“What do want? Equality! When do we want it? Now!”
The chant filled the airwaves of the capital as the nation’s lawn went from a traditional green to a vibrant rainbow.
Sunday, Oct. 11, 200,000 activists, including about 22 members from VCU’s Queer Action, took to Washington to participate in the National Equality March.
Justin Nguyen, a member of Queer Action was one of three group members to organize the trip.
“It was one day when being gay was normal,” Nguyen said. “It was important for people to feel normal and not ostracized.”
Nguyen said it is important for college students to have a cause to fight for.
Queer Action Secretary Brittany Brown, who also attended the equality march and said it was a “moving experience” to witness so many people fighting for the same cause.
“It was the most ground-breaking (event) for our generation,” Brown said.
According to march organizer Cleave Jones, the goal of the march was to bring awareness to the lack of equal treatment being given toward the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community and to demand civil rights protection from the federal government.
“We’re not settling,” Jones said. “There’s no such thing as a fraction of equality. We’re getting society to realize we’re people with hopes and needs, just like them.”
Christine Quinn, the first openly lesbian speaker of the New York City Council, asked America, and especially Congress, to listen to her words.
“Look me in the eye and tell me I am less of a person than you are. Look me in the eye and tell me my family is worth less than yours. Look me in the eye and tell me I am not an American. Well you know what, not one person in any of those places can do that, not one of them,” Quinn said.
Actress and equal rights activist Cynthia Nixon said, “When a country has different laws for different categories of people it sends its country a message that somehow a group of people is inferior . If they are looking for someone to bully, beat or even kill, gay people are a ready target . It’s not just about our ability to get married, it is about demanding equal rights . and equal protection under the law.”
Along with the topic of fighting for basic civil rights, such as marriage, was the fight against the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA would essentially mean even if all 50 states legalize same-sex marriage, gay married couples would still lack 1,100 benefits that heterosexual couples receive once they are married. Some of those benefits include health care, joint parenting, adoption and immigration.
Pop star Lady Gaga said, “They say this country is free, and they say that this country is equal, but it is not equal if it is only sometimes.”