opened doors

On October 14, 1979, over 200,000 people, for the first time in the capital’s history, marched in protest of the disenfranchisement and thick cloud of prejudice surrounding gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people. Seldom before this day had so many gathered in one place to rally for LGBT causes, but on this day they did, and they created history because of it. Of course, the LGBT community and its supporters had chafed against the prejudicial laws and attitudes for some time, and indeed many marches had already been planned, including Harvey Milk’s attempt to create a nationally-recognized demonstration in Minneapolis. But the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in D.C. was the first to really draw country-wide attention, be sponsored by organizations as large as the National Association for Women, and solidify the gay rights movement on a national scale (before then, gay rights’ demonstrations and legal scuffles had been mostly confined to the local sphere.) Not only that, it was the first time the LGBT community had been represented so holistically at a single time; the march drew equal nearly equal numbers of gays and lesbians, a generous representation of both the bisexual and transgender communities, and members of nearly every ethnic group (a fourth of all people on the march's planning committee were colored.) The march was also the first instance of major public outcry against anti-LGBT adoption laws, which up to that point had largely evaded public discourse.

As for my opinion of the event, naturally I celebrate the doors it opened for the national gay rights movement and undoubtedly for LGBT individuals spread across the country who prior to this date had never had their rights acknowledged nor supportive communities to help realize those rights. Studies have demonstrated that supportive environments are the cornerstones of good mental health for LGBT people; in states that permit gay marriage, for example, gays report significantly higher levels of happiness than do gays in states where gay marriage is not legal, even if they do not have plans to get married. Imagine, then, what the news of this rally must have done for the millions of gay people, especially gay youth, who up until this point had never had their existence even recognized on such a wide scale. It is no wonder why after the march the movement exploded; the conflagration of ardor the event must have caused was enough to spur a full-flung country-wide effort toward equality for all LGBT people. That, naturally, is something to celebrate.