2nd National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights... 1987



The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. October 11, 1987. Its success, size and scope has led it to be referred to by many in gay history as "The Great March".

LGBT community desire for a new march was prompted by two major events in the 1980s: the spread of AIDS and the Ronald Reagan administration's lack of acknowledgment of the AIDS crisis; and the Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick upholding the criminalization of sodomy between two consenting men in the privacy of a home. In 1986, Steve Ault & Joyce Hunter, co-coordinators of the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, drafted documents to extant LGBT organizations soliciting interest in a new march. The response was favorable, and the two organized an initial planning meeting in New York City on July 16, 1986, where it was decided that the march would be held in 1987. Representatives from all known LGBT organizations were subsequently invited to a national conference in New York City on November 14–16, 1986 where they would discuss the politics, logistics and organization of the event. The delegates would be addressing four primary concerns:

1. What will a March on Washington accomplish?;
2. How should organizers and LGBT organizations proceed?;
3. What should be the focus and platform of the event?; and
4. When should the March take place? The conference was held under the slogan "For love and for life, we're not going back!"

Throughout the weekend, delegates debated many aspects of the march itself, including bisexual and transgender inclusion, needs of minorities and people of color, and whether or not to include non-LGBT-centric issues such as APARTHEID as part of the march's platform. At the end of the weekend, the overall structure for the National Steering Committee had been set.

The second meeting of the steering committee was held in January 1987 in the City of West Hollywood at City Hall. Steve Ault, Pat Norman and Kay Ostberg were elected as the three national co-chairs of the event. The delegates also finalized the march's platform and political purpose.

The final organizational meeting for the march took place in Atlanta on May 2–3, 1987. This meeting served primarily to hammer out logistical details and determine the slate of individuals to speak at the rally.

The delegates at the West Hollywood convention chose seven primary demands to serve as the platform for the 1987 March. Each of these demands was supplemented with a broader list of demands which extended beyond the scope of single-issue LGBT concerns. In doing so, the organizers wished to underscore their recognition that oppression of one group affects oppression of all groups. The seven primary demands were:

• The legal recognition of lesbian and gay relationships.
• The repeal of all laws that make sodomy between consenting adults a crime.
• A presidential order banning discrimination by the federal government.
• Passage of the Congressional lesbian and gay civil rights bill.
• An end to discrimination against people with AIDS, ARC, HIV-positive status or those perceived to have AIDS. Massive increases in funding for AIDS education, research, and patient care. Money for AIDS, not for war.
• Reproductive freedom, the right to control our own bodies, and an end to sexist oppression.
• An end to racism in this country and apartheid in South Africa.

The march was part of six days of activities, with a mass wedding and protest in front of the Internal Revenue Service on October 10, and, three days later, a civil disobedience act in front of the Supreme Court building protesting its rulings upholding Bowers v. Hardwick. The march, demonstration and rally also included the first public display of Cleve Jones' NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

The march itself was led by Cesar Chavez and Eleanor Smeal, who were followed by people with AIDS and their supporters.

Speakers at the rally included:

• former National Organization for Women president Eleanor Smeal
• union president and Latino civil rights figure Cesar Chavez
• actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg
• Jesse Jackson, then a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President. Jackson told the crowd, "Let's find a common ground of humanity... We share the desire for life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equal protection under the law. Let's not dwell on distinctions."

The 200,000 person estimate, widely quoted from the New York Times, was made several hours before the march actually began; similarly, most of the pictures used by mainstream media were taken early in the morning, or of the AIDS Quilt viewing area rather than the march itself. Police on the scene estimated numbers during the actual march to be closer to half a million.

The event was supported and endorsed from its early stages by such national LGBT organizations as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.