Millennium March on Washington

The Millennium March on Washington was an event to raise awareness and visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and issues of LGBT rights in the US, it was held April 28 through April 30, 2000 in Washington, DC. The Millennium Pride Festival was held prior to the March, it was a huge event that saw tens of thousands flock to the US capital. A march from the Washington Monument to the front lawn of the United States Capitol took place on April 30, where the crowd was addressed by several members of Congress and, via video, by President Bill Clinton. Estimates of attendance ranged from 200,000 to 1 million people.[1][2] One of the weekend's more successful events was the sellout Equality Rocks concert produced by LGBT rights organization Human Rights Campaign. The concert was held in Washington's RFK Stadium and included stars such as Melissa Etheridge, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Garth Brooks, k.d. lang, and Tipper Gore.

A lesbian couple at the event
A counter demonstration by an anti-gay group

The event was criticized for a lack of inclusiveness and political focus as well as concerns over financial accountability.[3]

Allegations of theft from a vendor and severe financial mismanagement arose after the event.[4] The final accounting showed the event ended with $330,000 in unpaid debt.[5] In terms of the expense per participant, it was the least cost-efficient of any national LGBT march to date.[6]

The documentary A Union in Wait was filmed at the march.

See also

References
  1. Sandalow, Marc. Exuberant Gay March in D.C., San Francisco Chronicle, May 1, 2000, retrieved August 9, 2007
  2. Armas, Genaro C. (May 1, 2000). "Hundreds of thousands in first gay Mall march since '93". Associated Press. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  3. Sandalow, Marc. Millennium March:Gay Rally Bares Deep Divisions, San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 2000, retrieved August 9, 2007 from commondreams.org
  4. Finz, Stacy and Dan Levy (2000-05-11). "$750,000 Reported Stolen at Gay March in D.C." San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  5. Gallagher, John. Past due, forever - Millennium March debt, The Advocate, July 17, 2001, retrieved November 4, 2009 from the Internet Archive
  6. Carlson, Ben (April 28, 2010). "March 2.0: Success of the National Equality March relied on social media tools". Media Bullseye. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-29.


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