Message 24: From ww%nyxfer@igc.apc.org Mon Apr 12 14:40:01 1993 Received: from cdp.igc.org by halcyon.com with SMTP id AA09291 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for tomh); Mon, 12 Apr 1993 14:39:52 -0700 Received: by igc.apc.org (4.1/Revision: 1.76 ) id AA24563; Mon, 12 Apr 93 14:39:58 PDT Received: by nyxfer.uucp (1.65/waf) via UUCP; Mon, 12 Apr 93 14:13:15 EST for tomh@halcyon.halcyon.com To: sxp%nyxfer@apc.org, sxppub%nyxfer@apc.org, gay%tbbs@apc.org, act%nyxfer@apc.org, actpub%nyxfer@apc.org, smp%tbbs@apc.org Subject: April 25th March on Washington From: ww%nyxfer@igc.apc.org (Workers World Service) Message-Id: Date: Mon, 12 Apr 93 14:12:45 EDT Organization: NY Transfer News Collective Status: R Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit APRIL 25 MARCH ON WASHINGTON All eyes focus on battle for gay rights By Maggie Vascassenno The April 25 National March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender Equal Rights and Liberation will be the culmination of nearly 25 years of a community organizing to fight for justice. The momentum created in the lesbian and gay community over the last decade in response to the AIDS crisis and the religious right wing's attacks has brought hundreds of thousands of people into motion. The lesbian and gay community has put gay rights on the national agenda. As the battle over the ban in the military shows, lesbian and gay equal rights have become one of the most hotly debated issues in the country today. Minnesota just became the eighth state to pass a law that protects gay people against discrimination in housing, employment and education. Unprecedented coalitions of lesbian, gay, transgender and straight, religious and trade unions, women and people of color are organizing for the April 25 march. Organizers at the national march office in Washington told Workers World they get 3,000 calls daily. The media department receives 50 to 80 calls from all over the country and internationally. All incoming flights to Washington's National Airport are sold out on April 23 and 24. Train caravans are coming from the West Coast. Over 1,000 buses have been chartered nationally. People will pour in to Washington for many related activities. There will be Congressional lobbying the week before the march. Organizers have scheduled a People of Color conference there April 23 and 24. A national transgender meeting and a reception for lesbian and gay union members at the national AFL-CIO headquarters will be highlights on April 24. ACT UP is planning a protest at the Capitol on April 24. On April 26 there will be a demonstration and civil disobedience at the Capitol to say, "Health care is a human right--not a business." A rally to demand an end to the military ban will be held at the Pentagon at 7:30 a.m. on April 26. There will be plenty of parties and free concerts. And on April 24 a mass same-sex wedding will take place, followed by a reception. On April 25 marchers will gather at the Washington Monument from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Then they will march to the Mall. Speakers and musicians are scheduled at both sites. Among the confirmed speakers are Lt. Heidi DeJesus, recently discharged from the Air Force because she is a lesbian, William Gibson of the NAACP and transgender activist Phyllis Randolph Frye. March organizers asked President Clinton to speak at the rally. The national office hasn't had an official response from the White House. But a Clinton advisor told the April 4 New York Times "there was no way he [Clinton] would address the Washington march, and risk appearing on the evening news next to the most provocative images of protesters." Derek Livingston, national co-chairperson of the march, responded: "I think that if the president listens to his advisors he will be making a mistake. Our community perceives that the president is backpedaling on a lot of promises he made to a community that supported him. It's important to prove his commitment and speak to the largest demonstration that this community has ever had. ... "Our movement represents part of an unfinished civil rights agenda. Each of us needs to be in the streets if we want to achieve our equal rights. ... The rights for which we are fighting affect all of us. You do not need to be a sexual minority to fight for equal rights," Livingston said. (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted is source is cited. For more info contact Workers World 46 W. 21 St., New York, NY 10010; via e-mail: ww%nyxfer@igc.apc.org.) + Join Us! Support The NY Transfer News Collective + + We deliver uncensored information to your mailbox! + + Modem: 718-448-2358 FAX: 718-448-3423 e-mail: nyxfer@panix.com +