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Chicago activists prepare for March on Washington by Joseph Erbentraut
EDGE ContributorTuesday Sep 29, 2009When National Equality March organizer Cleve Jones spoke to a packed theater of activists at a fundraiser for Join the Impact Chicago last month, he probably did not anticipate the impact his words would have.
At that point, Join the Impact Chicago had just launched their effort to rally the city’s activists--young and old--to board buses to the nation’s capitol to participate in the national march on Washington over Columbus Day weekend. That night, the organization, which came out of nowhere last fall to organize the Windy City’s Proposition 8 solidarity rally, only registered 10 riders to take part in the 700-mile drive.
A month later, and with less than a week to go, 120 Chicagoans are D.C.-bound. Organizers are pleased, though they still continue to ensure riders include representatives from each of the city’s 11 Congressional districts. As part of their final push for participants, they are hosting a meeting on the Columbia College campus Wednesday evening and a fundraising event at Hydrate Thursday.
Join the Impact Chicago spokesperson Missy Lorenzen said she hoped potential riders recognize what she described as the march’s significance.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I think people will regret missing for the rest of their lives [if they do not go]," she said as she noted one of this year’s riders still regrets missing the original march, in 1979. "People are really angry right now, at Prop. 8, at what might happen in Maine, at Obama and are sick and tired of feeling unequal or seeing their friends and family be treated as unequal. We’re offering them not only a place to vent their anger in a venue that the President cannot ignore, but also a place to meet others who feel the same as they do. They are ready to start organizing in their own hometowns."
Lorenzen added she feels the main challenge ahead for the young organization is simply to stay calm. It is, by far, the largest undertaking they have taken on to date. But she remains excited as she anticipates stepping off the bus in Washington.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I think people will regret missing for the rest of their lives [if they do not go.]" "There’s something about knowing there are others out there like you, people who feel the same about equal rights who are working just as hard as you are in their own cities and states, people who will no longer let their voices be silenced" she said. "That is incredibly powerful and I can’t wait to experience it."
Also in the audience to see Jones speak was Lawrence Perea, a Chicago organizer with LGBT Change, another new organization that hosted public forums and events in the wake of Prop. 8’s passage late last year.
Following the event, Perea explored an avenue for participants who were unable, for whatever reason, to travel to the Capitol. a chance to experience National Coming Out Day. The result: A solidarity rally in Chicago to be held at Daley Plaza on Sunday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m.
"We didn’t see anything happening locally to coincide with the march, so we talked to the national and Chicago organizers and everyone thought it was a great idea," Perea told EDGE. "We got the permit, started asking to get people involved and we’ve had a very positive response."
Perea said he sees the Chicago rally as important in expressing a move toward a national strategy for LGBT civil rights in the spirit of the civil rights struggle in the 1960s, which caught momentum when it moved away from focusing on state-by-state battles.
"This rally is meant to kick start a new grassroots energy for our movement," he said. "We hope to build a new platform to discuss legislation by reaching out to our leaders and asking them to push for change at the federal level. This is the galvanizing moment to talk about these ideas."
Chicagoans still interested in boarding the Washington-bound bus can log onto www.jointheimpactchicago.com to purchase their ticket. Visit www.lgbtchange.org for more information on the solidarity rally.
Joseph covers news, arts and entertainment and lives in Chicago.
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