Equality March: The Weekend Continued

I wasn't sure what to expect at the Equality March. I've never marched politically before. These pictures were taken by Celeste Lavin and Alex Guyton. From the metro, people streamed towards the meeting place in every imaginable t-shirt and rainbow bits of clothing. As we waited for members of our party to pee in Starbucks, I got more and more excited, as Kim cooly surveyed the surroundings. She does not tend towards bouncing up and down the same way I do.

There were so many people marching! It took a while to get moving, and for a while we were a giant pack. But after a bit the streets widened, and there was plenty of room to move about while marching. This space also allowed us to vary our pace, which brought us into contact with many different groups of people. We saw a group from West Virginia, one from Kentucky, a bunch of drag queens, and Dan Choi, an army Lt. who was just discharged from the military for publicly coming out. He was there with his partner and people cheered every time they saw him.
There were many, many homemade signs that made us clap or laugh. A sampling is pictured below.




This one says, "Jesus had 2 dads and he turned out fine," and was one of my favorites.
A sign that made everyone cheer and tear up was held by an interracial couple: "Our marriage was illegal too."


The cheering was one of the best parts. Different groups led cheers at different times, and Julia of our group led several as well. Cheering and chanting made the 2.3 mile walk move quickly, and boosted the energy. It gave me goosebumps to think of all of us, there together, with similar goals.
Some cheers:
"What do we want?" "Equality!" "When do we want it?" "Now!"

I said, Hey, ho
That homophobia's got to go (this had a great rhythm)

"Show me what democracy looks like!"
"This is what democracy looks like!"

Gay, straight, black, white
We deserve equal rights

Out of the closet and into the streets!

Obama, Obama,
Let Mama Marry Mama (I didn't hear this, but others did)

I'm really glad I went. We had good weather, and even got a little sunburned. I was happy to see many women, people of color, and people of diverse ages. Many allies as well as gay people. I think it was a successful turn out.