Harvey Milk dreamed of a gay march on the Nation's Capital and 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. Officially, it was: THE NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS

The man in the plaid shirt is San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, who was appointed after the assassination of Harvey Milk. The 2nd person to the right (in a dark coat) is San Francisco activist and founder of the Names Project (AIDS Quilt), Cleve Jones. For more pictures of the 1979 march and some of my memories of the Washington DC adventure, click on the official program cover.

The day after the 1979 march was CONSTITUENT LOBBYING DAY. All participants were requested to visit their Senators and Representatives in support of gay equal rights. The second gay march on Washington was held on October 11, 1987. Among the speakers were Rev. Jesse Jackson and actress Whoopi Goldberg. The organizers estimated 500,000 participants. The US Park Police said 200,000. Two days after the march 600 gays were arrested at a demonstration of civil disobedience at the Supreme Court. The third march, officially "THE 1993 MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR LESBIAN GAY AND BISEXUAL RIGHTS AND LIBERATION", was held on April 25, 1993. The AIDS Quilt was displayed on the Mall as part of the event which nearly one-million people attended.

MILLENNIUM MARCH ON WASHINGTON Sunday, APRIL 30, 2000 was held under warm sunny skies and considerable controversy. The weekend included a two-day street festival, GLBT conferences, and many affiliated events. Both President Clinton and Vice-President Gore addressed the crowd on the National Mall via video. Attendance was estimated at 100 to 500 thousand, depending on the source. That makes it the largest and most powerful civil rights demonstration of the twenty-first century. ( of course, it is the ONLY american civil rights march that has been held in the twenty-first century!) Click on the Uncle Sam poster to visit the official web site of the Millennium March on Washington for Equality.

MORE ABOUT THE 1979 MARCH MY TRIP TO THE 1979 MARCH BACK TO CASTRO STREET This page created March 25, 2000 and modified Dec 30, 2002 • Text and Graphics © 1979 - 2000 • UD Graphics • San Francisco • The information presented here is entirely my own opinion and shall in no way be considered a statement of fact. Permission to copy images is granted only for non-commercial, non-profit use.