Last spring, high-profile gay activists began speaking out about their frustration with President Obama's lack of visibility on issues of concern to the LGBT community. They started talking aloud about holding a major demonstration in Washington, perhaps in October, that would coincide with National Coming Out Day and the 30th anniversary of the first major national march for gay rights.
That's the genesis of Sunday's National Equality March in the nation's capital. Though many associated with the event say it's absolutely not designed as a critique of the Obama administration, it's clear that some of the marchers feel a sense of disappointment in the president they helped elect.
Anthony Farver is one of them. He is with the Naples-based group Standup Southwest Florida, and he'll be taking a bus to Washington via Tampa, accompanied by about 40 people from the Fort Myers/Naples area.
"I respect him, and I worked hard on his campaign. But stop saying what you're going to do, and start doing it." To Farver, Obama is too much like Bill Clinton all over again.
Oh yeah, that Clinton guy. Under his watch came a ban on HIV+ people entering the U.S., as well as DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act. And it was his administration, of course, that implemented the U.S. military's much-maligned "Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy — the repeal of which was an Obama campaign promise he has yet to fulfill.
David Mixner, who worked on Clinton's transition team, was one of the organizers of the March. Mixner writes on his blog, "Almost NOTHING has been done in the last eight months by the president or Congress to take us dramatically closer to freedom. We are now hearing rumbles that we have to wait until after next year's elections to protect the Blue Dog Democrats' re-election. Then, I give you my word, we will hear after that how we have to wait until the president is re-elected because after all, if we don't, they will blame us if they lose. All sound familiar?"
Nadine Smith is the head of Equality Florida, and co-chair of this Sunday's event. She says that all of the legislative victories that the LGBT community has enjoyed in recent years have come at the state and/or local level. But none, she says, have come from Washington.
"In the 40 years since Stonewall, not a single piece of federal legislation has passed that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity."
But Phil Siegel, a spokesman for the National Equality March, says this weekend is not about dissing the current commander in chief. "It's about furthering the dialogue."
It's also undoubtedly about bringing together a new generation of the LGBT movement, many of whom have have never joined en masse nationally with those who share similar values.
Miami resident and Equality Florida member Tobias Packer will be speaking at the DC event. A transgender 26-year-old who transitioned from female to male, Packer says that he's seen the meter move forward in terms of acceptance for people like himself. He uses as an example the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) school groups, which were extremely controversial just a few years ago here in Florida.
"I helped start a GSA at Coral Springs High School. That was a challenge. Now Broward county has dozens of GSAs, and there are hundreds across the state. I think that's a big leap forward in 2009." (Equality Florida lists 74 such clubs on its website.)
Organizers say the goal of the march is to ultimately put gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people on the same level as all other Americans when it comes to being guaranteed full and equal protection under the law.
Carrie West is the co-owner of MC Film in Ybor City, and the unofficial mayor of GaYbor. A bus will stop by his store this weekend, picking up passengers to travel to D.C. He'll be attending the event with his partner of 32 years, Mark Bias. He says it's another avenue to fight for equality.
"It will be very much a historical event. Some people might think it's a waste of time and money, but it's a cause of not being recognized."
Phil Siegel with the National Equality March equates what the gay community is looking for to what women went through in pursuit of the never-achieved Equal Rights Amendment back in the 1970s.
"The ERA did not pass, but it did move the dial. Here we are, 35 years later, and so many dreams desired by women have been realized. The dialogue has been furthered by their pursuit for equal rights."
One certain victory for gays recently has been the surge in the states — either through the courts or by ballot — to allow gay marriage. Although the failure of California (and to a lesser extent, Florida) last year to pass such a law was a blow to that movement, efforts continue throughout the country.
But for many, the protest is about more than just marriage equality; it's about the lack of any kind of civil rights protections in places like Florida.
Tobias Packer says one of the deepest personal issues for him is the passing of a statewide civil rights bill. "In Broward and in Tampa, right now you can be fired for being gay."
In fact, during last year's legislative session in Tallahassee, Sen. Ted Deutch (D-Delray Beach) and Rep. Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Roton) introduced legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity or expression as protected categories to the Florida Civil Rights Codes, which do not mention gays at all.
At the time she introduced the bill in the House, Rep. Skidmore said, "The time has come for Florida to join the 20 other states which protect gay and lesbian employees from being unfairly fired."
The legislation did not pass, but a spokesperson for Sen. Deutch told CL that he intends to bring the bill back up during the next legislative session.
(And last week the head of the Tampa Human Rights Board asked the City Council to include transgender people in the city's Human Rights Ordinance).
For activists like Tobias Packer, the march is "where we can take all the energy, and get crystal clear on our commitment towards equality, and bring it back home."
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.