Marching for Equality

What an incredible day it was in the District. The National Equality March attracted hundreds of thousands of individuals and families to the nation's capital to stand up for the rights of gays, lesbians, and trans people everywhere. I haven't experienced energy or sheer manpower like this since inauguration took over this city.

And nine months after the election of President Obama, many in the LGBTQ community (myself included) are frustrated at the lack of tangible progress on discriminatory policies such as DADT and DOMA.

What today proved, however, is that we are more energized than ever and full of hope that real change is coming. Beyond that, there is an ever-growing number of straight allies - family members, neighbors, and co-workers - who are willing to stand up and fight beside us.

The LGBTQ community is, to say the least, a unique one with a unique history. It is a history of pain and division as much as it is one of empowerment. Today I finally understood why the fights of those who grew up before and during the Stonewall era matter. I think those older generations are finally feeling and celebrating the openness and joy of all of us who benefited from their struggles. We are learning from each other. The inevitability of real progress is palpable.

As Andrew Sullivan wrote after the march today,

More to the point, this was not a plea for it; it was a statement of it. We are equal. We always have been. The prison of inferiority is in our own psyches as well as in others' fears. But I sense now, for the first time, a critical mass of self-respect among my LGBT brothers and sisters. It was there before; but now it's everywhere, especially the young, who seem to have found the courage of their own desires and the knowledge of their own love.

Thank you to everyone who came out (ha ha) today. Let's keep up the fight.