Why the National Equality March Matters

There are benefits and drawbacks to having lots of friends on Facebook. I know that every few minutes my newsfeed will be refreshed with a variety of statuses, photos, links, quizzes, etc., guaranteeing me near constant procrastination if I want it, though that may also be one of the drawbacks.

Another drawback with having a significant amount of gay friends on Facebook, makes the content of said updates pretty homogenous. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I probably would have left Facebook long ago if I was only being bombarded with sports updates or something. Nevertheless, this week it seems like the only news was Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, Kylie Minogue’s multiple concerts in New York, and recaps of the National Equality March.

Cleve Jones knew that the internet would revolutionize the way that the Equality March was organized, and he was right. It takes but moments to make hundreds of thousands of people aware of any event and then allows you to keep them actively updated and engaged with its progression. Social networks like Facebook are particularly useful for events such as this because they act as both informers and influencers. All month, and particularly all of last week I could see which of my friends were going to the march, how they were getting there, not to mention all the additional activities and parties they planned on attending while there. I couldn’t help but feel like maybe I was missing out.

But marching has never been my thing. Raised in a somewhat conservative and reserved family, I’ve never been a fan of public demonstrations. It’s not that I’d be ashamed to be seen among those that marched, since college my name’s Google results indicate my sexuality almost immediately. I have written about sex and relationships for the last four years and since I was 18 have never tried to hide who I am. And it’s not that I don’t think demonstrations are important, or that I think they are a waste of time. On the contrary I applaud all of you who marched last weekend and made a literal stand for some of the injustices we suffer at the hands of the government.

Having gone to school in DC, I’m no stranger to these events. As the epicenter of our government it is the appropriate place for them to occur. But I guess I always wondered whom these large scale publicity events were designed to influence. We know that Congress wasn’t in session for the holiday, and obviously Obama was not on hand to sign any new bills to challenge or repeal DADT or DOMA. So why are they important?

Then I remember why I write. It’s not just to reach a small circle of my friends and family, sharing my thoughts and feelings from the week. The reason we participate in events like marches, and contribute to publications that celebrate our lives, is because for every one of us that is lucky enough to live in a big city, or attend a huge march, there are young gay people across the country and around the world that are isolated. Like the stories from ‘Milk,’ and Imfromdriftwood.com, I can only imagine how many gay teens must have felt when the images of the National Equality March showed up online. I hope they realized not only that they weren’t alone, but that there are people who understand their struggle. I’d like to think they feel the same way when they read Homo-Neurotic. The way I felt when I first read ‘Density of Souls,’ by Christopher Rice.

I may prefer my keyboard and blog to a marker and poster board, but I promise my heart is in the same place. Media and the internet has blessed us by bringing us together and each day I feel privileged to be reminded just how lucky we are to be able to gush over the same ‘gay’ things online. It may be a bit redundant, but then again so are the cries of protest. But until our cries are heard and respected by our oppressors then I don’t mind seeing the same updates repeatedly. We each have our own voice to echo our beliefs and share our stories. Just don’t forget to use yours for something. You never know who may be listening.

B.B. Nichols lives and works in New York. He has been writing Everybody Does It since 2005.

Appeared originally on Homo-Neurotic on 10/14/09