Andrea and I are getting ready for the National Equality March (NEM) this weekend in DC. We’re flying in tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon and staying through Sunday night. Both of us are very excited; it’s our first march – ever – for any cause. We plan to keep the posters we made as souvenirs.
It’s been a crazy week. I’m on the United Equality New Media team and we’ve spent the last week getting a team of over 20+ iQreporters recruited and trained to liveblog and tweet this weekend’s events. When we return from DC, I plan to sleep for three days. If you want to keep up with what’s happening this weekend, visit iQreport.usfreedomring.com and iQreport on Twitter.
On the eve of the march, I’m still seeing commentary from some gay rights activists who are poo-pooing the march. In a recent article, Bil Browning summed up my opinion about that beautifully:
Bil Browning, founder of The Bilerico Project, says part of the carping at the march stems from the fact that it was organized by folks outside of mainstream gay-rights organizations.
“You’ve got these folks who now have the ability to organize themselves on Facebook and on Twitter through flash mobs,” Browning says, “And I think you’ve got the old guard coming in and meeting the new guard head on. The grass-roots wants to go out and block streets. You know, the [established organizations] say, ‘No! We’ve got to go sit with tea and crumpets with Obama in the White House, while we patiently wait for him to actually do something on any piece of LGBT rights.’”
That’s right. The internet has allowed those of us who are “outside” mainstream gay rights organizations to organize and protest without backing from large gay rights organizations. I am proud of what we (us little guys who can’t afford those fancy celebrity fundraising galas) have accomplished so far with this march. I’m excited about where our community will go post-NEM.
See ya in DC!
