The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, All Things Considered, 10/14/1979MARCHI
The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, All Things Considered, 10/14/1979
All Things Considered recorded the voices of speakers, protesters and onlookers at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in October 1979. The march was one of the first large-scale national demonstrations for gay and lesbian rights. Organizers sought federal anti-discrimination laws to protect gay and lesbian individuals and advocated for the inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected status within the Civil Rights Act of 1954.
“Visibility is protection. Visibility is a way to legislation. And visibility is something that brings others out and gives them courage.”
-Demonstrator at the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights
http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/1979/10/19791014_atc_gayrights.mp3
The digital preservation of this audio has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Researcher Laura Garbes contributed to this post.
Image: Bettman / Getty Images / 1979.
