12 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE MAY 14, 1993

Lesbians, gays, bis in the majority for one weekend

Continued from Page 10

Many people took Saturday afternoon to visit museums or attend meetings and receptions. By Saturday evening, as more hundreds of thousands of people arrived in town, the excitement level continued to grow. Dupont Circle, focal point for Washington's gay community on an average day, took on a round-the-clock carnival atmosphere. The usual street musicians and Hare Krishnas were outnumbered by Radical Faeries and Lesbian Avengers.

As 7 pm approached, those in the know were assembling for the Dyke March: Out for Power. Women were grouping at the fountain in Dupont Circle, carrying signs and feeling festive. Many women did not seem to know about this march; a reporter passed hundreds who were heading in the opposite direction, presumably for some other event. But for the ones who picked up on the Dyke March vibes, it was a major highlight of the weekend. By 7:15, Boston's Moving Violations Motorcycle Club ("Dykes on Bikes") headed south on Connecticut Ave, followed by thousands of women. Thousands more cheered from the sidewalks, along with male supporters who were requested not to march (but some did anyway). The marchers, spurred on by the Lesbian Avengers and other activist women's groups, headed to the White House and then arally near the Washington Monument. The weather was perfect and the high spirits made this a warm-up for the major March the next day.

Saturday evening was again a cornucopia of dances, receptions, meetings and artistic events. There was a square dance, a country dance, a sober dance, youth dance, a student dance, a dungeon dance, a Black and White Men Together banquet, a punk concert, choral concerts, techno dances... the list was formidable. And even more people arrived through the night.

With the weather clear and warming up on Sunday morning, many people headed for religious gatherings. A large group went to the Lincoln Memorial for an outdoor service, ministered by Rev. Troy Perry. Other denominations: Lutherans, Evangelicals, Congregationals, Catholics, Affirming Disciples, Jews, Buddhists, Unitarian Universalists, and more all held services. Other groups held breakfast meetings and receptions.

The Quilt was being unfolded and secured for its second day; people could see it from 10 am to 6 pm.

The March

At 9 am, the morning rally started on the grounds to the west of the Washington Monument. Hundreds and then thousands of people began coming up out of the Metro escalators as the sun rose in the sky. All streets in the vicinity of the March route had been closed to autos. Several streets near the White House had what appeared to be Columbus-sized gay pride parades lasting for hours, as thousands of people walked in from buses or hotels.

The huge lawns around the Monument were spotted with poles bearing little yellow signs with march contingent numbers. The first 30 contingents were being assembled on the adjacent Ellipse, and by mid-day there wasn't a square foot of open space there. In the 1987 March, all of the marchers assembled on the Ellipse-with room to spare. This year the Washington Monument lawn held the other 68 contingents, barely. People were spilled over towards the Lincoln Memorial and around the Washington Monument. Thousands more began lining the march route up 17th Street, in front of the White House, and down Pennsylvania Av-

enue.

For hours, folk singers performed and dignitaries spoke at the kick-off rally. While the words were blunt and demanding, it was not an angry event. On the contrary, it continued to become a picnic, a festival. More than one person referred to it as "Queerstock." Two of the more memorable speeches came from Phil Donahue, who urged fundamentalists and other bigots to

BRIAN DEWITT

"Get over it," and Jesse Jackson, who said, "Hope is what brought you to the District of Columbia today. Hypocrisy is what you have received. The people you voted for have fled the city. Ordinarily you ask them to represent you; today you must represent yourselves... Keep hope alive!"

The March started shortly after noon as the lead banner was carried up 17th Street by a coalition of people including Jackson and actress Cybill Shepherd. Senior citizens, people with disabilities, AIDS organizations, veterans, P-FLAG and the Names Project were among the first 15 contingents to head towards the White House and then on to the Mall.

The first state delegation was, Colorado which didn't start marching until 2 pm. But you knew they were there. One of the most breathtaking moments of the day was seeing the two huge, 16-foot-high black banners at the head of the contingent, one with the state name, the other saying "Ground Zero."

In November, Colorado voters approved Amendment 2, which would ban laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The law has been put on hold pending a lawsuit that challenges its constitutionality. The group that spearheaded the Amendment 2 campaign was Colorado for Family Values, based in Colorado Springs. "It's really important that the world know

You could fill a book with pictures of all the different T-shirts and signs that were on display. Each group came by, wave after wave of them, with rainbow flags, pink triangles, and personalized versions of slogans that were known to all. (Maryland altered the Queer Nation-inspired chant to "We're here, we're queer, we're not going clamming.") Then there were the novel slogans: "F-L-O-R-I-D-A, orange juice will make you gay;" and "We're tired, we're bitchy, we want our rights now!" The Lesbian Physicians for Human Rights offered "We're here, we're queer. Have you had your pap smear?"

The Ohio group modified the chant of the Wicked Witch's palace guard in The Wizard of Oz: "Oh-Hi-Oh, O-Hiiiii-Oh; Oh-Hi-Oh, O-Hiiiii-Oh."

By the time the Ohio group made it to the White House, it was 5:45 pm! The size of the contingent was decimated; most Ohioans marched with other banners earlier in the day, such as BWMT, students, P-FLAG, or social groups.

Transportation was a concern, too. Several marchers had to travel on buses that were leaving at 6 pm. No one knew it would take this long.

The Cleveland March committee arranged to change their buses' departure time to 8:30 pm; everyone got back for them.

As street preacher Rubin Israel harangued marchers through a bullhorn, David Felix stood quietly next to him all day, bearing a different message.

that there are a lot of gay men and lesbians in Colorado Springs," said Bruce Loeffler, a Colorado College geology teacher. "Without Colorado Springs and CFV, Amendment 2 wouldn't have happened. We're trying to challenge the religious right on their home turf."

The next group was Oregon, another state in the midst of gay rights turmoil. Richard Kitterman was overwhelmed by the roar of the crowd as a contingent of 2,000 marched by carrying a banner that read "Victory over Bigotry."

"Everybody was in absolute jubilation, at the reception they got from the crowd...I was in front of the banner, carrying a balloon saying 'No on Nine.' It was unbelievable. It was totally beyond my expectations.”

The banner referred to the statewide defeat last November of Measure 9, an antigay initiative, by Oregon voters.

Reps. Elizabeth Furse and Mike Kopetski, both D-Ore., marched with the Oregon delegation. "Every civil rights struggle throughout time has required leaders of courage to take their place with everyone else," Furse said.

Some of the groups were out of their assigned order, some were split up; and a lot of people in the later contingents (including number 79 Ohio) couldn't wait and marched earlier. But it didn't matter. We were all there. At 4 o'clock, only 32 of the 98 contingents had begun marching.

Akron's buses weren't due to leave until 10:30 pm. Most of the trouble was experienced with buses charted by travel companies. No provision was made to delay the departure time and a number of Clevelanders literally missed the bus.

The March route had to be altered during the day because of the huge crowds already on the Mall. The later groups did a big walk around the White House, entering the Mall at 14th Street, instead of continuing down Pennsylvania Ave. to 7th St. Our reporters put the size of the crowd at more than twice the size of the 1987 March, which was counted at from 200,000 to 600,000. Clearly the 300,000 "official" number for this March needed to be questioned.

Although only a handful of opponents appeared along the march sidelines, they echoed the opposition gays and lesbians still face at home. "Civilization as we know it is threatened," said Eugene Delgaudio, who organized a handful of protesters along the route.

One opposition protester who said she lives in a homeless shelter met with anger and near violence. The white-haired woman held a sign that read "God please save the world" and repeatedly blew on a whistle. "God loves the sinner but he hates all this sin," she said, scanning the crowd on the Mall. "It's so much like Sodom and Gomorrah."

The comments angered David Keyzor,

22, of Akron. He started to shout at her, smashed her sign and threw pebbles at her. About a dozen people surrounded her and shouted "Shame, shame, shame." Several grabbed plastic American flags from her hand. The group quieted when two motorcycle officers arrived.

By the end of the day police had arrested four people for disorderly conduct during the March, but said overall it was peaceful.

The mood this time was more upbeat and exuberant than the last gay rights march, an angry, somber event in 1987, said Osborn. The Park Service said that march drew 200,000 people.

"For once I felt like I was part of a majority, where I could hold hands with my girlfriend and not feel like I was being gawked at or hissed at," Osborn said.

The main stage rally on the Mall near the Capitol got underway at 1 pm with speakers, entertainment and videos on two giant screens. It was carried live by cable's ̊CSPAN network. Marchers were read a letter

from President Clinton, the first president to invite gay leaders into the White House for a meeting on gay issues. "I stand with you in the struggle for equality for all Americans, including gay men and lesbians," Clinton said in his message.

There was scattered applause mixed with boos from some who wanted the president to appear in person. "Where's Bill?" they chanted. Clinton was in Boston speaking to newspaper editors.

Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colorado, urged the marchers to fight initiatives proposed in other states that are modeled on her state's Amendment 2. "We may be under siege at home, but we're out here in numbers,” Schroeder said. "We're here to warn people the tragedy that hit our state could hit anywhere."

Others that appeared on the stage included openly gay Clinton advisor David Mixner, former head of NGLTF Urvashi Vaid, tennis star Martina Navratilova, and popular lesbian performers Robin Tyler and Lea DeLaria.

The rally was scheduled to last until 6, but continued until 7:20 pm for the benefit of the last contingents. Imagine the sight, after waiting to march for more than six hours, of finally approaching the Mall and seeing tens of thousands of people leaving because they had already marched and been at the rally for hours. Ohio, which walked up the gravel pathway on the Mall at 6:45, wasn't last, either. There was another 20 minutes or so of marchers who came in after that. The last people to reach the end of the route were the volunteer 'Marshalls', whose T-shirts all had the extra L in the spelling.

The crowd dispersed quickly after the video screens went dark. There were buses to catch, dances to be attended, cases of sunburn to be felt. But the energy didn't vanish. Dupont Circle that night continued at a festive pitch. A local television station was setting up to do a live report for the 11 o'clock news from the Circle. A boisterous crowd gathered in view of the camera and shouted "Two million strong" every time the reporter started talking. Some Lesbian Avengers introduced their slogan, "Ten percent is not enough. Recruit, recruit, recruit," prudently after the camera was packed away.Hi-jinks continued into the early hours.

The afterglow

There were thousands of people who stayed over into Monday to rally, do more lobbying, sightsee, or just take a break. By late morning the weather turned to rain.

About 300 gathered outside the Pentagon at 8 am for a demonstration calling for acceptance of gays in the military. "We're here to tell the men and women in that building that we are patriotic Americans and we are fit to serve our country," said J.B. Collier of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America.

The group Human Rights Action for Health Care sponsored a rally and civil disobedience near the Capitol at 10 am. After several hundred people formed in Upper Senate Park demanding an overhaul of the profit-driven health care system, protesters blocked traffic and wrapped themselves in red tape. The Washington Blade reports 44 were arrested peacefully.

The popular Dupont Circle merchandise stores, including the March on Washington store and Lambda Rising, were jammed with lines of people down the street waiting to get last minute souvenirs. Monday-moming Washington commuters were startled whenever yet another spontaneous cheer would erupt from the smiling queers seeing each other on the Metro escalators.

The convergence was over, but the harmony remained. The waves of gay energy were now spreading across the land. Smiles, waves, rainbow flags, and camaraderie stretched along the interstate highways and air corridors. Now we returned home with renewed energy, a sense of worthiness and completeness, and the resolve for the job to be done

We still hear the last rallying cry. "See you next year in New York for Stonewall 25."