1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

Drummers in the Montrose Marching Band marching past the White House

Houston LGBT History

On October 14, 1979, the first national march for lesbian and gay rights happened here in Washington, DC. Around 100,000 gay and lesbian Americans and their allies descended on the capital city from all across the United States to demand their voices be heard. 

The 1979 march was the culmination of almost a decade of inconsistent organizing. Originally, graduate students at the University of Illinois came up with the idea of a national march in 1973, but their efforts failed to rally enough support for the cause. Many other groups tried, but also failed. In 1978, Harvey Milk, an openly gay elected official from San Francisco, took responsibility for the march. Mere months later, a political rival on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors assassinated him. The outrage over Milk's murder catalyzed the flame of a national movement to commit to march on Washington--on October 14, 1979. 

It was a beautiful fall day in Washington, DC, as marchers assembled on the National Mall. At 10 am, thousands had gathered at 4th Street and Madison Drive, ready to march west down Pennsylvania Avenue and across E street in front of the south lawn of the White House. Assembled by region across the US but also the world, the marchers first listened to officials give welcoming remarks, read a statement of national demands together, and sang songs and chants. The actual march started at noon, led by an all-lesbian-of-color organization, the Salsa Soul Sisters, who carried the official march banner. The Salsa Soul Sister led the marchers along Pennsylvania Avenue, first towards the White House and then to the Washington Monument, where the march concluded. 

One group in the crowds that day was the Montrose Marching Band from Houston, Texas (in the picture above). An informal group of gay and lesbian musicians, they had just formed the previous year in 1978. They played in the first-ever Houston Pride parade in June 1979. At the National March in October, the band led the whole Prairie region dressed in cowboy hats and boots. The band still exists today and is now known as the Houston Pride Band. 

As the march continued, participants all along the route took up the chant, "We are everywhere!" As Beverly Brubaker of Ohio recalled, "I knew we were not alone, but that was the first time I felt it to the very core of my being!"  The march signified a new, unified national movement for LGBTQ+ rights. It reaffirmed that gays and lesbians were, indeed, "everywhere." Due to the march's success, three more national marches occurred in 1987, 1993, and 2000.  

Reflection Question

Open your contacts list on your phone. How many people are you in contact with? How many of them could you rely on to show up to support a cause you are passionate about?