Subject: 20th Anniversary of First March on Washington
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 16:51:34 EDT

Millennium March on Washington for Equality
April 30, 2000  .  Washington, DC

RELEASE DATE: October 14, 1999

A Public Statement By 
Malcolm Lazin, MMOW Executive Director,
On The Occasion
of the 20th Anniversary of The First
National March On Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights

Today, October 14, marks the 20th anniversary of our nation's first gay and 
lesbian March on Washington, an historic and seminal event in the ongoing 
struggle for social justice -- and an event which energized our movement and 
birthed a new generation of activists.

This is an appropriate day to honor the early visionaries who first dreamed 
of a national March for gays and lesbians and to recognize the more than 
100,000 women and men who gathered in Washington, DC for that historic event. 
It is also fitting to remember the strength and energy they brought to the 
struggle for civil rights for all gay and lesbian people.

But today is also a time for sober reflection.

The truth is that our community has not yet achieved one of the goals we 
sought in 1979 -- goals which simply sought equality under the law for sexual 
minorities. The demands of that first March were both simple and profound: 

1.  Repeal all anti-lesbian and gay laws.

2.  Pass a comprehensive lesbian and gay rights bill in Congress.

3.  Issue a Presidential executive order banning all discrimination based on 
sexual orientation in the Federal government, the military and 
federally-contracted private employment.

4.  End discrimination in lesbian mother and gay father custody cases.

5.  Protect our lesbian and gay youth from any laws used to discriminate 
against, oppress, and/or harass them in their homes, schools, jobs or social 
environments.

While we've made great strides these past 20 years, there is much unfinished 
work yet to be done.

That's why on behalf of the MMOW Board of Directors, the more than 150 GLBT 
organizations endorsing the Millennium March on Washington, and the 4000 
local grassroots MMOW volunteers across the country, I encourage all people 
who passionately believe in equality under the law to join more than one 
million gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons, along with our 
families, friends and allies, on Sunday, April 30, 2000, in Washington, DC 
for the largest GLBT civil rights march and rally in history.

Together we'll lobby the members and staffs of Congress. We'll have 
unprecedented opportunities to participate in conferences, workshops and 
informal networking events. We'll honor our past and mobilize for the future, 
and yes, we'll celebrate. We'll organize our community to prepare for the 
upcoming presidential and congressional elections. And we'll march through 
the streets of our nation's capital and rally on the Mall to demonstrate to 
our nation the power of our numbers and the justness of our cause. 

For those who have wondered whether you should attend the Millennium March on 
Washington, I invite you to make the decision - the commitment - to join one 
million of your brothers and sisters for the largest GLBT gathering in 
history. This is a unique historical opportunity for our community to come 
together around the one issue that unites us all: Full equality under the law 
for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons.

Together, we'll boldly demonstrate the strength of our diverse communities, 
we'll further the goal of equality under the law for all people, and we'll 
call on our nation to live out the promise of her creed: liberty and justice 
for all.

And together we will honor the dream of those visionary women and men who 
called for and organized the first national GLBT March on Washington on 
October 14, 1979.

/signed/
Malcolm Lazin
MMOW Executive Director

NOTE:  The 20th Anniversary Observance of the 1979 National March for Gay and 
Lesbian Rights is being jointly sponsored by the NY Chapter of the 
International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History, the National Museum and 
Archive of Lesbian and Gay History - a program of the Lesbian & Gay Community 
Services Center -- and Congregation Beth Simchat Torah. For details, visit 
http://www.infotrue.com and click on the 20th Anniversary box.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Malcolm Lazin, MMOW Executive Director
Tel:  215-732-FEST
Fax:  215-732-7376
E-Mail: [email-masked]

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