Students for the National Equality March
Everyone's asking, "So what's next!?" But instead we are asking, "What can WE do to continue this movement and create real change?"

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Students for the National Equality March

 

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Website:
http://NEMstudents.org
Public Transit:
"We Are Students for Equality"
October 12, 2009
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WASHINGTON -- Thousands of students from hundreds of colleges converged here Saturday and Sunday for the National Equality March, the first national protest for gay rights in more than a decade.

Students from as far away as the University of Southern California and as close as George Washington University put down their books, rescheduled midterm exams and skipped team practices to bring student voices to the calls for same-sex marriage and an end to the military’s ban on openly gay service members.

On Sunday afternoon, tens of thousands of people marched from the White House to the Capitol to hear speeches from organizers and activists (and a few celebrities, including pop star Lady Gaga). Nicole-Murray Ramirez, a longtime activist and march co-chair, told the crowd that “a sleeping giant has woken among us – GLBT youth and students. Stop telling our youth that they are our future, for they are our here and now. Indeed, the torch of activism and, yes, leadership has been passed on to a new generation … you are charged with fulfilling the dream and fighting for equality.”

Richard Aviles, a freshman at St. Olaf College, spoke on behalf of student organizers, encouraging young people to be comfortable with who they are. “You have a brother at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota,” he said. Students from the State University of New York at Binghamton and Western Kentucky University also spoke.

Before the march, hundreds of students gathered Sunday morning at the Ellipse, just south of the White House, to walk over to McPherson Square, where the official procession began. “Be sure to wear your school shirts and colors!” one note to participants said, and many did. Students decked out in the University of Michigan’s blue and maize said that more than 60 had traveled together from Ann Arbor. More than 200 came from Georgetown University. A handful drove down from Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pa.

“We’re part of a movement that’s been going on for a long time but that most students haven’t had a chance to be part of,” said David Valk, national student outreach coordinator for the march. “They’re experiencing that feeling of getting in the streets and protesting … all of these kids here are going to go back home, back to their colleges and take action.”

He added: “We are the new generation, the next generation.”

In the months leading up to the march, Valk, who graduated earlier this year from the University of California at Los Angeles, collected signatures and statements of support from student leaders at dozens of institutions ranging from Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah, to Yale University. In “Call to Action,” the leaders asked “students, no matter their sexual orientation, to organize buses, planes and trains, so we may express our unity and unwavering commitment to freedom and equality.”

Bellarmine University students Matt Livers, a junior, and Ari Ballaban, a senior, drove nine hours Sunday morning from Louisville, Ky., because, Livers said, they wanted to “support the cause.” He added that though their institution is “a small, private, Catholic university, the community is very inclusive of LGBT people, for whatever reason.”

Brandon Gaca, a sophomore at Indiana University at Bloomington, said his campus is a haven in the midst of “a state and a community that’s pretty conservative.” He said there are many student groups to serve LGBT students and their allies.

Gaca was at the protest Sunday with several students he met through the Tumblr blogging platform, including Andrew Wojtek, a senior at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md. Wojtek said he is “the only openly gay student” among the institution’s 1600 undergraduates; he networks with people at other colleges to meet other gay students.

Because he is the only openly gay student there, Wojtek said, there is no campus LGBT organization and the allies group is “pretty lame, only like five people; I’m not in it myself because it’s so small.” Even so, he added, “it’s not hard for me to be gay on campus.”

Rallying for the Troops

A text message went out to students just before 1 p.m. on Saturday: “ATTN!! FLASH PROTESTS IN DC!! MEET @ WASHINGTON MONUMENT … 3PM. END DONT ASK DONT TELL!”

By 4 p.m., a few hundred students from Ohio University, American University and Texas Women’s University, among other institutions, had gathered at the foot of the monument. After speeches and chants, organizers passed around rolls of gray duct tape and asked students to cover their mouths. “We are silent because they are silent,” Valk told the crowd, invoking the members of the U.S. armed forces who are discharged or choose not to reenlist because of the military’s ban on openly gay service members. "We are students for equality."

Silent or clapping, the group blocked traffic as it walked slowly down 15th Street and turned left on Pennsylvania Avenue. At the White House, the procession stopped, students removed the tape from their mouths and screamed. Valk and other leaders of the procession addressed their chants to President Obama, calling for him to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and take other actions in support of gay Americans.

The group then continued on to George Washington University’s Kogan Plaza, where a series of speakers addressed the students.

One was Todd Belok, a sophomore at GW, who was kicked out of Navy ROTC there last year after two fellow midshipmen told their commander “they saw me kissing someone – my boyfriend.”

Belok's story has encouraged his peers to be vocal in protesting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" over the last few months. Michael Komo, a junior who is president of the university's LGBT group Allied in Pride, had planned to hold a protest for GW students this weekend before realizing "the great chance we had to get folks from out of town to be a part of what we're doing."

Many GW students, he added, were hosting students visiting for the march. "It's a way for us to contribute," he said, but he also urged students to go back to their own colleges to call for gay rights. “Thanks for making it strong at our school. Now go make it strong at your school.”

Organizing on Campus

Whether it’s easy or difficult to be gay on their own campuses, many students look to social or political LGBT groups for a sense of community.

A few dozen campus leaders – or students hoping to establish groups and become leaders – headed to a church in a residential area of Washington on Saturday afternoon for “How to Organize on Campus: Tips for Effective Organizing on College Campuses,” a workshop where successful leaders spoke about their efforts and a few students sought help in building their own organizations.

One panelist was Brendan Davis, who graduated from Emerson College last spring and now works for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Davis said he struggled to organize LGBT events on campus because the campus was so open. “You’d think it’d be really easy but it wasn’t. People thought there was no need for us, so we really had to work hard to come up with activities we could get people to go to.”

Indiana State University students Colin Hammar and Jordan Toy created Advocates for Equality, a group for gay students and allies, at their Terra Haute campus last year. They work without administration support or a budget and organize “events that cost no money,” Hammar said, sometimes taking cash from their own wallets to pay for food at meetings.

Sylvain Bruni, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, talked about his experience working with a bigger budget and administration support. “We go to as many offices and departments as we can, apply for grants, to be able to do our events,” he said. A few years ago, MIT’s annual drag ball cost $15,000. More recently, though, the campus’ LGBT groups spent $50,000 and brought in comedian Margaret Cho.

Ten students from Queens University in Charlotte, N.C., traveled to Washington for the march. They went to Saturday’s event in search of help building a campus group, even as one of their leaders is “still closeted to some people on campus,” he said, and “the university is really not supportive of us.”
— Jennifer Epstein


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NATIONAL STUDENT CALL TO ACTION
September 17, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Students for the National Equality March Issue Call to Action

Students for the National Equality March (NEMStudents,) have issued a call to action, demanding that students across the country organize for the event and for the long-term movement for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) rights. The statement echoes the single demand of the National Equality March for full and equal protection for LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

NEMStudents acknowledge the historical significance of the National Equality March and of prior student movements for social justice. All students, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, are encouraged to sign the call to action. Over 100 student leaders, among them representatives of Princeton, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Tulane University, Texas Tech, Columbia, UCLA, and NYU have signed thus far. Student organizations in all 435 congressional districts of the U.S. are organizing for the National Equality March and building a national network of student activists, indicating a distinctly bottom-up organizational structure that has been absent from many previous LGBTQ marches. The organization's website atwww.NEMStudents.org offers links and resources to aid students in finding transportation, housing, and support.

NEMStudents have also announced a Student Day of Action to take place September 22. Students are urged to promote the March by flyering, organizing meetings to educate about the March, writing to campus newspapers, organizing speak-outs, and screening LGBTQ films, such as the critically acclaimed Milk.

The National Equality March is the first march for LGBTQ rights since President Clinton held office and takes place October 10-11, 2009 in Washington DC.

For further comment, contact David Valk (National Student Outreach Coordinator) atdvalk@ucla.com or 949-350-8773.

CALL TO ACTION

"Students around the world have been at the forefront of movements to promote democracy and human rights. Student movements have toppled powerful dictatorships and military juntas. Student movements have ended wars. And student activism has often served as the conscience for nations, reminding people in times of turmoil of the founding ideals of their countries and the aspirations of all people for justice, dignity, and equality."
--Glenn Omatsu, Professor, California State University, Northridge

The United States must end its system of inhumane segregation that continues to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans, denying equal opportunity to serve one’s country, denying the equal right to marry, and denying equal access to over 1,000 rights, benefits and protections granted to all American citizens.

As student leaders we refuse to remain silent in the face of what we know is the greatest civil rights movement of our generation. We must speak out and be among those who express outrage at the hatred and discrimination that is inflicted upon our fellow citizens. To remain silent is to endorse hatred. So we add our voices to the increasing millions who demand justice, freedom, and equality for America's LGBTQ citizens.

We urge all students to converge on Washington D.C. on October 10th & 11th for the National Equality March. We urge our students, no matter their sexual orientation, to organize buses, planes and trains, so we may express our unity and unwavering commitment to freedom and equality. Now is the time to speak out against this outrage and now is the time to march side by side in a powerful show of force in the struggle for freedom.

LIST OF ENDORSEMENTS

UNIVERSITY STUDENT BODY PRESIDENTS

Cinthia Flores, Student Body President, University of California, Los Angeles
Connor Diemand-Yauman, Student Body President, Princeton University
Anthony Chong, Student Body President, California Institute of Technology
Jon Wu, Student Body President, Yale University
Rammy Salem, Student Body President, Cornell University
Patrick McAnaney, Student Body President, Rice University
Brandon Rattiner, Student Body President, Tufts University
Liam O’Rourke, Student Body President, University of Texas, Austin
Brandon Gross, Student Body President, Tulane University
Ifrad Islam, Student Body President, Clark University
Terral Ainooson, Student Body President, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Charlie Areola, Student Body President, University of California, Santa Barbara
Kristi Kremers, Student Body President, University of Minnesota
Jake Faleschini, Student Body President, University of Washington
Utsav Gupta, Student Body President, University of California, San Diego
Jeffrey A. Anderson, Vice President of Student Affairs, University of Minnesota
Kaitlin Johnson, Vice President for Grants, University of Minnesota
Adam J. Cole, Student Body President, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Yi Wang, Student Representative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Malaika K. Singleton, Chair, University of California, Davis
Carrie Carmody, Student Body President, University of California, Irvine
Merri Ebel, Student Body President, Carnegie Mellon University
Brody Leven, Student Body President, Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah
Calen Angert, Student Body President, Georgetown University
Jon Turk, Student Body President, Iowa State University
Bryce Jones, Student Body President, University of Vermont
Jarrod Wolf, Student Body President, University of Chicago
David Gobaud, Student Body President, Stanford University
Beatrice H. Boswell, Secretary, California State University, Bakersfield
Miguel Daal, Student Body President, University of California, Berkeley
Kristi Kremers, Student Body President, University of Minnesota
Carrie Carmody, Student Body President, University of California, Irvine
Joshua Sussman, Student Body President, University at Albany Student Association
Christopher M. Nagata, Student Body President, Associated Students of Arizona
Paul J. Strain, Student Body President, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Steven M. Glickman, Student Body President, University of Maryland, College Park
Jonathan Turk, Student Body President, Iowa State University
Robert Leary, Student Body President, Ohio University
Xavier Chen, Student Body President, Loyola University Chicago
Bryce Jones, Student Body President, University of Vermont
Andy MacCracken, Student Body President, American University
Tim Lolli, Student Body President, University of Cincinnati
Beth Cahill, Student Body President, Ball State University
Yasmin Karimian, Student Body President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Julie Bindelglass, Student Body President, George Washington University
Grant Engrav, Student Body President, University of Hartford
Stuart LeJeune Watkins, Student Body President, Louisiana State University

UNIVERSITY STUDENT REGENTS

Jesse Bernal, Student Regent, University of California
Sarah Elfreth, Student Regent, University System of Maryland
Victor Sanchez, Vice Chair of External Affairs, UC Santa Cruz
Ben Golden, Student Regent, University of Washington
Jesse Cheng, Student Regent-Designate, University of California
Jean-Paul Willynck, Student Regent, University of Washington
Erin Lennon, Student Regent, University of Washington

NATIONAL STUDENT LEADERS

Ian Magruder, President, California College Democrats
Gregory Cendana, President, United States Student Association
David Valk, National Student Outreach Coordinator, National Equality March

STUDENT LEADERS

Todd Belok, Student Leader, George Washington University
Keeanga Taylor, Student Leader, Northwestern University
Rachelle Smith, Student Leader, University of the Arts
Andrew Striker, Trevor Project's National Youth Advisory Council, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida
LaKeia Spady, OUT Students and Allies, Houston Community College
Corina Cantu, Student Leader, The University of Texas at Austin
Joanna Whitfield, Student Leader
Gina Sartori, Student Leader, New York University
Jessie Otradovec, Student Leader, Madison, Wisconsin
Elizabeth Bennett, Student Leader, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA
Matthew Pillischer, Student Leader, Temple University
Paul Lauricella, Student Leader, SUNY Brockport
Jennifer Halligan, Student Leader, West Chester University of PA
Fermin Valle, Student Leader, Grand Valley State University
Edna Bonhomme, Student Leader, Columbia University
Chelsy Pennyamon, Student Leader, Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore
Brittni Tanenbaum, University of California LGBTQIA Assoc. Co-Chair
UC Santa Barbara Associated Students Queer Commission, Co-Chair
Camille White-Avian, Oregon Student Equal Rights Association, Portland State University
Matt Hill, Student Leader, James Madison University
Tim Ward, Student Leader, Michigan Technological University
Jesse Jayne Wardrip, President, SPECTRUM, University of Southern Indiana
Anne Price, Student Leader
Jaclynn Chiodini, Student Leader, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Merri Ebel, President, ALLIES, Carnegie Mellon University
J. Eliot DeGolia, Vice President, ALLIES, Carnegie Mellon University
Steven Wyatt, Student Leader, equality, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Amy Gillette, Student Leader, Texas Tech University
Lucie Prather, Student Leader, Hunter College High School, New York City
Louis Warner-Kamsler, Student Leader, Hunter College High School, New York City
JayTee, Student Leader, Hudson Valley Community College
Joe Graumann, Co-Chair, GU Pride, Georgetown University
Carlos De Leon-Ojeda, Co-Chair, GU Pride, Georgetown University
Laura Kresse, Treasurer, GU Pride, Georgetown University
Joshua Williams, Student Leader, Northwestern University
Julien Ball, Student Leader, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Mark Leach, Student Leader, University of Vermont in Burlington
Rosa Huezo, Student Leader, San Francisco State University
Sarah Wilensky, Student Leader, University of Bloomington
Carly Bell, Student Leader, University of Bloomington
Jackie Greenspan, Student Leader, University of Bloomington
Liz Mills, Student Leader, Wilmington College
Matt Hagee, Student Leader, Wilmington College
Joanne Wiedman, Student Leader, The College of New Jersey
Letitia Howard, Student Leader, Clayton State University
Brian Kwoba, Student Leader, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
Kevin Lynch, Student Leader, Michigan State University
Kristin Lubbert, Student Organizer, City College of San Francisco
Chanelle John, Student Organizer, Simmons College
Natalie Mann, GSA Representative, University of California, Davis
Marnie Morales, Student Leader, University of California, Davis
Matt Leblanc, LGBTQ Resource Center Program Coordinator, Georgetown University
Aaron Fox, LGBTQ Resource Center Program Coordinator, George Washington University
Jared Ozga, Student Leader, Providence College
Rayyan Ghuma, Student Leader, Howard University
Wes Sebring, Student Leader, Washington University in St. Louis
Suzaana Rose, Student Leader

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