National March on Washington, 1993
21
image_header
2024-05-27T18:14:26-07:00
The National March on Washington
The National March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian, and Bi Equal Rights on April 25, 1993 had over 1 million in attendance. The march originally included transgender in the name of the march, but did not receive enough support in the March On Washington steering committee. Despite this, it was a turning point for transgender activism, and, “marked the greatest amount of recognition and inclusion ever accorded to the trans community by the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.”[1]
Bisexuals also were represented in the march very visibly, which hadn’t always been the case. Lani Ka’ahumanu wrote in her reflection of the march, “A quiet sense of pride filled me the morning of April 25th. We [bisexuals] made it. There we were in the front of the March carrying the banner, performing on the morning stage, and marching loud, proud and visible with almost every group. And there we were over 1,000 strong in the bisexual contingent!”[2]
Among the queer speakers were Urvashi Vaid, Larry Kramer, Phil Wilson, Hon. Sven Robinson, Akiko Carver, Reggie Williams, Jill Lessing, Carmen Vasquez, Torie Osborn, Eric Rofes, Susan Liroff, Troix Bettencourt, joyce Hunter, Pat Ireland, Pat Hussain, Lani Ka'ahumanu, Virginia Apuzzo, Rep Gerry Studds.
Citations
[1] Davina Anne Gabriel, “‘We’re Queer Too!:’ Trans Community Demands Inclusion,” TransSisters : The Journal of Transsexual Feminism Sept/Oct, no. 1 (1993), http://archive.org/details/transsistersjour00unse.
[2] Lani Ka’ahumanu, “How I Spent My Two Week Vacation Being a Token Bisexual,” Queer Rhetoric Project (blog), 1993, https://queerrhetoric.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/how-i-spent-my- two-week-vacation-being-a-token-bisexual/.
