Longtime gay activist Cleve Jones said that he has received approval for an equality march and rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for Sunday, October 11, which is National Coming Out Day.
Jones said that he's "100 percent confident the march will be allowed to proceed." He said organizers have been told "quite clearly and emphatically that there's no impediment to doing this."
Jones said that for now, the rally is being called "Equality Across America."
There has been vigorous debate in the community about whether to have a national march this year. Some have expressed concern about the event, saying that there isn't enough time to plan it and that resources should be used for other purposes. There's also been confusion as to whether space on the Mall would even be available.
Others believe this year is the right time for a march, citing inaction by Congress and President Barack Obama on LGBT issues.
"The biggest challenge is not getting people to view this march through the lens of previous marches," said Jones.
Previous national marches have been highly produced affairs, with celebrity speakers being flown in. Jones said that organizers for October's event are not planning an elaborate march and rally.
"We're doing a different type of thing," Jones said. "Bit by bit, we're making it clear to people that we're absolutely not going to spend millions of dollars on producing a march on Washington."
The rally will be on the west Capitol lawn, the portion of the National Mall closest to the U.S. Capitol building, said Jones.
written by seth hannigan for east bay area reporter... rest of article here
today's sound choice is jennifer hudson with "i'm telling you i'm not going"
