march, Williams says he hasn’t yet even spoken to legislators like Reps. Barney Frank and Jared Polis about attending. But he’ll do that. Soon. Ish.
UPDATE: The AIDS group Housing Works, along with Campaign to End AIDS, says it will stage a HIV/AIDS vigil on Oct. 10 at the Ellipse.
D-Sun
So it’s a march for equality where nobody will actually be demanding any sort of real equality?
WTF is this shit?
DeAnimator
@D-Sun: An excuse for a bunch of people to hook up and party under the pretense of ‘equality march’.
BriGRed
Even if there is some truth to some of your criticisms, your snark and negativity turns people off to the message. It’s much easier to tear something down than build something up. I know Queerty is just trying to drive traffic by being the Fox News of queer blogs but the old saying remains true: if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Queerty, you’re part of the problem.
TJ
Well, good to see our leaders are still spineless and without cause or conviction– I was beginning to get a little worried there!
Brian
I’m confused. Why are we still talking about this train-wreck? It’s a non-event. Unfortunately it wastes resources, makes us look insignificant and will end up investigated. It is embarrassing.
It’s time for Cleve and his dopey accomplices to postpone or CANCEL this charade.
Joel
Helpful political hint: Members of Congress usually schedule more than a month out. Kind of busy people. Past due time to pick up the phone or dash off an email.
Andrew
TO: KIP WILLIAMS
Quick, pull the plug. Start planning something for 2010 so you can make arrangements and have a March the community can be proud of. Please.
Cleve probably misrepresented a lot of things (THAT’S HIS STYLE) but you can bring this mess to a halt. Do some accounting. Get some input. Plan something. Give the March idea some substance.
Please.
edgyguy1426
Queerty, keep up the snark. S’why I’m here!
Bill Perdue
Democrats are still trying to sabotage the MoW to please the DNC and that homohating bigot in the White House.
And it’s still not working.
Joel
Talking about something is “sabotage”? Was the community “sabotaging” LGBT orgs when they criticized them in the aftermath of Prop 8 in California?
OhYeah
The Uncle Toms for the Dems. are NOT going to stop this march. Deal with it.
Mark
Enough already. PULL THE PLUG! This is a mistake.
Somebody please confirm that Cleve Jones isn’t making any money from this stupid event. We know that happened with the Aids Quilt.
Sanity Check
This is silly, and Williams AND the B.A.R. needs to get their act together and their facts straight.
If it were impossible to lobby for specific legislation as a 501(c(3) SLDN would have lost their tax-exempt status years ago.
ActUpAgain
Let’s not wait for the investigation of this very unprofessional LGBT Event. Let’s halt the effort now and get some answers.
David Mixner where are you? This is going to blow up in our faces. Please do something.
JD
@Sanity Check: Thanks for bring this up. We should have been more clear.
The IRS says:
But this is still a little confusing. So let’s turn to ASAE for more clarification:
In sum: 501(c)3 organizations CAN lobby, but when it comes to *spending money* on it, the rules become more strict, including how much cash can be spent.
Which means if Equality Across America’s budget for the National Equality March is $200,000, EAA would need to raise more than $1 million for an annual total in order to use the march as a lobbying platform. Things grow more confusing, however, because EAA not its own 501(c)3, but is a subsidiary of WhiteKnot.org at the moment.
Williams must know more than we about which side of the tax code EAA falls on, because he’s make it expressly clear the march will NOT be a lobbying event.
Sanity Check
@JD:
Thanks, it IS really confusing, particularly if you’re not a lawyer who specializes in tax exempt issues — which I certainly am not.
I HOPE their salvation is in the fact that they aren’t collecting/spending money FOR THESE EVENTS through EAA but through two other 501s. As I understand it, White Knot in the short term and Tides Center eventually [though someday EAA will have their own status but, again as I’ve heard, not until after the march].
SO, assuming the money spent on the march does not exceed the acceptable percentages of the total budgets of White Knot/Tides, then I guess they’ll be fine.
And I’m hoping Williams was just confused for what’s the point of such a march if NOT to be legislation specific?
But frankly, the larger question for me is how does our asking these questions publicly serve the larger LGBT community? Do we really want to risk exposing groups that we do like such as SLDN who, hypothetically, might not be entirely 501 regs kosher to jeopardy just because we don’t like the March?
Again, just using them as an example, I have no idea what percentage of SLDN’s money goes to giving legal advice to gay servicemembers versus literal or symbolic lobbying. But, again, frankly I don’t care.
Charles Merrill
@ActUpAgain:
I agree. The march so far is like meeting someone in a DuPont Circle gay bar after a night of drinking and loosely making a verbal date to see each other on the Mall next week. See ya ! We need professional mature leaders to make a solid program, call lawmakers, meet with LGBT D.C. groups. Director Kip Williams is young, a favorite of Cleve’s, probably hung and full of cum, but can he put together a march for civil rights? So far, he can’t make a phone call to Jared Polis.
ActUpAgain
@JD: Kip Williams has NO IDEA what he’s talking about. He is way out of his league. The whole MARCH “bunch” is clueless. It has gone from curious, to bad and now worse.
I’m disgusted. This has to be rescheduled. Now.
ActUpAgain
@Sanity Check: Shouldn’t this stuff been figured out BEFORE announcing a March on Washington?
Cleve Jones is a self-serving fool.
ActUpAgain
@Charles Merrill: I agree. This is like Cleve throwing a little party and not something serious about LGBT Equality.
My friends in Philly emailed they weren’t going anymore. I don’t think Cleve will postpone this mess until he’s convinced he is the ONLY one going.
What a mess.
Mark C.
I learned today that Cleve Jones hired a young guy to be his “executive assistant.” His name is Tanner Efinger. He had told me he was a “volunteer” last month. Google him if you care. It is just the latest question for the March organizer Cleve Jones. What exactly is this March for? Where’s the money? Why do you need an assistant?
mark snyder
I’m boycotting this march and I encourage our community to do so, and act locally now to rebuild our gutted infrastructure and fight for healthcare reform. It is local action, and affordable/free healthcare that will do more for our community than any lgbt legislation right now. Step up.
ChristopherH
Non-profits “may not attempt to influence legislation”…
But there is no viable legislation pending–so there’s nothing to influence.
I know… the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 1283) and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 (S. 1584/H.R. 3017) have both been referred to committee… but how many bills actually make it OUT of committee when there are no fierce advocates to grease the wheels?
christophe
@mark snyder: BOYCOTTING THE MARCH HUH? Well That will certainly show all the anti-gay groups and the Republicans how disorganized the gay community is, and how NONE OF US can seem to agree or get along with each other on ANYTHING. If you don’t want to go, DON’T, but please, don’t be STUPID and try to PROTEST the March, you will only be in the company of Bigots
christophe
@mark snyder: What a wonderful Idea, then you can be the token gay for all the bigoted boycotters and look like the FOOL YOU REALLY ARE!!
ActUpAgain
@christophe: Don’t blame the “Gay Community.”
Blame Cleve Jones. He’s the idiot that started something he couldn’t finish and has used part of the money to hire boy-toys as “executive assistants.” This is the guy who said he only needed $50,000 when he launched the idea – now, he has raised over $200,000 and the event is a BIG EMBARRASSMENT.
The “Emperor has no clothing!”
David Mixner needs to step in and cancel this March.
Brian
@mark snyder: I agree. Spend your time and money locally.
We don’t need to boycott the March – nobody is going. It’s become an HRC-Cleve Jones mess.
Where’s Mixner? Save us.
Tanner
@ActUpAgain:
Hi Christophe – this is Tanner. Cleve’s unpaid and hard working assistant. Please feel free to get to know me before calling me names.
Also – David Mixner is a huge supporter of the march.
Queery is a bunch of dramatic liars. If they want to do any kind of real reporting they should. I wonder if they – or all of you fully know – how much they are cutting our community down. Doing more hard then good.
Anyone loser can be a blogger. It takes an honest and smart and caring person to reach out and help people. That’s what this march is doing. Get to know what we are creating – our transparency is obvious.
What do you want to know? and I’ll tell you.
In struggle,
Tanner
Josh H
This is crazy! Absolutely crazy. I can’t believe what I am hearing in here. Stop throwing up excuses and come stand up for OUR rights….. GO MARCH FOR OUR RIGHTS.
If your afraid that someone is going to misspend the money, then don’t donate. Who cares who speaks, as long as we have EACH OTHER to fight for what is right. These are all just stupid excuses. The point is we need to COME TOGETHER! So stop bickering and the name calling and get off your buts for 1 day. Come and sand up together for our rights. This isn’t just about marriage, this isn’t just about adoption rights, this just isn’t about hate crimes legislation.
IT IS ABOUT COMPLETE AND TOTAL EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW…… SIMPLE AS THAT…..STAND UP!
Jash
@Mark: you misspelled “AIDS”.
Jash
@christophe: I agree.
Tanner
@ActUpAgain:
my apologies… not christophe at all.
I mean the one who hides behind the name “ActUpAgain”.
Jash
@DeAnimator: You are ridiculous.
NYCAgain
I would like to know who wrote this piece. @Queerty – please provide bylines. Without them, how are your readers expected to believe that this website is trustworthy or newsworthy?
IOWABoy
@ActUpAgain: I have plenty of contacts across the country who are organizing and activating their communities. There is good work being done here. The “facts” in this “report” were not reviewed before they were posted. This is dangerous and unprofessional at best, and downright snarky. What is this website’s damage?
Sean
Hmm, interesting response from the March and Instinct Magazine:
http://instinctmagazine.com/blog/not-all-queer-is-clear-the-misreporting-of-queerty-com
Kimberly
@Tanner: Wow,Tanner.
You’re Cleve Jones’ assistant and you come on and bash bloggers? The same bloggers that you might need to organize a march?
Bloggers have done more to shed light on LGBT issues than this march surely will do.
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
Calling bloggers losers surely won’t help you get more positive press.
Wow. Simply, wow.
Timmy G
I think Queerty is run by NOM. No self respecting gay rag would bash the community as consistently as Queerty does. BOOO!!!
Bill Perdue
@Kimberly: @Brian: @ActUpAgain: @mark snyder: @Joel: To repeat “Democrats are still trying to sabotage the MoW to please the DNC and that homohating bigot in the White House.
And it’s still not working.“
Sean Chapin
I am a bit concerned with the fractious style of reporting that I have been seeing lately on Queerty.com, and especially concerning the National Equality March. I understand the legitimate concerns raised with respect to the March, and I believe that it is important that we use our powers and abilities given to us responsibly towards engaging in open and constructive dialog in bringing about a greater understanding of the March. I do not see any value in disseminating information with an overly-brash and sensationalistic approach not unlike reading tabloid magazines at supermarket check-out stands, and I believe that such an approach could cause undue damage to the March, a significant vehicle among a number of vehicles that are moving our greater LGBT Civil Rights Movement forward. Our LGBT civil rights movement matters and should matter to us compared to most things in our lives, and if we face conflicts within our lives that may hinder our ability to treat this movement with the respect that it deserves, then we would do best to resolve those conflicts as constructively as we can.
Guest
I’m going to throw out a little idea. It’s an idea that I have only, and I am not aware of this bearing any truth whatsoever, but there is a point to this idea:
What if there was an organized effort underway for a March on Washington this October, and the effort, say led by Cleve Jones and involving many others, was waiting for the right time to announce the March, having the March fully developed beforehand and presenting it in a complete manner in its announcement to the public. As this effort was in the process of development, David Mixner came out and announced his call for the March on Washington as an individual independent of any established organizing effort towards a March, and saying that it would be held in November. This announcement now suddenly creates a conflict because the Cleve Jones-led organized effort planned for it to be in October, and in order to salvage their efforts, Cleve Jones came out immediate after Mixner’s announcement to publicly support the idea of a March and suggest for it to be in October instead, and there went the opportunity for the Jones-led effort to wait for the optimal point to announce the march because Mixner made an call with no development backing his call.
I have made this scenario up in my head, and I am not saying that this has happened at all. I have no idea what has happened behind the scenes. My point though is that we should not be so quick to jump to conclusions when we may not know the full behind-the-scenes story behind this overall effort. More damage can be potentially done the farther we jump.
Mark
Conference call this evening. Looking at “alternative dates” for the March. One idea was a “May Day” March. It seems the direction is now for a Spring 2010 event.
Mixner is calling the shots. Cleve is pissed. They discussed that it looks like only 20,000 might attend. It needs to be a million (Mixner) to show some strength. Cleve said “it’s not the number of people, but their conviction.” Mixner reminded Cleve that the media will comment about the number of people.
Financial questions are still being discussed. A new attorney was hired to help “sort it out”. Cleve has had more than $10,000 in expenses related to the March and they are trying to figure out how to categorize them.
I am not trying to hurt the idea to have a March, but this deal is a mess. They (Cleve and his boy-toys) are in way over their heads. Mixner is fixing it.
Andrew
Wake up David. It’s over.
Brian
Queerty has certainly done a great job on its smear campaign against the National Equality March. With all of the slandering that it has been engaged in, one has to wonder whether they really believe the march is destined to fail, or if they want it to. All those on the anti-NEM, anti-Cleve Jones bandwagon evidently want this thing to fail. They criticize specific demands not being voiced from the front (even while the acknowledge the legal constraints which would make that a reckless move). People will be at the march demanding things like ENDA, repealing DOMA and DADT, but EAA can’t make those specific demands, nor should it have to. The demand for full rights encompasses all of those things and more. It’s up to individual activists and groups to raise those specific demands at the march. Sit back, do nothing, and blog away about how you can’t wait to be vindicated by a failed march, and you’ll be doing a great disservice to the LGBT community and all people fighting against oppression and for equal rights. But here’s another crazy idea: instead of whining about the march plans, get involved and be a part of shaping it, both before and at the march. Don’t expect a few groups at the top to do it all by themselves and then criticize them for not putting together an HIV awareness vigil for you. Get organized and put it together yourself with others, and conjoin your efforts with the mass mobilization. The notion that we need many months in advance to build a march is ridiculous – unless you are looking for some corporate charade with all the superfluous bells and whistles. In the 60s mass mobilizations were often assembled in a matter of weeks — and they didn’t even have internet and text messaging back then. The enormous mass march on May First in 2006 in L.A. for immigrant rights, consisting of nearly 1 million people, was put together in response to the anti-immigrant Sensenbrenner Bill which passed in the House a mere four months earlier. The National Equality March was similarly announced a little over 4 months before the actual date of the march. This march is happening and it’s going to be huge and historic. If you’d prefer to sit at home on your computer and disparage the mobilization with smug arrogance, if your prefer to not be a part of this historic demonstration, you will risk regretting such a decision after the march — but that’s your prerogative. The march will happen with or without you.
Brian
(…And, yes, if you’ve ever been to a mass demonstration anticipating thousands of people — which evidently many of the NEM critics have not — you do need toilets. It’s unclear why that’s a point of controversy for Queerty)
Andrew
@Brian: How much are you being paid to support this ridiculous March? Many people have raised very specific concerns about Cleve Jones and the March. You jumping around with your pom-poms doesn’t change any minds.
Don’t blame Queerty. Cleve Jones and David Mixner made this mess.
Mark
Nobody is going. We’re too smart for this.
Brian
@Andrew: @Mark: How much have I been paid? Well let me break out my calculator. Total: $0. Yeah, you folks are real smart. I guess it takes a lot of intellect to concoct these wild conspiracy theories about how minions are being paid to distribute propaganda for the march. Believe it or not (“SHOCK”), some people are actually motivated by principles and ideals, not financial gain. But if it makes you feel better, keep entertaining yourself with such bullshit accusations. Here’s an interesting thought: how about actually engaging with the specific arguments I made rather than dismiss them with unrelated, unsubstantiated crap! Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re too smart (read: stubbornly arrogant) for that. But I admire your persistence and dedication to dividing and demobilizing the LGBT community — and deriding the NEM as some pet project of a personality you have political problems with, rather than the genuine grassroots mobilization it is, being organized broadly within communities around the country. FYI: I know a number of activists on the DC National Equality March Host Committee, and I hate to disappoint you but they aren’t receiving any directives from Cleve Jones. I know, isn’t that weird? But, again, if it helps you feel better, keep telling yourself that he has supreme veto power over the march plans. But seriously, I dare you to actually engage and counter my specific arguments, rather than smugly dismiss them as the work of some paid flack (who happens to be neither). Nobody is going to the march? We shall see about that. (And good luck dealing with your embarrassment afterward).
Lloyd Baltazar
Why does Queerty keep doing this. I have never seen a more arrogant website than Queerty. This website must be filled with bitter miserable queens who are intent on making other gay people miserable.
I am beginning to wonder if Queerty is actually in support of LGBT rights. I cannot believe the editor idiots who peruse these articles would allow such negative information to be published to destroy the National Equality March.
How small and miserably pathetic of Queerty. I am PERSONALLY offended by all the trash they write against Madonna, who is considered our queen and a legendary Gay icon in the community.
But bashing the National Equality March effort campaign is a whole another level. SHAME ON YOU, Queerty staff.
Andrew
@Brian: You MISS the POINT: Many “bloggers” have raised valid points about the March. Many believe it is an ineffective wast of resources and others believe Cleve Jones is not trustworthy. This coupled with the FACT that most of us don’t know a single person that is participating means the NOM is in trouble.
Recently, the alarm was sounded warning that the NOM would probably end up embarrassing the gay community. David Mixner was asked to pull the plug and reschedule.
Valid concerns have been raised and NOM organizers only respond with a blanket “anti-gay” accusation. I’m sorry, you’ll need to do better than that.
This ill-conceived March should be postponed until somebody can provide some idea of “how” it is supposed to benefit the gay community.
Andrew
NOM = MOW
Thanks, Freud.
Andrew
Announcement Wednesday.
M Shane
I don’t know why you dimwits are always claiming that Equal Protections in the 14 amendment, which is used to apply to matter related to rights, in the Bill of rights, however Marriage has never had the status of being a right, but a social contract so why try to fool people?
Sometime the truth needs to be told and the matter of relationships of all kind called for what they are and made an entirely secular matter. That is the only solution that is close to the intent of the founders. Letting religions determine that they would be “sacred’ fetishes is what has to be escaped.
Then if you want to engage in religious wars do that if rlikgion is you real interest. It gets tirresopme letting other gay sbe lied to.
Greg
There really is no point to this march if there is no lobbying taking place as part of it. Why bring all these people to Washington if you aren’t going to send them to the offices of the people that can affect the change you want? It makes no sense.
All this is, is a waste of money that could be used to help Maine with it’s Marriage Equality battle or to repeal Prop 8 or whatever. Anything but this. And why? All because of one man’s ego that started the ball rolling.
If this community wants to progress any further, we need to start spending our money and picking our battles more wisely. We also need to have real leaders in our community, not self appointed ones driven and blinded by their own egos. Only then will we start being the organized well oiled machine that we need to be.
Bill Perdue
@Greg: There really is no point to lobbying the collection of mendacious homohaters in the House and Senate at all. HRC, LCR and the Stonewall types have been lobbying without letup since the 1980’s and haven’t produced one piece of legislation that actually passed.
We have a tiny number of real supporters in the House like Solis and Kucinich, and they’re ineffective because they’re Democrats. Frank and Baldwin don’t count – they sold us down the river. Frank authored the Chamber of Commerce/Republican version of ENDA and Baldwin caved and voted for it. I can’t think of anyone in the Senate.
Some Congressmembers vote for us once in a while but none of them are strong allies. They can’t be; they depend on cooperate funding and they pander to bigots. Many Democrats and Republicans are quiet about their christer homohating but consistently vote against us and for garbage like Clintons DOMA and DADT.
The point of the march is to mobilize and organize our community to break to the left, independent of the appeasers and collaborators of bigotry in the White House and Congress. It’s already a success.
Right centrist Democrats, and there are no other kind, don’t have a chance in hell of stopping it or the burgeoning radicalization of the LGBT communities it represents.
And if you want to engage in petty personal attacks lay off the march organizers and save your venom for bigots like the one named Obama who helped the mormons, catholics and southern baptists torpedo same sex marriage when he bellowed the bigots war cry “gawd’s in the mix”.
(I do completely agree that we need an elected leadership but to to serve a nationwide grassroots activist organization with a mass action perspective and a cutting edge program.)
Bill Perdue
@M Shane: Same sex marriage is a right if we say it is and if we fight for it.
Who gives a rat’s ass what lawyers think. Many of them are legal prostitutes for big business, all of them are ivory tower pedants, and only a tiny few can be counted on to defend civil rights, civil liberties or working people.
What’s the difference between an attorney and a pit bull?
Pit bulls don’t have a Rolex.
Activist
Seriously, some of you fuckers should get off this website and actually learn some basic shit. Will the lgbt liberation movement be undermined by catty gossip?
http://equalityacrossamerica.org/about
Our One Single Demand:
Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. We will accept no less and will work until it is achieved. Equality Across America exists to support grassroots organizing in all 435 Congressional Districts to achieve full equality.
Equal Protection encompasses many issues, including:
Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) so that every marriage in every state has the same federal rights.
Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell so that LGBT persons may serve in the military openly and with the same rights as their straight counterparts.
An end to workplace discrimination for everyone with an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that protects everyone.
The right to adopt children and raise families like any other parents.
Hate Crimes legislation that includes LGBT people and protects us like any other targeted group.
Immigration reform that recognizes same-sex couples and ends the needless separation of families.
A comprehensive anti-bullying policy in our schools via the Safe Schools Improvement Act.
Chelsey
I think it’d be helpful to give you all the perspective of someone who is helping to organize the march.
I’m a student at the college of notre dame of maryland– a very *un*friendly place for LGBT people.
I just have to say that these criticisms are silly: Jones isn’t making a *single* demand about marriage or DOMA because full equality, NOW, encompasses all those singular demands. The problem with having one demand about a small aspect of LGBT rights (marriage, etc) is that once/if that demand is fulfilled, because we haven’t raised other demands in conjunction, people can easily say, “Geez, we gave these gays their marriage, what more do that want?!”– that is, making a single demand undermines our argument when we realize that marriage equality won’t make us equal in *all aspects of the law* and make other demands.
Yes, we’d have marriage equality, but how much does that *really* matter if our bosses can still fire us for being gay? If we can’t adopt children? If we can still be discharged for being gay?
This is why fighting for “equal rights under all aspects governed by law” is the best strategy. With this argument, if we win marriage, or DOMA, anything of the like, singularly, we can still pressure people *for the rest our rights* because our demand wasn’t *just* for DOMA to be repealed, or just for marriage, it was for equal rights, right now.
As long as LGBT people do not have equal rights in every aspect of the law, our struggle is not over. We can’t afford rest on the laurels of small, singular gains (which do affect lots of people) such as marriage, or DOMA, or DADT– instead, we need to fight and struggle with respect to *all* of these things, because *all* of these issues affect *all* people.
People would do well to remember that our struggle is a struggle for *civil* not “special” rights– and that when a people is repressed in *any* respect of the law, they are not free, and never can be.
The march for equality will be a historic event, if people want to fight for their rights instead of merely complaining about abuses– if people want to actually challenge those who ignore us or even condone violence against us, then these people need to come out and march, and after the march they need to continue to organize and fight against all oppressions.
The NEM is only the beginning.
S B
@BriGRed:
This march is about equality across the board. If you have a specific agenda, that’s your issue, but I’m marching because I want to be a FULL citizen of the U. S. I want marriage…I want hospital visitation…I want it all.
S B
Brandon
You know I won’t pretend to know everything or even much about the organization of this event. Though you seem to think you know all; your tone and methods of getting that point across on this blog are extremely juvenile and bitchy at that.
If you are so worried about it not happening or not being as effective in moving specific gay rights issues into the national spotlight and the forefront of consideration in the legislative process; step up and do it yourself!! I am so incredibly tired of snarky gay men behind computers blogging and bitching and complaining that nobody Is doing a good job in the gay rights movement. At least they are trying! What have you done to further gay rights other than critique others on their methods and efforts to do so. Shame on you for all the divisive, bitchy content on this site.
I for one will be marching and shouting to the rooftops in demands of my equal rights. In spite of any political, governmental red tape a non-profit has to operate under. In my opinion the organizers are setting the stage and it is our responsibility to step the fuck up and make it happen. So I’ll be there. And you can thank me and all the others there for your right to marry or join the military freely once we get there! That is if you can find anyone snarky or cinical enough to marry you!
Brandon
Linda
@BriGRed:
Thank god you said this! I was thinking the same thing. I’ve just about had it with the petty bickering and backstabbing…it almost seems like agent provacateur behavior.. Who knows…maybe it is. Grow up boys and learn to work and play together nicely. A little Unity for the cause please! Stop giving ammunition to our REAL enemies. Anyway you said it… if your not part of the solution you’re part of the problem. I’m 53 and came out in ’78….i ‘ve seen a lot of history in LGBT rights and been a part of a lot of history and i plan to be part of this history too. See you at the March!
Alicia
No, it was a march to demand FULL FEDERAL EQUALITY under the law.
Folks like Cleve Jones are raising the point that JUST marriage-equality, or JUST repealing DOMA, or JUST repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell are not the only thing we should be fighting for. But instead we are fighting for those things and everything else!
There are lots of people who are only educated about the fight for Marriage Equality and if/when their state gets it, they think that the fight is over and we’ve “won,” when firstly- not all 50 states have marriage equality, and secondly- marriage equality alone does not affect labor laws, for example, where LGBT people are discriminated against too.
Cleve Jones and others are raising the point that we can’t accept “fractions of equality” – SOME legislation in SOME states, or SOME counties, or SOME jurisdictions as “equal” because by definition, a “fraction” is not a “whole.”
Unless we FIGHT across the whole country for EQUALITY across the whole country we are just selling ourselves short. I think folks are just trying to change the terminology so our consciousness shifts to the bigger picture and legislators aren’t able to say, “oh, you wanted this one thing over there and made a fuss about it? Ok, we’ll give it to you. But joke’s on you- because you still don’t have ALLLLL this other stuff over here. But we won’t tell you that, because you think you’ve just won.”