Sunday, October 11, 2009

What the National Equality marchers didn't do says a lot about what they accomplished


I didn't attend yesterday's National Equality march because of personal feelings and family obligations. I did manage to catch it on the news channels and shows.

I also saw many of the pictures and read the stories from those participating.

And I noticed something that needs to be put on record.

Now I can say a lot of things about the marchers and what they did, but allow me to dwell on the things they didn't do:

They didn't lie about attendance numbers,

They didn't post any phony photographs,

They didn't carry offensive signs about the president's place of birth or racial heritage,

They didn't need to call themselves "patriots,"

They weren't led by an astroturfing groups, venomous think tank lackeys, phony news networks, or millionaire demagogues.

They weren't led by the nose with conspiracy theories involving Kenya, Acorn, or death panels,

And none of them were given to annoying weeping jags regarding about how "they wanted their country back."

These people who came to Washington yesterday were the true cross section of the country. They were mothers, fathers, and children who, while some may say that they had every reason to be rude and ugly (being denied your basic rights tends to bring the monster out in some people), came with reverence and respect.

And most of all, they came with the belief that sooner or later, America will fulfill its promise of equality for all, even if the President has to be prodded to push the country in that direction.

Not to totally put down the teabaggers, but one cannot escape the contrast between them and the participants of yesterday's National Equality March.

The teabaggers came to Washington demanding that the ill-conceived status quo be preserved. And they did it rather rudely.

Lgbts and their allies came to Washington in pursuit of what should have been theirs in the first place. And they did it with dignity.

When it's all said and done, which group best represents the true spirit of America?

Picture taken from National Equality March webpage.


Editor's note - Okay folks. Let's hold ourselves to the same standard that we hold President Obama. Let's take this momentum and do something with it.

Related posts:

My take on the President's speech to HRC





Bookmark and Share

2 comments:

libhom said...

Those are excellent points. It hadn't occurred to me to compare the two marches.

Kay & Sarah said...

You are right. The LGBT community exhibited the true spirit of America. We must now keep the momentum going.