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Lesbian Notions by Paula Martinac

Hold the marching orders
In a recent op-ed in the Washington Blade, organizer Robin Tyler made an appeal for a fifth LGBT March on Washington to take place before the 2008 election, demanding all our civil rights. I understand her anger with the climate thats been set by Washington; Gay people are indeed, as she put it, under siege. But before we take up the call for another showy, star-studded event in the nations capital, we should consider where queer money and energy could best be used at this time of right-wing hegemony. I believe that the strategy of holding national LGBT marches should be put on indefinite hold, and that we would be better served as a community to shift increasingly more of our resources to local demonstrations and organizing. Ive personally attended two of the four national marches for LGBT rights that have taken place since 1979. The 1987 demonstration was a somber event - the devastating sight of so many queer people with photos pinned to their T-shirts of friends and lovers whod succumbed to AIDS is still a vivid memory for me. The chilly, overcast day reflected the mood of our community perfectly. In the one photo I have of myself at that march, Im sitting down wearily with my head in my hands. Six years later, the day of the 1993 march was bright and sunny; Bill Clinton had just taken office with the promise of ending the Gay military ban, and many of us believed we could actually see a ray of hope. In fact, the march had more of the air of a party than a political march. And although it was a lot of fun, it was still a bit pointless for those of us who wanted something more substantial than the color and glitz of a Pride celebration. Like many others in our community, I sat out the march in 2000, which had been dictated by a few national organizations that never bothered to consult local Gay organizers about whether another D.C. get-together was really a good idea. Later, the so-called Millennium March was fraught with financial scandal, as tens of thousands of dollars mysteriously went missing from its coffers. Have we learned anything as a movement in the five years since then, particularly given the devastating results of the 2004 election? Hopefully, we know now that theres much truth to the old maxim about all politics being local. Thats not to say that our national Gay groups should close up shop. But a corporate-sponsored party in Washington - starring, as Tyler suggests, Gay icons like Cher, Madonna, and Barbra Streisand, no less! - couldnt adequately address the serious challenges our community faces. Just think about it: Do you see the American Family Association wasting energy and time hosting an anti-Gay blow-out on the Washington Mall, starring, say, Pat Boone and Bo Derek? No, the AFA is too busy organizing locally focused actions like its Meet at City Hall event for a moral rebirth of the country, calling on local religious groups and congregations to spread the word. Indeed, the right has been so successful in its antiGay campaign because it has honed its local and Internet organizing skills to precision. How do you suppose they routinely manage to garner all those signatures to get anti-Gay initiatives on ballots across the country? Our own major organizations - like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force - have been correct, then, to begin channeling more and more of their energies and resources into shoring up our state and local efforts. And even one national staffer taken out of commission to plan a Washington event - and it would, of course, take many more than one - would be one staffer too many. Tyler reasons that a national march would be important for demonstrating our strong and united presence. But there are many other ways to show queer strength and resolve. (I wont go into united, which I think, given the diversity of our community, is an unattainable goal.) For example, a single day of demonstrations in the capitals of states that have anti-Gay laws on the books or anti-marriage-rights bills pending would be far more effective than a party with Babs on the Mall (even if she sang People just for us). Remember that there are still a lot of folks out there who think Gay people dont exist - or shouldnt live - anywhere but San Francisco and New York. Just recently, Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) had the audacity to suggest that returning Gay veterans of the Iraq war might be happier vacating his state if they dont approve of its laws. How much more effective it is, then, to fight phobes like that on their own turf - not by gathering in D.C., when all the politicos have left for the weekend. Paula Martinac is a playwright, novelist, and editor in chief of Q Syndicate. She can be reached care of this publication or at LesbianNotions@qsyndicate.com.