05/04/2009
Hundreds March for LGBT Equality in Rainy Philadelphia Rally
Hundreds of soggy but determined demonstrators marched through the streets of Philadelphia on Sunday at the National Equality Rally, touted by organizers of the city's Equality Forum as the largest LGBT rally in a decade and the first outside of the nation's capitol.
Eleven/Five reports: "The cold and rain wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of those that braved the wet weather today at the National Equality Rally. We marched around Independence National Historic Park and rallied in front of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
The energy was very positive despite the ever present anti-gay protestetors. It was great to see and hear from so many of those that started the fight for equal rights for GLBT people back in 1964 in those early demonstrations. There were a lot of great speakers that had a great deal to say on ENDA, DADT and DOMA. It’s too bad that so much of the street festival was rained out, still many stuck it out!"
Gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny spoke at the rally (he's in video 4, AFTER THE JUMP. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: "[Kameny] organized the 1965 protest in front of Independence Hall after he was fired as an astronomer in the Army Map Service for being gay. Unable to obtain a routine hearing from the federal government's civil-service director, he decided to travel to Philadelphia to make a point: He wanted to demonstrate that he deserved the same rights as the men who gathered there to write the Constitution. Kameny gained plenty of notoriety, but he never did get his job back. Nor was he ever compensated for being unfairly dismissed. But as he told the rain-soaked crowd yesterday, he finally achieved a kind of 'closure' this year. When Obama held the swearing-in for his new civil-service director, John Berry, Kameny was invited to the ceremony. 'And,' he added with a laugh, 'I had the satisfaction of watching the swearing-in of an openly gay man. It was almost like a fairy-tale ending.'"
CBS News reports: "A few counterdemonstrators held religious signs at the margins of the gathering, and one preached with a bullhorn as the marchers filed past." Said Equality Forum executive director Malcolm Lazin: "We don't wilt, and we don't melt. We are here for equality now."
Four clips from the march and rally, AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted 8:49 AM EST by Andy Towle in Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, News, Philadelphia | Permalink
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I was proud to march with our local PFLAG group ... there were over 50 individuals in our group from a number of states ... each person carried a large photo of someone who was murdered due to homophobia ... it may have rained but there were rainbows everywhere ... as our organizer said: "equality is waterproof!" ...
Posted by: Lou Partridge | May 4, 2009 9:09:45 AM
It's fantastic to hear the still stirring voice of 84-yr. old gay pioneer and icon Frank Kameny. Our current so-called leaders are half his age and half-assed as well as weak-voiced, weak-kneeded, and weak-minded. They've watched as he's struggled along in poverty for decades, surviving on less each year than the taxes on HRC's Joe Solmonese's salary.
One slight correction: President Obama didn't personally hold the swearing-in for his gay civil-service director but Mrs. Obama did attend.
Posted by: DC | May 4, 2009 10:48:14 AM