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Tens of thousands rally for gay rights in DC

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-12 10:43

A couple participates in a gay rights demonstration in Washington October 11, 2009. [Agencies]

Many marchers were outraged after the passage of California's Proposition 8, which canceled the right of gays to get married in the state.

Kipp Williams, a 27-year-old San Francisco resident, said he moved to California from the South seeking equality but realized after Proposition 8 that gay people are second-class citizens everywhere.

Contrary to the California Supreme Court's decision on the legality of the referendum, he said "there is no exception to the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution."

Sara Schoonover-Martin, 34, came from Martinsburg, West Virginia, with her wife, Nicki, wearing matching veils and pink T-shirts that said "bride" and "I do." The couple eloped at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts earlier this year.

"This affects my life every day, 365 days a year," Martin said.

For Lt. Dan Choi, the day began with a jog around Washington's memorials, calling cadence at 8 am with fellow veterans and supporters before joining the march. A West Point graduate, Arabic speaker and Iraq war veteran, Choi is facing discharge under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for revealing in March that he is gay.

The so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allows gay men and women to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation hidden.

He appeared later at a rally in his Army uniform and a piece of black tape over his mouth.

"Many of us have been discharged from the service because we told the truth," he said. "But I know that love is worth it."

Other activists doubted the march would accomplish much. They said the time and money would have been better spent working to persuade voters in Maine and Washington state, where the November ballot will include a measure that would overturn a bill granting same-sex couples many of the benefits of marriage.

A bill introducing same-sex marriage was introduced last week by the District of Columbia Council and is expected to easily pass.

Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, said the marchers should be lobbying their lawmakers. He said the demonstrations are simply "an emotional release" that do little to pressure Congress.

"The only thing they're going to be putting pressure on is the grass," the Massachusetts Democrat said Friday.

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