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Hundreds of Floridians march on Washington by Joseph Erbentraut
EDGE ContributorThursday Oct 15, 2009A several hundred-strong contingent of Floridians who traveled from the Sunshine State to participate in the National Equality March were among the estimated 150,000 people who converged on the nation’s capitol this past weekend.
Florida activists who marched in Washington said they cherished the opportunity to meet with others from throughout the state. The leaders to whom EDGE spoke said the connections they made and energy they said they experienced at the weekend’s march would be instrumental in generating momentum to continue the fight against Amendment 2 and the gay adoption ban.
Edward Kring, one of the principal organizers behind the multiple busloads of activists from practically every corner of the state, described the experience as "breathtaking."
"I’ve never been a part of anything like this before," Kring said. "I’ve been to many rallies for women’s rights, gay rights and education, but this was completely unparalleled. When we marched in front of the White House, yelling for our civil rights, and saw the Capitol building ... You felt a sense of ownership. This was democracy at its best."
Kring, a political science major at Florida State University, said he was impressed not only with the turnout and energy from his age group but also the strong messages of support from Lady Gaga, actress Cynthia Nixon and other cultural icons.
Anthony Farver, executive director of the activist group Stand Up Florida and another bus organizer, added he was impressed by the unity he felt from the diverse group of Floridians who rallied at the march - whom he felt had the best banner and were "the loudest state." He recognized the march as what he described representative of a changing of the guard for the movement, both in terms of strategy and of generation.
"The experience was wonderful for everyone. Seeing the way we marched, coming together and uniting the youth marchers and older marchers like me was my highlight. The youth are our future," Farver said. "I’m speechless."
"When we marched in front of the White House, yelling for our civil rights, and saw the Capitol building... You felt a sense of ownership. This was democracy at its best." Florida also made its presence felt at the march through Tobias Parker, a transgender man who spoke at the rally; Equality Florida executive director Nadine Smith, a member of the march’s executive board and Freedom Democrats leader Chip Arndt, who served as board treasurer. As Arndt reflected on looking out over the assembled crowd of thousands, he also recognized the changing face of the movement.
"I saw the torch being passed from the generation of people who are operational heads of these national organizations to the younger generation," Arndt said. "It looks like we’re off the playing field and we’re now the coaches on the sideline to all these young people coming out and standing up for their rights."
He continued.
"[The younger generation is] wonderfully impatient and they’re done waiting," Arndt said. "As I like to say, fairness is not negotiable. We shouldn’t need to still be negotiating for our rights like we have been for so many decades."
As Arndt looked ahead to the next steps of the national movement, he said he expected the nearly instantaneous organizing through social networking that helped spur on the national march would continue to play a crucial role.
And in terms of action back home in Florida, both Krieg and Farver said they were excited to jump back into the ring. Krieg said a statewide advocacy network is in the works to focus on lobbying within congressional districts. Farver also noted his organization’s name change - removing "Southwest" - as further indicative of a statewide strategy.
"This march has started a new movement in Florida," Farver said. "Through the bus ride, the march and everything, we’ve all met new people throughout the state and I could not be more proud of us. I’m excited to see what the next few months will bring. I think we’ll see a lot happening here."
Joseph covers news, arts and entertainment and lives in Chicago.
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