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OutRight
by Dale Carpenter
Divided We March
Despite all the problems in the Millenium
March on Washington in April, we should all consider
going
Asked
how she felt about the new millennium, drag persona
Dame Edna Everidge responded, “I’m trying
to feel something about it.” A lot of gay women
and men are similarly indifferent about the impending
(some would say “looming”) Millennium March
on Washington for gay equality. But despite its many
faults, we shouldn’t be so lackadaisical about
this march.
Seven
years ago at this time, as the 1993 national gay civil
rights march approached, awareness was high. People
were talking about it. They were excited about it. There
were local committees across the country organizing
volunteers for it and getting march-related information
to local groups. Stickers were dispensed at gay dance
clubs and bars to encourage attendance.
Little
of that seems to be happening this time around. If you
didn’t even know about the coming march, welcome
to a rather large crowd. If you did know, then, quick:
What date will it be held? (Sunday, April 30.)
Even
if you did know the date, chances are, you’ve made
no plans to go. You probably haven’t even considered
it.
Problems
abound. There is considerable evidence of internal disarray
and missteps by the march organization itself. Several
board members and other key personnel—including
the very able organizer Robin Tyler—have resigned
in the past year, citing disagreements over the direction
and content of the event.
Organizers
have sadly succumbed to the pressures of political correctness,
concerning themselves so much with the numerical representation
of different constituencies that the organizing board
has become, well, unrepresentative. Thus, for example,
the march board requires that 50 percent of its members
be racial minorities and 50 percent be women. Yet these
requirements are far larger than the actual proportion
of women and racial minorities among all gays. And the
board has pledged to give 30 percent of any profits
to “national GLBT organizations of color,”
even though such groups are dwarfed in size and activity
by non-racially-identified gay organizations.
At
the same time, the march board has been oblivious to
the need for political diversity. Thus, although at
least one-third of gay voters routinely support GOP
congressional candidates, there are no Republicans on
the board, much less a formal requirement that conservative
gays be represented. You can bet that same onesidedness
—so utterly unconnected to the reality of gay life
in this country—will be evident in the speakers
chosen for the event.
That’s
not to say I would favor a 33 percent quota for gay
Republicans. Personally, I don’t care if the march
board is composed entirely of two-spirit lesbian snail
darters of color as long as they actually make good
decisions and help get the work done. But it shouldn’t
be surprising that we are unenthusiastic about a march
that has obsessed more about identity politics than
about promoting a coherent message.
And
the march has predictably generated squabbling between
the gay left and the extreme gay left. Ever since plans
for the march were first announced two years ago, a
small but loud band of perma-disgruntled activists has
been complaining. According to one of these activists,
they want “to create the mechanisms necessary for
community involvement and democratic decision making.”
(A word to the wise: Whenever you hear the words “community”
and “democratic decision making,” watch for
a power grab.) To achieve this, they would have the
march planned at a mass meeting where every gay organization
in the country—no matter how large or small, no
matter how active or inactive—would get two votes.
These people are a few clowns short of a circus.
Despite
all this nonsense, supporters of gay civil rights should
give serious consideration to attending the march. This
is a presidential election year. Media attention to
controversial social issues like equality for gay people
is heightened. It’s a sure bet the various candidates
for president and Congress will be asked to give their
reactions to the march and to the issues it raises.
This
is, therefore, an opportunity for us to show a strong,
confident, reasonable face to the rest of America. If
we don’t want this highly visible march to distort
yet again what the country thinks of us, we need to
show up.
If
turnout is small or dominated by fringe causes, it will
be another excuse for politicians to dismiss us. The
perception will be that we can’t get our political
act together even when everything is on the line and
the whole country is watching.
Sure,
you could take the same money you’d spend on travel,
meals, and lodging and donate it to other gay-related
causes with greater effect. But nobody is actually going
to do that. Let’s be candid: Most people’s
options are either go to the march or sit on your butt
that weekend.
There will be time enough afterward to consider the
larger questions, like whether these old-fashioned civil
rights marches are really a good use of our time and
money, and whether our growing ideological diversity
precludes a movement-wide march from having a coherent
agenda.
The
time for debating the pros and cons of quotas and processes
is past. Whatever you think about the march, it’s
going to happen. Let’s make the best of it.
(For
more information about travel and lodging for the march,
visit www.mmow.org or call 202/467-8100.)
Writing
from the conservative end of the spectrum, attorney
Dale Carpenter is the winner of three Vice Versa awards
for excellence in gay writing. A longtime Houston resident,
Dale began his column for OutSmart in 1994; he is now
living in San Francisco, and his column is syndicated
across the country. He can be reached care of this publication
or at OutRight@aol.com.
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