National March! On Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights: Official Souvenir Program Page: 1
44 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this pamphlet.
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Welcome to the March
by Alan Young
Lesbians and gay men are making history here today. But this
great assemblage is more than a March and Rally. We celebrate the
10th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. We reaffirm our com-
mitment to the struggle for full human rights. We redouble our
efforts to educate ourselves and the public. We reach out to gay
brothers and sisters. We commemorate loved ones, friends, acquain-
tances, the known and the unknown, who have been victims of
murder and suicide. We rejoice in the pleasures of our bodies. We
honor the gay men and women of the pre-Stonewall era, who sur-
vived and especially those who spoke out against prejudice and
ignorance. We feel our anger and our sorrow, as well as jubilance and
bliss-and the calm within. We march. We smile. We kiss and we hug.
We will probably be back again.
This March is a living symbol of a culture that has its roots in
human biology and ancient civilizations; a culture that today is ex-
ploding with self-affirmation at the very moment its enemies are
intent on silencing or destroying it.
The key to our survival and our future may well be found in
slogans like "Gay Pride!" and "Gay Is Good!"-in not a trivial
literal interpretation; but a deep understanding of our accomplish-
ment as gay people, and of what we have offered human civilization
in the past, and what we can offer at this crucial juncture.
The planet Earth is in crisis; and the crisis worsens each day, while
greedy men insist on continuing age old patterns of dominance,
control, and exploitation-all in the name of progress and normality.
Gay men and lesbians gather together in our rich diversity, affirm if
only by our presence here today, a belief in the possibility of co-
operation, communication, nonviolence, sharing, and of love itself.
In marching for gay rights, we should not forget that for many of
us, gayness is not merely a sexual preference or source of oppression;
but a connection with a rich tradition of creativity, sensitivity, and
beauty. This gayness also implies a rejection of the rigid gender role
system that is at the heart of our planet's crisis.
Our discoveries as we wander through this "Lavender Culture",
then, are a multi-leveled foray into the emotional and intellectual,
the personal and the civic, the external and the internal. Those of us
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D.C. Media Committee. National March! On Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights: Official Souvenir Program, pamphlet, 1979; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc276226/m1/3/: accessed June 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.