On This Day In Gay History

Harvey Milk dreamed of a gay march on the Nation's Capital & spoke of it many times before his assassination in 1978. He believed that gay visibility would lead to the end of discrimination. Inspired by him, the first march was held on October 14, 1979. Harvey Milk dreamed of a gay march on the Nation's Capital & spoke of it many times before his assassination in 1978. He believed that gay visibility would lead to the end of discrimination. Inspired by him, the first march was held on October 14, 1979.



The man who would become my husband & I had just started out on our romance & we were cautious of being "too out". A Democrat in the White House. Demands for sweeping civil-rights protections. Religious opponents working to undo a string of state-based victories.That was the backdrop in 1979 when gay rights activists staged the first national march in Washington.

 The National March on Washington for Lesbian & Gay Rights was the first such march on Washington, it drew close to 125,000 gay men, lesbians, bisexual & transgender people & straight allies to demand equal civil rights & urge the passage of protective civil rights legislation


The march served to nationalize the gay movement, which before had been focused on local struggles. This spirit is invoked in the closing paragraph of the welcome program of the march:


"Today in the capital of America, we are all here, the almost liberated & the slightly repressed; the butch, & femme & everything in-between; the androgynous; the monogamous & the promiscuous; the masturbators & the fellators & the tribadists; men in dresses & women in neckties; those who bite & those who cuddle, celibates, diesel dykes & nelly queens; amazons & size queens, Yellow, Black, Brown, White, & Red; the shorthaired & the long, the fat & the thin; the nude & the prude, the beauties & the beasts, the studs & the duds, the communes, the couples, & the singles; pubescent & the octogenarians. Yes, we are all here! We are everywhere! Welcome to the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights!"

The march began at the National Mall, turned left onto Pennsylvania Avenue, proceeded northwest towards the White House & ended in a rally between the Washington Monument & the Reflecting Pool. The march was led by the Salsa Soul Sisters, who carried the official march banner. Speakers & artists who spoke at the main rally included Harry Britt, Charlotte Bunch, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Flo Kennedy, Morris Knight, Audre Lorde, Leonard Matlovich, Kate Millett, Troy Perry, Eleanor Smeal, & Congressman Ted Weiss. Mayor Marion Barry, gave a welcome to the marchers on behalf of the city of Washington, DC.

 In addition to the march itself, the organizers arranged three days of workshops featuring artistic events, strategy sessions, focus groups on specific issues of women & minorities within the LGBT community, consciousness raising, local organization, religion & other issues. The Monday after the march was organized as a "Constituent Lobbying Day" in which over 500 participants attempted to contact every member of Congress to express support for gay rights legislation. The participants successfully met with 50 senators & more than 150 house members.