*I am home from The National Equality March in Washington, D. C.

*
*The Equality March experience was powerful.*

-by Tommy News tommysnews@gmail.com

Greetings everyone!

My experiences at the National Equality March weekend were good ones. The
Equality March experience was powerful. The events I helped to plan all
happened beautifully, if just a little behind schedule due to some late
arrivals and fantastic turnouts. There is an article I wrote and submitted
to OpEd news and many media outlets prior to the march here:
National Equality March: Why We Are Marching On Washington -by Tommy News

http://www.opednews.com/articles/National-Equality-March-W-by-Tommy-News-091008-
219.html

It reads in part:

Why We are Marching:

"We are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th Amendment of the US

Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize our
rights, so we are coming to DC this October 10-11 to demand equal protection
in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.
The march is not our final destination. It is our first step toward building
a national grassroots network that will continue organizing until we have
achieved full equality."
We ask you to join us in this effort as we execute this monumental and
extremely important gathering of Activist Radical Faeries and friends from
across the land and across the seas.

With our collective energies and empowered numbers, we can send a clear and
strong message of positive energy and a call for equality to our government,
across the nation, around the globe, and to our spiritual Universe.
The bus ride down to Washington Saturday Morning from New York with the
Marriage Equality New York (MENY) group was a Magic Bus journey,
with spirited discussions and a great deal of important information shared
with new friends. We ended our trip with a rousing sing along of Tif's
original song, written for the March, entitled "Equality" as the group
clapped along and the US Capitol dome came into view.

There were many seminars and events on the official weekend schedule
Saturday, and the first one we chose to attend was a seminar entitled "Old
Divisions, New Coalitions: Race and The LGBT Movement." This well attended
meeting had a panel discussion by diverse members of various minority
groups, including Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Transgendered people, Women, and
Gays, and poignant statements made by both panelists and attendees. The
messages were powerful and inspiring. The resounding conclusion: we are all
one people and we must celebrate our diversity and work together to end
oppression and prejudice, change hearts and minds and achieve equality, full
civil rights, and tolerance for all people.

Next we headed over to a bohemian restaurant and gathering space called

"Busboys and Poets" for a "Workshop with Cleve Jones and Sherry Wolf on the
Struggle for LGBT Liberation." Cleve Jones pretty much spearheaded the
entire National Equality March, and the turnout for this event was huge. The
crowd overflowed out of the Restaurant and onto the Plaza on K Street, and
we used this opportunity to leaflet and invite people to our next day
activist "Act On Principles" Breakfast and meeting Sunday. Cleve Jones gave
a moving inspirational speech, and was given a rousing standing ovation.

After a quick meal at Busboys and Poets, we hailed a cab to our group's fist
official event of the weekend. We asked the driver to pass by the
Convention Center, where there were two concurrent protests taking place on
the street outside the HRC dinner, where President Obama was soon to speak.
When I saw the vile hatred and "God Hates Homosexuals" signs displayed
by the first "religious" Reicht group, I opened the taxi window and began
screaming "God Hates Hate" at them. I have a big mouth and they heard my
message loud and clear. The next group was protesting President Obama and
the Human Rights Campaign, and basically their message was the same as the
overall theme of the March, "Equality Now!" and "Full Civil Rights for ALL
Americans."

When I spotted the National Prayer Vigil tee-pees in front of the Washington
Monument, they took my breath away. I had helped to organize a Radical
Faerie Activist gathering and Drum Circle at this location, and I was right.
The location was inspiring and iconic, just south of the White House on the
National Mall, next to the towering Washington Monument. When we arrived,
there was a Muslim drum and prayer sunset event in progress, which was
extremely powerful the chants were haunting and stirring. Our drum group
began to gather, and we walked the labyrinth, saged and greeted the sacred
fire, and took in the beauty of the vigil. After a slightly late start, I
called our group together and shouted "Radical Faeries are invited into the
Forest".
I had selected a nearby grotto of trees for us to begin drumming and dancing
under, and it was indeed the right selection. Our drummers began to play and
the spiritual energy began to grow.
Many people came, danced, and watched, some passersby joined us and danced
to our drums and bells. It was amazing and it was everything I had imagined
and more.

I had alerted the "Prayer Vigil For The Earth" management that we were
gathering nearby, and that we were there for the next day's National
Equality March. As i had hoped, we were invited in to drum at the Sacred
Fire, just as I had envisioned. We moved our group and joined together with
the entire Prayer Vigil group around the Sacred fire and showed them what a
Faerie Drum Circle is all about. There were people watching and dancing all
around us, many others joined in, and the energy of our circle grew and grew
as the sacred fire burned hotter and brighter and and sent a clear and
strong spiritual message and a call for Equality up through the towering
Washington Monument. I was struck by the sight of many, many beautiful women
in long skirts dancing and trancing to our music and feeling the energy we
created together as one people, united. It was surreal and sublime, and I
was so very very proud to have helped plan and make it happen. It was
exactly as I had envisioned it.

Sunday morning up at 6 AM for preparation for our planned "Community

Strategy Breakfast: Movement Principles, Coalition Building, and Vote
Counting." This was an Activist Breakfast and joint effort between the
Radical Faerie Activists and the new "Act On Principles . org".
Act On Principles is a new, free online tool set for achieving equality
based on the "Dallas Principles", a call to action to demand that government
officials act now to legislate and achieve full civil rights without delay.
I ask you to visit and explore the new free website, sign up, and bookmark
it here: www.actonprinciples.org
I am told that the politicians are very, very afraid of this new activism
tool, and we see great promise for it to help turn vote counts in favor of
legislation aimed at achieving full civil rights, championing equality
activism, and getting this legilation passed and signed into law. We have
the right Congress in place, the right Senate, and the right President who
has promised to sign this legislation if and when the Civil Rights bills are
sent to him. Our mission is to get those bills passed by Congress and on his
desk. We concluded our breakfast with a ceriemonial Faerie circle and
invocation of the Dieties, Spirits, Angels, and Ancestors, in the Spirit of
Harry Hay. We all joined hands as Tif drummed and I invited the spirit of
Harvey Milk to join us in the blessed march, which was our next destination.

We slowly assembled our group, gathered, greeted, and drummed for Peace and
Equality at the statue of General McPherson, just north of the White house.
The pre-march energy was electric, and the energy grew and grew as diverse
marchers from all over the land gathered in their regalia with drums, signs,
flags, banners, anticipation, and hope. I was struck by the magic and joy of
the moment, as we all joined together as one and prepared to march together
as one.

As we lined up behind our "Radical Faeries" banner there was a magical aura
in the air. To our amazement, a rainbow appeared in the blue sky and flocks
of birds danced overhead in formations, as if the spirits we had called to
the march were above us. As the sun approched her heavenly zenith, we joined
our hands to circle and invoke the spiritual energy which would sustain us
through the march and into the future. The groups ahead of and behind us
rehearsed their march chants: "What do we want? Equality! When do we want
it? Now!" Cheers rang out ahead of us as the march stepped off and I heard
the chorus of voices grow louder and stronger as we circled Lafayette Park
and approached the White House. At first, the sight of the North Portico was
a joyous sight, untill I looked closer and spotted two armed snipers on the
roof of the White House and what appeared to be a frightening military
presence scattered across the White House Park. I left our group for a few
minutes and I asked several police at the fence: "Why are there armed
snipers standing on the White House Roof? That is absolutely
disgusting!" This is a peaceful demonstration. It looked to me as if the
Bush Administration and Darth Cheney were back in residence ready to invade
yet another country. I just had to tell them how I felt about what I
witnessed. We are peaceful people and there is no need to point guns at us.
I rejoined my group, and as I reacted to the horrors of my memories of
recent History of the White House It occured to me that we marchers were at
that very moment making History, with our powerful call for National
Equality, full civil rights, and harmony among all people upon the Earth.
And so we move into the future, together as one with a common purpose and a
clear direction. Those thoughts carried me all the way down Pennsylvania
Avenue as we took turns with drumming, bell ringing, pot banging, sign
waving, calling Faerie "Yoo-Hoos" dancing, marching, and banner carrying.

The Capitol Lawn was crowded with thousands upon thousands of marchers
coming off Pennsylvania Avenue as the rally speeches had begun. We had
missed the invocation, in which two of our members were representing us on
the stage. We had also missed Lady Gaga's performance, I was later told that
the blond wig she wore was bigger than she is. Tif and Potporri had gone
ahead of us to be backstage in time for the inter-faith invocation. I sat
down on the grass to rest but stood up again moments later when Judy Shepard
was introduced. As the co-owner of the "Matthew Shepard Pride and Tolerance"
group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MatthewShepardPrideandTolerance/ I
have a personal interest in the work Judy Shepard and the Matthew Shepard
foundation do, and so I was moved to see and hear Judy speak about her
story, losing her beloved son to hatred, and the need for hate crimes
legislation which has now passed the House again and is now moving to the
Senate. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, I believe, will soon become
law, if the Senate does not find some way to scuttle it again, as they did
when the late Ted Kennedy was ill and unable to push it through. The next
speaker was Lieutenant Dan Choi, a West Point graduate who is very near to
being discharged from the Army under the failed "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
policy, which has ruined many, many lives and careers and must be repealed.

It was time for lunch. Our group re-grouped by cell phone, and headed over
to the Union Square Station food court for some much needed water and
refreshment. At the very end of the rally, I went back to the Capitol to
hear the end of it, and I had the honor and priveledge of personally meeting
Dan Choi and his partner. I sad to him with a strong handshake and a big
smile "Hi, my name is Tommy. I have been reading about you, and I wanted to
thank you for your important work. It is a pleasure to meet you, and please
keep up the good work!" They both graciously gave me a warm thank you and a
knowing smile. Don't Ask Don't Tell
must be repealed. The time is now! DOMA must be repealed. The time is now.
ENDA must be passed. The time is now. Equality for all people upon the Earth
must be achieved. The time is now! The march is only the beginning. We have
much work ahead of us. The time to start this work is now.

My journey home to New York with 1,400 marchers and twenty five busses from
the "Broadway Impact" group gave me a chance to take a much needed rest,
center, and reflect upon my amazing trip and my profound experiences. I will
remember this march for the rest of my days, and I hope to use the lasting
energy from the March to help me in my Activist efforts in achieving
Equality for ALL Americans. I ask you to please join me in this effort, and
in this group, which I founded and co-own.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Anti_Hate_Pride_League/

Love and Namaste, Tommy