20th & 30th Anniversary of First March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

ABOUT INFOTRUE ................................................................................................................................................................ CONTACT

Walking Tours & Guest Speakers by Infotrue

THE NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH ON THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MARCH!

These are pictures from the 5th march on Washington for our Rights on October 11, 2009.

New York City Commemorated the 20th Anniversary
of the First March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights Back in 1999...

On October 14, 1999, twenty years to the day after the event, the LGBT community of New York City commemorated the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The program was held at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (CBST the world's largest synagogue serving the LGBT Community their families and friends), which was the site of the NYC grassroots planning session for the March, in the Spring of 1979.

The theme of the event was to have a community commemoration to both honor and learn from the first March. A March that furthered the dream of Harvey Milk for a National March on Washington and as a reaction to Anita Bryant's Crusade. A new goal was set to have a nationally observed 25th anniversary event in five years. Three of the national organizers of the March, Steve Ault, Joyce Hunter and Ron Alheim, along with National Steering Committee delegate from New York, Rick Landman, gave first hand accounts of how the March was organized from the grassroots up. They also presented examples of how the march strengthened our movement on a local, statewide and national level.

"I remember calling up gay bars across the country to bestow upon the person on the other end the title of 'Delegate From the State' to help organize a contingent to come to the March," recalls Ron Alheim.

"It was a different world. New York had no community center, which is why we were so grateful to get to use CBST's sanctuary for our community meeting. We were marking the tenth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and our community was responding to the national assault of Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade," said Rick Landman.

"This commemoration is very important in that it gives us an opportunity to restate lessons learned from organizing the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights," Steve Ault pointed out. The March captured the spirit, energy and commitment of our community because people from all over the country had a say in decided whether or not to march, and then why, when, and how. "Now, twenty years later, it appears that these lessons have either been forgotten or are being ignored."

"The International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History was proud to sponsor this event because it sustains the memory of a very important chapter in our community's history. Without the first march in 1979 and the ones that followed in 1987 and 1993, it is hard to imagine that Lesbians and Gay men could have gained the visibility and clout that has propelled the great progress we have made in recent years", said Greg McCurdy, Chair of the New York Chapter of the Museum who delivered the opening remarks at the Memorial Event. "Bringing such historic event to life for future generations is one of the main purposes of the Museum."

There was an undercurrent from the speakers comparing the first March's process to that of the proposed Millennium March, but the proposed March was not specifically mentioned.

Betty Santoro, Eleanor Cooper and Juanita Ramos, the other honorees, were not able to attend. Each honoree received a plaque from the co-sponsors of the event, the National Museum and Archive of Lesbian and Gay History and the International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History. The first March was an inspiring event. It was obvious that those who participated still cherish its memory. In addition, the first March served as an excellent organizing tool which helped build a stronger more inclusive movement. Each region's delegation was required to have gender parity and include 25% people of color. The democratic, grassroots process included meetings convened around the country to select delegates and plan for local organizing. The meeting in New York City was one of many such events.

After the speakers shared some anecdotes about their experiences, the documentary "Greetings from Washington DC" (directed by Lucy Winer) was shown in a festive atmosphere full of applause and popcorn. The event ended with a large 20th anniversary cake. In a way, it was almost a 20th anniversary reunion since so many in the audience were involved in putting the march together. Photos of the event, more details and a cyber~archive of memorabilia can be found at http://www.infotrue.com. Anyone with other artifacts from the March can contact the Museum and Archive by using the website. Stay tuned through the site for upcoming news about the 25th anniversary of the March.

cake

The 20th Anniversary Cake

Some of the Organizers of the Event, including from left to right on the back row, Greg McCurdy of the International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History, Steve Ault, National Co-Coordinator , Joyce Hunter, National Co-Coordinator, Ron Alheim, National Outreach, Dick Radvon of CBST, Rich Wandel of the National Museum and Archive of Lesbian and Gay History, Carol Alpert accepting for Lucy Winer, and Rick Landman, New York Representative

View of the audience watching the documentary "Greetings from Washington DC"

plaque

Close up of one of the Plaques given out that night

plaques

View of the plaques before distribution

Poster

Moderator: Gregory McCurdy,
Chair, NY Chapter of the International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History

Introduction:
Personal Historical Accounts of the Event by the Honorees
Awarding of the Certificates of Appreciation by:
Remarks by Lucy Winer, the director of the documentary "GREETINGS FROM WASHINGTON DC", by Rob Epstein, Frances Reid, Greta Schiller, Lucy Winer, a personal view of the March. For Further information about the documentary click here
Presenting a Historical Marker to Michael Levine, to former Chair of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, in appreciation for using the sanctuary for the 1979 NYC Community Meeting for the March
Free Showing of "Greetings from Washington DC"
Conclusion and Refreshments

List of Co-Sponsoring Organizations

It is our desire to co-sponsor with all historical/archival/museum entities in the GLBT community. Including: Lesbian Herstory Archives, et. al

List of Honorees

Steven Ault, National Co-Coordinator
Joyce Hunter, National Co-Coordinator
Ronald Alheim, National Outreach Chair
Betty Santoro, National Fundraising Chair, Female Keynote Speaker
New York Representatives:
Eleanor Cooper
Rick Landman
Juanita Ramos
.

Little Know Facts About the March

The first community planning session in New York City for the March was conducted on a Sunday in the Spring of 1979 at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in NYC. The vote was taken to have the March and people were elected to represent New York and to help on the National Level. Those are the people being honored. Over 150 representatives of gay and lesbian NY organizations attended that meeting.

The first national planning meeting for the March was held in Philadelphia in February of 1979, and the second was held in Houston, Texas over the summer where a large representative national structure was realized.

This started as a grassroots march with support from the National groups such as the NGTF (National Gay Task Force), GRNL (Gay Rights National Lobby) and MCC coming later.

While the official number count varied, over a hundred thousand people attended this March.

One of the Outcomes of this March was the encouragement of the initiation of hundreds of grassroots community groups throughout the 50 States. Many statewide groups started because of the need to send people to this March, or by the enthusiasm of coming home from the March.

The March was of the first entities to use the term "Lesbian and Gay" rather than "Gay" or "Gay and Lesbian" in its title.

All regions had to have at least 50% parity of women to men and 25% people of color.

The August 17, 1999 issue of the Advocate has a time line of "Our Best and Brightest Activists". It starts in 1895 to the present. It includes the fact that in 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. had a gay assistant who helped in organizing the March on Washington for Civil Rights, but leaves out 1979's first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Just another example of how a history not learned is soon forgotten. The article is copied below in the cyber~archives section of this webpage.

"A History which is hidden is just a lost memory..."This is a sample of the artifacts from the March.

Actual Bumper Sticker from the March

Actual Postcard from the March

The following names were taken from the end of the documentary "Greetings from Washington DC" by Rob Epstein, Frances Reid, Greta Schiller, Lucy Winer.

SPEAKERS

Richard Ashworth Margot Karle Betty Santoro

Steve Ault Flo Kennedy Sandy Schuster

Marion Barry Morris Kight Arlie Scott

Harry Britt Rev. J. W. Kuper Eleanor Smeal

Charlotte Bunch Charles Law Spiritual Cel. Of Life

Marc Cobb Audre Lorde Adele Starr

Ed Crukshank Arthur McCombes Anthony Sullivan

Armondo Gaiten Kate Millet Robin Tyler

Allen Ginsberg Peter Orlovsky Lucia Valeska

Paula Gernation Rev. Troy Perry Howard Wallace

Ray Hill Juanita Ramos Ted Weiss

Madeline Isaacson Sky Rose .

ENTERTAINERS

Blackberry Gotham Tom Robinson

Meg Christian Holly Near Meg Watkins

SPECIAL THANKS (ORGANIZERS, REPRESENTATIVES,etc.)

Joyce Hunter Sally Gearhart Vicky Gail Price

Steve Ault Margot Karle Ginny Sandman

David Becker Jonathan Katz Amy Scarola

Anne Benedict Rick Landman Michael Seltzer

Julia Bruno Linda Leibman Elizabeth Stevens

Charlotte Bunch Lesbians Rising Lucia Valeska

Michelle Citron Armistead Maupin Tom Wolfred

June Creighton Peoples Gay Alliance John Wright

Dominick Guskern Noelle Penrat .

East End Gay Org. Betty Powell .

Some of the actual T-shirts from the March

Unofficial buttons sent in by Donald Eckert.

Program sent in by Donald Eckert.

Program Cover sent in by Donald Eckert.

The August 17, 1999 issue of the Advocate has a time line of "Our Best and Brightest Activists". It starts in 1895 to the present. It includes the fact that in 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. had a gay assistant who helped in organizing the March on Washington for Civil Rights, but leaves out 1979's first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Just another example of how a history not learned is soon forgotten. Notice that the entire year of 1979 is skipped.

Copy of the Invitation for the 20th Anniversary Event

CLICK HERE FOR ANOTHER WEBSITE WITH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE 1979 MARCH ON WASHINGTON - RAINBOW HISTORY PROJECT

IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM, PLEASE EMAIL US HERE...

Richard Ashworth	Margot Karle	Betty Santoro
Steve Ault	Flo Kennedy	Sandy Schuster
Marion Barry	Morris Kight	Arlie Scott
Harry Britt	Rev. J. W. Kuper	Eleanor Smeal
Charlotte Bunch	Charles Law	Spiritual Cel. Of Life
Marc Cobb	Audre Lorde	Adele Starr
Ed Crukshank	Arthur McCombes	Anthony Sullivan
Armondo Gaiten	Kate Millet	Robin Tyler
Allen Ginsberg	Peter Orlovsky	Lucia Valeska
Paula Gernation	Rev. Troy Perry	Howard Wallace
Ray Hill	Juanita Ramos	Ted Weiss
Madeline Isaacson	Sky Rose	.

Blackberry	Gotham	Tom Robinson
Meg Christian	Holly Near	Meg Watkins

Joyce Hunter	Sally Gearhart	Vicky Gail Price
Steve Ault	Margot Karle	Ginny Sandman
David Becker	Jonathan Katz	Amy Scarola
Anne Benedict	Rick Landman	Michael Seltzer
Julia Bruno	Linda Leibman	Elizabeth Stevens
Charlotte Bunch	Lesbians Rising	Lucia Valeska
Michelle Citron	Armistead Maupin	Tom Wolfred
June Creighton	Peoples Gay Alliance	John Wright
Dominick Guskern	Noelle Penrat	.
East End Gay Org.	Betty Powell	.