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1. This march is an out-of-the-box failure. It will be attended by less than 20,000 - maybe 10,000 people. There are tons of hotel rooms available in Washington that weekend. Tons.

   It's a bad economy. It's on Sunday of a Columbus Day weekend, which means everyone on Wall Street (thousands of LGBT folks) and at least half of non-government employees work.

   Their budget, posted on the website, is laughable and doesn't begin to cover all of the expenses, so it will end up being another loser financially with unpaid bills and related nonsense.

   Few people I know are going outside of political types who view their attendance as a peacekeeping gesture (i.e., Stonewall 1.0 reaching out to Stonewall 2.0 in a cursory way).

   If you want to help the movement, take the money you'd spend in Washingtona and support the marriage effort in Maine.

   Cleve Jones' ego project is doomed.

   Jones doesn't want constructive criticism. He wants his baby to succeed. And to those who argue that activists can support both the ill-conceived march and marriage efforts in Maine and elsewhere, resources are finite. It's either/or despite arguments to the contrary.

   Jones should move immediately to cancel the march, make it a leadership and Stonewall 2.0 summit and abandon the delusion that this event has more than a modicum of support among the LGBT community at large.

   It's a vanity project and should be treated as such.

   Posted by: Josh G. | Sep 2, 2009 6:10:13 AM

   
   

2. If I can attend this march in spite of the danger of possibly running into that big stupid horse Ann Northrop, then anybody can put aside their differences and go.

   Posted by: JT | Sep 2, 2009 10:15:53 AM

   
   

3. Democrats, including the White House and christer rightists like Lonnie McClurkin, Kirbyjon Caldwell and Rick Warren, all big time Obama cronies, have tried to stop this march since day one because they understand that it can't help but become an anti-Obama rally.

   They'll be as successful stopping it as they are in slowing Obama's headlong slide in the polls.

   Obama and the Democrats are Republicans in drag.

   Who needs more of that?

   It’s win, win for the LGBT communities. We get to have a march that will help pull together the movement and help it become independent of backstabbers like Obama and the Democrats and his junior partners the Republicans.

   Posted by: Bill Perdue | Sep 2, 2009 12:01:34 PM

   
   

4. Ann Northrop is one of the smartest, kindest, most dedicated, and most hardworking LGBT activists I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

   Posted by: 24play | Sep 2, 2009 12:59:40 PM

   
   

5. 24, if you like that sarcastic dope Ann Northrop then you'll be at that march right beside her. (Maybe by now she's dropped that pseudo-Dinah Shore look).

   Posted by: JT | Sep 2, 2009 3:37:56 PM

   
   

6. We are still for songwriters to submit a song that would convey what the March is all about. We want our own "We Shall Overcome" The song should have a great hook and be easy for people to remember.
   Go to Song Idol Contest at Equality Across America to see rules and regulations.
   And hopefully will see you at the March in October
   

   Posted by: Bert Coleman | Sep 2, 2009 4:02:08 PM

   
   

7. ...and while considering the March: Remember this .... from jaysays
   "While many are debating whether or not to proceed with at 2010 ballot initiative and whether or not to support the National Equality March, here in my neck of the woods, we’re still trying to figure out how to keep kids from hanging themselves from the rafters because they are demonized for being “gay.”

   We need a national front to help change the lives of the future generations of our people. If you still don’t support the National Equality March, try walking a mile in a gay or transgender kid’s shoes in Jonesboro, Arkansas where social and legal changes to LGBT equality will likely never occur without involvement from our national government. After that, you may be singing a different tune."

   Posted by: LOrion | Sep 2, 2009 4:24:31 PM

   
   

8. Also see JOE's post above.
   SOMEONE needs to March for those who CANT. I hope someone meets him, if he wishes, gets his photo, make a poster and carries it with them at the March.
   .... and Think about others you could do that for!

   Posted by: LOrion | Sep 2, 2009 4:26:19 PM

   
   

9. Right, Lorion. Because anyone who's criticizing the National Ego March obviously just doesn't realize that most progress on LGBT issues needs to come from the federal level.

   How silly of us!

   Posted by: 24play | Sep 2, 2009 4:32:45 PM

   
   

10. Its not about me.
    its not about you.
    its about us and our rights and the future of our younger brothers and sister.
    support the march because
    its a "we" thing.

    Posted by: Bill McCann | Sep 2, 2009 5:03:50 PM

    
    

11. I know of one person whose name was included on this list without their consent. This person has never supported the March and has been critical of it in the past. However, I am disappointed to say, this person has decided to allow their name to continue to be included.

    If I was this person, I would be incredibly angry, but I guess that's me, I suppose. I think it just proves that the organizers of the March will do anything (lie, distort the facts, fail to get confirmation of support, etc.) to further the cause of the March. I was particularly offended by the attempt to tie the March to recent memorial in Tel Aviv for slain LGBT children.

    If I am wrong about the eventual outcome of the March, I will be more than willing to say so, but I still fear that this whole thing is going to blow up in our faces. It doesn't matter if a person supported the March or not. This is going to impact on all LGBT.

    We are living in extremely volatile times and the right wing and Fox News will stop at nothing to paint this in a negative light. Look at the damage that they have caused to health care reform by spreading lies and fear. I have already stated several times how this will look in lieu of our present economic situation. I can just see the news reports on Fox about "rich gay people jetting off to Washington DC for a weekend of partying and whining about not getting special rights when many people in our country can't even afford to properly feed their families and give them sufficient health care." People have criticized my view of the right wing and Fox News using the March against us as being illogical. When have the right wing and Fox News ever used logic? It doesn't matter. A large percentage of the American public who love Fox News will eat this up.

    I am also ready to take the blame if the March fails. LGBT who never supported the March in the first place will be blamed for its failure. Those of us who were opposed to the March will become the scapegoats. I often hear March supporters say "If you don't support the March, shut up and get out of our way!" I have been branded a traitor to LGBT rights and called worse just because I don't support the March and believe that the consequences will possibly do more harm than good. Dissent is not allowed in the LGBT New World Order.

    Posted by: Michael Dean Montgomery Brockway | Sep 2, 2009 5:41:36 PM

    
    

12. Bert,

    I have a couple nominees for official anthem of the National Ego March.

    This one would be perfect:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzmnF6EfvaE

    Of course, I can also totally picture Cleve Jones delivering a definitive version of this classic:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaCU4w2HTco
    

    Posted by: 24play | Sep 2, 2009 8:40:13 PM

    
    

13. At 38 days before the March, The Madison Hotel (where the National Equality March "war room" will be headquartered) still has several rooms available for the weekend of the March. There are even rooms that allow dogs available. I know from previous experience that finding rooms in large cities when you are traveling with a dog on a weekend is sometimes very difficult. The Madison Hotel has less than 400 rooms. You would think if David Mixner's prediction of one million marchers is going to come true, The Madison Hotel would be booked up. Even if a thousand people were attending the March, The Madison Hotel would be booked up. Is there something here that I am missing?

    Posted by: Michael Dean Montgomery Brockway | Sep 3, 2009 2:45:55 PM

    
    

14. All the hotels listed on the Equality Across America website have rooms available. One hotel has over 100 rooms available. I've found over 50 hotels in the March area that have rooms available for the three nights of the March weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun). Is anyone planning to go?

    Hello? Is there anyone out there?

    Hello?

    Hello?

    Is this thing on?

    Posted by: Michael Dean Montgomery Brockway | Sep 3, 2009 11:06:12 PM

    
    

15. This thread has died. It seems rather peaceful here alone. I might just be that tree that falls and lands on the Pope shitting in the woods and no one hears him being smashed to death.

    My real concern now is that LGBT who cannot really afford to attend the March are going to squander their rent and utility money needed for the middle of winter by traveling to Washington DC to find that only a handful of people showed up. I've spoken to one lesbian with disabilities and limited income who is determined to attend if her health holds out. I can only imagine the anguish she will feel after struggling to get Washington DC to find the streets empty. If that happens, I hope Cleve Jones burns in hell. I hear that there are no "Milk" movie posters or "Milk" movie sweatshirts to use as look-at-me props there.

    I truly believe that most of us do more to further human rights every day on the internet than any event or action held anywhere. We didn't have the same means to convey our messages before Web 2.0. That is why marches and demonstrations were important in the past.

    In my opinion, marches and demonstrations are about as relevant today as my reel-to-reel tape recorder, my Apple IIe, and my Betamax. Those relics of the past still work and they have a certain nostalgic value, but I never even plug them in and turn them on anymore.

    I was involved in the underground press during the Viet Nam anti-war era. I remember all the work involved in typing text and pasting up graphics and haggling with printers 30 miles away. I remember cold winter days standing on street corners handing out newspapers until the police finally showed up to threaten arrest or to escort my friends and me to the city limits of a town. Now I can do all that we did faster, safer, and more effectively sitting right here at this desk.

    And I still wonder if anyone is listening, just like I wondered back then.

    Posted by: Michael Dean Montgomery Brockway | Sep 4, 2009 3:20:45 AM

    
    

16. Michael Dean, I can see some of your points. But a lot of march attendees will be local residents. Getting together 50,000 people for a march in a major metropolitan area for a civil rights cause isn't actually that difficult---as long as the weather is half-decent (yes that's true: weather plays a huge role in turnout).

    The Madison is a nice hotel. I understand that a lot of other hotels have vacancies too, but I also think a lot of out of towners will be staying with friends, family, or in the MD/VA suburbs. Most people simply don't have the resources to make a weekend visit trip to DC if they live more than a couple hundred miles away.

    All that said, what the hell happened to Urvashi Vaid? When I was in college I was utterly convinced that she would be the LGBT leader we so desperately needed. That was nearly 20 years ago, and this is the first time I've seen her name since then. She's an incredible speaker.

    Posted by: Paul R | Sep 4, 2009 7:09:17 PM

    
    

17. 50,000 people?

    What happened to David Mixner's prediction of one million marchers? And if "most people simply don't have the resources to make a weekend visit trip to DC if they live more than a couple hundred miles away" why aren't they calling this "Equality Across Maryland and Virginia"? Is the purpose of the March to train people to go back to Virginia and Maryland and work for LGBT Rights?

    Everything that you are saying in your comment contradicts what Cleve Jones says in the Bilerico.com video interview. I still haven't heard a single rational argument explaining why the National Ego March is even occurring. The reasons given change more often than the name of the March.

    Posted by: Michael Dean Montgomery Brockway | Sep 4, 2009 11:21:27 PM

    
    

18. I'm not a spokesperson for the March, just making a couple points. I attended the last two, and I have to admit that I don't see much point in them and that the timing for this one is poor and seems to simply reflect when they've happened in the past. Happy? And I say that with the sincerest apologies to Derek Washington, a commenter here I greatly respect who I know is working very hard to advance the March. My feelings could be undermined by my loathing of DC, where I lived for a couple decades. I'm not pals with Cleve or David.

    And 50,000 was a gross underestimate. The SF LGBT parade gets at least 500,000; Folsom Street Fair almost as many. I have no idea how many will attend the March in DC, but it will be a lot more than 50K.

    Posted by: Paul R | Sep 5, 2009 4:24:58 PM

    
    

19. Wow, you get to EXCLUSIVELY publish the list??!?!?! That makes you one of the IN crowd!!! Whoo hoo!

    Posted by: JustMeee | Sep 6, 2009 3:50:53 PM

    
    

20. Stevielee. you're an idiot. A judgmental idiot.

    Posted by: JustMeee | Sep 6, 2009 4:05:14 PM

    
    

21. As a straight person, I could be the least welcome person here. I heard Cleve Jones speak and I think he makes sense. Only the Federal government can change the laws. I know the argument about timing and finances. But it isn't over after this march. The only logical battlefront is Federal. Even in the states where marriage is legal, you get no Federal Rights. If you don't think a march itself is a good idea, fine. But show me the logic of how this is going to work state by state, playing "now you can get married", "now you can't". Anti-gay activists will never stop until it's Federal Law. And if you live in Mississippi, you'll never see gay rights in your children's lifetime.
    BRIMADISON, you are right on the money.
    For those of you who think this is about ego and rich gays, I can take a bus for $60 roundtrip from Wisconsin. Stop whining.

    Posted by: Jude | Sep 14, 2009 9:47:26 PM

    
    
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