Why March? - Millennium gay march in Washington - Brief Article

Advocate columnists answer the question

JONATHAN CAPEHART

March for those who feel they can't march. For those who live in fear that taking a strong public stand for their fights could lead to ostracization or harassment or death. For gay parents who fear losing their children, for workers who fear losing their jobs. March for those who really want to show our political leaders that they are entitled to and demand the American dream but can't. Because for them, such a bold action just isn't possible.

B. RUBY RICH

March because I'm a hypocrite. March because I marched last time, but now I live in California and D.C. is too far away. March because I voted but the Knight initiative passed anyway. March out of pride and out of fear. March because it's a presidential election year and numbers count. March because the governor of Vermont is getting swamped by conservative Christian mail. March because marching is the only tactic the Right doesn't use. March because it's symbolic and ineffective and ours. March because it's democratic and messy and honorable. March so you feel you've done your bit. March so I can see you on TV. March because even I know it matters.

PARIS BARCLAY

Some pointers for those of us who are marching:

1. Dress in flamboyant drag if possible. This helps reaffirm the commonly held belief that cross-dressing is an integral part of all gay life.

2. If drag isn't you, wear leather chaps that expose your buttocks or enormous stuffed codpieces. This will help people understand that homosexuality really is all about sex.

3. Stand close to the cameras and make sure your behavior is lewd or outrageous. This will provide essential footage for the films the radical right will produce after the march.

4. Whatever you do, avoid looking like regular, equal rights--deserving Americans. Don't look anything like the taxpaying everyfolks we are. That would only weaken our quest to continue to be treated as pariahs. And who wants that?

SHEILA KUEHL

March for fun. March to shake up the government. March to find a lover. March to wave to Mom. March to organize. March to show them how many of us there are. March to see how many of us there are. March to realize you're political and you never knew it. March to take the march home. March to feel strong. March because your life depends on it and so do the lives and love and health and safety and families of others. March because it feels good to be in the majority. March for no reason.

BRENDAN LEMON

For those who've marched on Washington before, there is no need to remind you why it is a politically valuable act. For those who've never done so, I could say that to march on Washington is to insert yourself in a long line of civil rights activism, including such titanic figures as Martin Luther King Jr. But potential first-timers should also be told something else: Whether you're instinctively political or merely a group-party animal, you'll have a good time. Trust me.

KATE CLINTON

Top four chants for the Mill on the Mall in the Mill:

4. What do we want? The whole damn table! When do we want it? Now!

3. Sound off! Don't ask. Sound off! Don't tell. Sound off! Don't work!

2. Register, register, you need to vote! If not for the president, then for the Supreme Cote!

1. Dr. Laura! Dr. Laura! You have got a hateful aura! Dr. Laura! Dr. Laura! Sayonara! Sayonara!

BRUCE VILANCH

I can't march! I'll be busy shooting my mouth off on an off-Broadway stage in my one-man show Almost Famous at the Westbeth Theatre Center in New York--and I couldn't convince the producers that this was a religious holiday. Please come by after the march and tell me how it went. I will have corn plasters and free ankle rubs for the first wave of march vets. You can tell me how you bled for our cause and tell me all the reasons why I should have marched were I not such a narcissistic show business twit. Reasons like showing the world the joy of our community and the seriousness of our struggle to be accorded simple legal respect and common human decency. Like reminding straight people that we too have families, patriotism, and faith. Like showing off our new Prada running shoes with the specially designed orthotics. How could I pass up a day like that?

NORAH VINCENT

March. By all means, march. But don't let doing so be a sop to your conscience. Marching is symbolic, yes, but ineffectual, really. It can raise morale, but it doesn't change laws or opinions. So don't let marching be the only thing you do this year to make the case for gay equality. Write a letter to your senator. Convert someone in your family to civil libertarianism if not to outfight support for sodomy. Counsel a gay teen. Get involved; don't just show up at the appointed time.

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