Vermonters Hailed at Millennium March on Washington

by Kendra Henson

Peter Harrigan, Ross Sneyd, Bill Lippert, and Stan Baker (left to right) were among more than 100 Vermonters who attended the Millennium March on Washington the last weekend of April.

“Two, Four, Six, Eight, Civil Unions in our state!” exclaimed Vermonters at the Millennium March on Washington. More than one hundred proud Vermont residents made the journey to Washington, DC, for the April 30 march and rally.

Crowds estimated at more than 100,000 people cheered and bowed down as the Vermont contingent made its way through the streets of DC. As supportive bystanders watched and celebrated the march, people recognized the importance of the Vermont marchers by shouting out “Thank you, Vermont!” and “Way to go, Vermont!”

One Vermont marcher proudly expressed a feeling of ‘superstardom’ as she passed the supporters. The Freedom to Marry Task Force led the Vermont marchers with a banner and civil rights signs. While there were rumors of a petition floating around to put Vermont at the head of the parade, a group decision was made to all stick together in the parade and turn down the option of just letting two Vermont marchers head up the parade.

Vermont's newly enacted civil union law was hailed by marchers from all over the country.

The Vermont group included a range of folks, from children to college students to civil union heroes, including attorneys Beth Robinson and Susan Murray, plaintiffs Stan Baker and Peter Harrigan, and Representative Bill Lippert, to name just a few.

Although controversy had long dogged the MMOW, with opponents saying the organizers were not focussing on all-inclusive efforts to represent the diversity in the queer community, the crowd grew into a large and powerful movement through the DC streets. Some marchers who had attended previous marches on Washington did comment that past marches appeared to have larger numbers of leather, drag, and non-white marchers.

Other points of contention included criticism of the organizers’ lack of queer community demands for the Federal Government. Many critics noted that previous marches had a greater sense of purpose and direction, while the MMOW appeared to focus mainly on entertainment and corporate sponsorship.

The Human Rights Campaign organized volunteers to register voters during the march and rally. Many speakers at the rally also encouraged the movement to register to vote and to learn more about the 2000 elections. One speaker encouraged more representatives of the queer population to get out and run for office as a way to have a powerful impact on social justice issues affecting the GLBTQA community.

photo: Max Stroud

While some controversy bubbled up around the organization of the march, it seemed to have no effect on the event that took place the Saturday before the march and rally: the mass wedding held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Hundreds of couples participated in the wedding on the sunny Saturday afternoon, which was presided over by the Reverend Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.

A handful of protesters from an ex-gay church, holding signs with messages such as ‘Got AIDS Yet’ and ‘Gays Go to Hell,’ were barely noticed during the course of the ceremony.

Reverend Jimmy Creech also spoke at the ceremony encouraging the couples to celebrate the joy of their unions. Creech was stripped of his credentials by the United Methodist Church after performing holy union ceremonies for gay couples.

The couples participating in the wedding were very aware that they were becoming part of a holy union not yet recognized by federal and state governments. As Reverend Elder Darlene Garner stated during the ceremony, “As couples, we are human beings without the legal benefits of marriage in 49 states, but we only have 49 states to go.”