NATIONAL GAY EQUALITY MARCH SUNDAY! 7 VIDEOS! 36 PHOTOS: SPEAKERS, POSTERS! NOW IS THE TIME!

October 9, 2009.
Only two days left until the LGBT community marches on Washington to demand equal rights at last! The time is right to let the world know we won’t wait for a more “convenient” day. As organizers of the march say on their website, if not now, when? If you can’t go personally, at least donate to this noble cause.

Official Website: http://www.nationalequalitymarch.org/
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nationa...
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NtlEQMarch
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Lady Gaga will be entertaining at the National Equality March! See her promotional video at the bottom of this post. Photo from Saturday Night Live 10-3-09. For more on her SNL gig visit our LADY GAGA DAZZLES post, where you'll find 21 fabulous photos and 9 siiick videos.

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On October 10-11, 2009, thousands of LGBT people and friends will gather in Washington, D.C. from all across America to let our elected leaders know that now is the time for full equal rights for LGBT people.

Rainbow colors will be abundant at the Gay Equality March, as they were during this Pride Parade in New York City June 28, 2009

This is the beginning of a major national strategy to kick start our national grassroots Equality Across America campaign.

Photo of Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP, speaking to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force last year. A long time supporter of LGBT civil rights, Bond will be a featured speaker at the National Equality March on Sunday

We will gather. We will strategize. We will march. And we will leave energized and empowered to do the work that needs to be done in every community across the nation. This is only the beginning.

Photo of a marcher holding up the gay Rainbow flag, back lit by the sun, during one of the many Pride parades around the world that took place this year

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Our single demand: Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.
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Photo of openly gay actor/singer/dancer Gavin Creel, who will be singing with the cast of HAIR at the National Equality March. The show will be dark on Sunday in honor of the event. That unusual—and expensive—decision to skip a popular weekend performance at the beginning of the theater season originated with Gavin. "I said, ‘My God, we have to go, we have to go,' ’' Mr. Creel recalled when he first heard about the rally late last spring. Check out our July post on this delicious thespian, GAVIN CREEL: SHIRTLESS and LOVABLE

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Our philosophy: As members of every race, class, faith, and community, we see the struggle for LGBT equality as part of a larger movement for peace and social justice.
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Photo of a gay rights march with a sign that reads: "THE GAY AGENDA: 1.Equality 2.See Item 1"

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Our strategy: Decentralized organizing for this march in every one of the 435 Congressional districts will build a network to continue organizing beyond October.
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Photo of one of the featured speakers for the National Equality March, Cleve Jones, who created the first AIDS quilt and worked with slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk

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We will continue this fight in every state, in every county, every city and every town, but we are now determined to take this fight to the federal government, to our President Barack Obama, to the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States." -Cleve Jones, May 31, 2009, Fresno, California.
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Main official poster of the National Equality March that reads, "Equal protection for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now."

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Longtime gay activist David Mixner, who in May called for a national march on Washington "to empower our young and to show the nation that anything less than full freedom is unacceptable," is among the many high-profile speakers at the October 11th National Equality March (NEM) in Washington.

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Photo of National Equality March co-director Kip Williams, who will also speak at the rally. He's shown here in the Red Room of the White House during a tour earlier this year.

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More than 30 speakers, representing the diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its straight allies, will take the stage at a rally following the march on the west lawn of the Capitol.
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Photo of Broadway's HAIR cast during a Broadway Impact rally for gay marriage in NYC. They will perform at the National Equality March during Sunday's festivities.

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"We are coming to Washington with new messages and new strategies to build our national movement," said Mixner. "We will have one demand in Washington: full and equal protection for LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia."
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Robin McGehee, co-director of the National Equality march, gives an emotional speech as her son Sebastian holds on to her during a Meet in the Middle 4 Equality rally in Fresno, California. Her wife holds their other child in the background. Robin will speak at the rally on Sunday. May 30, 2009 photo

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Joining Mixner on the stage will be the national co-chairs of the march, Cleve Jones, Lt. Dan Choi, and Nicole-Murray Ramirez. Co-directors of the march, Kip Williams and Robin McGehee, also will be speaking.
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Another National Equality March poster, ala sixties flower power, which reads "All we need is love.* *and equal rights."

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Civil rights leader Julian Bond, will be one of the featured speakers, as well. Bond was a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and today serves as Board Chairman of the NAACP, the country's oldest and largest civil rights organization.
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Photo of Obama's National Security Advisor, Jim Jones, who this weekend told CNN the President will deal with gay issues at "the appropriate time,” which we can only assume means not now. If he's trying to avoid offending the right wing, somebody needs to tell the President it's too late. Those conservative bigots are never going to forge a positive relationship with with an empathetic black man, no matter what he does.

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Bond likens the National Equality March to the Civil Rights March of 1963. "We had a dream and marched on Washington to demand our rights; I am proud to stand with the LGBT community as they march for theirs," he said.
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Poster for the National Equality March with the statement, "If not now, when?"

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St. Olaf college student Richard Aviles will be speaking on behalf of student activists from across the country, who have organized for the march and will be descending on Washington.
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Photo of the Washington D.C. Gay Men's Chorus from President Obama's Inauguration Celebration. They will be performing at the National Equality March, as well.

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Also speaking will be Judy Shepard, who, after losing her son Matthew to a murder motivated by anti-gay hate, founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation in his memory. The non-profit organization is dedicated to working for causes championed by Matthew during his life: social justice, diversity awareness through education, and equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
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Photo of a National Equality Poster featuring a clenched fist reminiscent of the sixties "Gay Power" slogan, with the words, "Meet on the Mall for Equality!" I changed the color from red to pink, as I think it makes more of a statement that way.

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The march will be the first step toward a larger goal of creating a national movement—the 50 State Legislative Outreach Campaign—to demand from elected representatives full equality under the law.
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Photo of another National Equality March speaker, Dustin Lance Black, shown here making his impassioned plea for gay rights (heard around the world) when he won his Oscar for the Milk screenplay

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"The march is just the beginning," said co-director Robin McGehee. "We are not expecting to wake up on Monday morning with a federal bill on the President’s desk to sign."
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Poster from the National Organization for Women (NOW) in rainbow colors, to show their long term support for LGBT rights in general and the National Equality March in particular

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"We will no longer be told to wait. This march is our chance to demand full equal protection under the law, and it will help us realize the dream of Equality Across America: a committed group of grassroots activists in all 435 Congressional Districts," added Williams.
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Photo of David Mixner sharing a laugh with President Obama. It was Mixner's vision that spawned the National Equality March. He, too, will be speaking Sunday.

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Following is a complete listing of speakers to date:
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Stuart Applebaum
Richard Aviles
Jarret Barrios
Dustin Lance Black
Julian Bond
Marsha Botzer
Staceyann Chin
Lt. Dan Choi
Tanner Efinger
Hawaii Board of Education Member Kim Coco Iwamoto
Cleve Jones
Michelle Lopez
Robin McGehee
David Mixner
Nicole-Murray Ramirez
Chloe Noble
Tobias Packer
Reverend Troy Perry
New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn
Los Angeles Council Member Bill Rosendahl
Babs Siperstein
Judy Shepard
Maxim Thorn
Urvashi Vaid
Derek Washington
Falls Church City Council Member Lawrence Webb
Kit Yan
Kip Williams
Sherry Wolf
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"National Equality March . . . Hmm . . . " Maybe Obama's pondering whether to accept Cleve Jone's invite to speak at the rally! Photo created by Laura Kanter.

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President Obama will be the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) annual dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C., the night before the National Equality March. “We are honored to share this night with President Obama, who has called upon our nation to embrace LGBT people as brothers and sisters,” Human Rights Campaign President, Joel Solmonese, said in an announcement Monday.
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Thousands are expected to attend the National Equality March on Sunday, as did residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil, as shown in this photo of their 11th annual Pride March this year

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The National Equality March was largely organized to draw attention to the administration’s lack of action on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)” and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), among other gay rights issues.
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Photo of San Diego City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez, who will also speak at the National Equality March. She made city history earlier this year when she was re-elected the chair of the San Diego Human Relations Commission (HRC) for an unprecedented fourth term. She is also known as the Imperial Court's Queen Mother of the Americas and is often called Nicole the Great

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Many leaders in the LGBT community are hoping Obama will use the platform as an opportunity to re-establish his position as a “fierce advocate” for gay rights as promised on the campaign trail. But White House aides have said the President has not yet written his remarks, and declined to say if the President will reveal any new policy.
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Another poster for the National Equality March, made for the website by one of many talented members. This one utilizes the terms, "Pansexual, Queer, Bisexual." I flushed it with purple.

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National Security Secretary Jim Jones this weekend said the President will deal with these issues at the right time. “The President has an awful lot on his desk. I know this is an issue he intends to take on at the appropriate time,” Jones told CNN.
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National Equality March "DC or Bust" poster in rainbow colors, featuring buses

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While the gay community waits for the “appropriate time” after dedicating themselves to Obama’s campaign, discontent has continued to grow in light of the little progress that has been made since Obama took office in January.
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Photo of David Huebner, the first out gay United States Ambassador, thanks to President Barack Obama

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The White House did announce yesterday that President Obama will name openly gay David Huebner, currently serving as general counsel for GLAAD, as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.
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Photo of articulate gay activist Lt Dan Choi, who was fired from the military for being honest. He, too, will give a speech at the National Equality March.

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Although Cleve Jones invited President Obama on September 22 to speak at the National Equality March, no word from the President had been received at posting time.
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Poster for the National Equality March showing a night-time shot of the Capitol building with the words, "National Equality March. Now or Never!"

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Rep. Patrick Kennedy will also be in attendance at the HRC dinner to present the first Edward M. Kennedy National Leadership Award to Judy and Dennis Shepard, in honor of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a well known advocate for LGBT rights.
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Photo featuring a theme at a London Pride Parade, which will also be appropriate for the National Equality March in Washington DC: "We are Family"

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Among the many celebrites scheduled to entertain are the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C., Lady Gaga, and the cast of Broadway’s Hair, which will go dark on Sunday while its actors sing “Let the Sunshine In” at the march.
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Photo of sour puss Barney Frank, our gay "Representative" from Massachussettes, who nonchalantly and foolishly tried (and failed) to throw a wrench into Sunday's National Equality March

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Meanwhile, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) went on Michelangelo Signorile's radio show Wednesday and discussed several issues, including hate crimes, ENDA, and DOMA, but it was his comments on the National Equality March that got the phones ringing. Most callers were angry, but a few agreed with him. He believes the march won’t do anything, that President Obama "doesn't need any pressure."

Lady Gaga and her gay friends promoting the National Equality March early Sunday morning, after her appearance on Saturday Night Live. 10-04-09 photo. Check out the official promotional video below.

Good ol’ Barney even said people should stay home and lobby their politicians rather than go to DC. Listen to the entire disappointing enterview here. I love Barney Frank, but sometimes he’s just plain stupid and self-defeating. Please ignore his rantings and go to Washington. It’s essential we make a grand showing if we are to ever get our share of the pie!

Photo of folk/pop singer Julie Clark, winner of the Equality March official song, “Courage of Our Convictions,” which you can listen to on our first video presentation. Visit her website and listen to samples you can buy online at CDBaby.com. She's awesome!

To get your motor running and your commitment reinvigorated, listen to the full version of this winning official National Equality March song, "Courage of Our Convictions," by Julie Clark. Julie will be performing live on the West Lawn of the Capital building. Congratulations, Julie! Your song rocks! The rally begins approximately at 2:00 p.m. on October 11, 2009:

Watch this inspiring National Equality March video: Now is the Time:


Listen as Lady Gaga Promotes the National Equality March on this promotional video:


Check out this Official National Equality March Video Trailer:


Check out these images for “National Equality March Madness, ” created by Laura Kanter. Background song,"Courage of Our Convictions" by Julie Clark:


Watch this video made by Texans for the National Equality March. “ Will You March With Us In Washington? Prop 8 galvanized our community like nothing ever before. We took our anger to the streets and we will take to the streets again on October 11, 2009. Hope to see you all in D.C. as we DEMAND equal protection under the law in all 50 states governed by civil law." Photos from various protests, marches and rallies in Dallas, Texas. Credits: Laura McFerrin, Video Producer, Music: Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now by Taborah & Darryl D'Bonneau, Logo Design, Gerson Mendoza. Speech delivered by Cleve Jones at the September 20, 2009 Alan Ross Freedom Rally in Dallas, Texas:


Finally, enjoy this video from an earlier New York City “Defying Inequality Rally,” with the cast of HAIR, featuring openly gay Gavin Creel singing “Let The Sunshine In,” a song appropriate to the cause, which they will perform in Washington D.C. on Sunday for the National Equality March:

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Photo of white-petaled Pink Charm Daffodil Narcissus Jonquil growing in Oklahoma's Zone 7 from the author's free flower photo website http://www.freefishcaretips.com/photos12

Also visit http://www.galechesterwhittington.com/ for free humor, short stories, poems, and book excerpts from the award-winning gay author

==copyright 2009==