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Speaker 1: The Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to this Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that strives to know at least a little

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Speaker 1: bit more history every day. I'm Gay Blusier, and today

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Speaker 1: we're talking about a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle

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Speaker 1: for gay rights. A massive public rally held during the

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Speaker 1: height of the AIDS epidemic. The day was October eleventh.

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Speaker 1: More than three hundred thousand people took part in the

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Speaker 1: second National March on Washington for lesbian and gay rights.

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Speaker 1: The aim of the march was to demand additional funding

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Speaker 1: for AIDS research and therapy, and to call for federal

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Speaker 1: legislation to help prevent discrimination against gay citizens. The march

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Speaker 1: was endorsed by a variety of gay rights proponents, including

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Speaker 1: religious groups, civil rights organizations, political associations, and community activists.

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Speaker 1: At the time, it was the largest such demonstration in

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Speaker 1: American history. The nineteen eighty seven march was an outcome

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Speaker 1: of the increased visibility and activism of l g b

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Speaker 1: t Q people that had begun in the nineteen seventies.

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Speaker 1: During that pivotal decade, several openly gay politicians won seats

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Speaker 1: in public office, including Kathy Kozachenko, the first out American

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Speaker 1: to ever be elected, as well as Harvey Milk, the

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Speaker 1: first openly gay man elected in California. But for all

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Speaker 1: the progress being made, the pro gay rights movement also

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Speaker 1: faced plenty of setbacks. Harvey Milk had secured his position

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Speaker 1: as San Francisco City Supervisor by running on a pro

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Speaker 1: gay rights platform, but less than one year after taking office,

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Speaker 1: he was assassinated for that same reason. In nineteen seventy nine,

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Speaker 1: the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and gay

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Speaker 1: rights was held. It was organized to mark the ten

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Speaker 1: year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and to protest the

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Speaker 1: lenient jail sentence given to Dan White, the man who

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Speaker 1: murdered Harvey Milk. Under the banner of we Are Everywhere,

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Speaker 1: more than one hundred thousand demonstrators demanded the repeal of

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Speaker 1: anti gay laws and policies. The rally was the first

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Speaker 1: of a series of protests that would ultimately grow in

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Speaker 1: scope and attendance over the next two decades. The Second

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Speaker 1: Gay Rights March took place eight years later in the

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Speaker 1: fall of nineteen eighty seven. Although it called for many

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Speaker 1: of the same advances as the first March. It was

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Speaker 1: also prompted by the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in

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Speaker 1: the United States. By nineteen eighty four, researchers had identified

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Speaker 1: the underlying cause of AIDS, the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV,

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Speaker 1: but despite that breakthrough, the Reagan administration had been slow

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Speaker 1: to approve further research or the development of therapeutic drugs.

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Speaker 1: By the time of the second March on Washington, the

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Speaker 1: disease had already killed nearly twenty thousand people, making Reagan's

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Speaker 1: inadequate response all the more glaring. Another motivating factor behind

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Speaker 1: the ninety seven march was a Supreme Court decision from

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Speaker 1: the previous year. In the case of Bowers v. Hardwick.

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Speaker 1: The Court had upheld Georgia sodomy loss, which made it

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Speaker 1: a crime for consenting adults of the same gender to

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Speaker 1: have sexual relations, even in the privacy of their own

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Speaker 1: homes and so. On October eleventh, n seven, gay rights

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Speaker 1: proponents gathered once again in Washington, d C. Despite the

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Speaker 1: gray skies and chilly weather, the turnout was more than

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Speaker 1: double that of the previous march. Estimates vary, but the

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Speaker 1: rallies organizers reported somewhere between three hundred thousand and five

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand attendee ease. One of the most moving and

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Speaker 1: widely covered events of the day was the first public

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Speaker 1: display of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which took

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Speaker 1: place on the National Mall. At the time. The enormous

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Speaker 1: tapestry was made up of one thousand, nine hundred and

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Speaker 1: twenty fabric panels, each of which was a handmade tribute

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Speaker 1: to a life loss to AIDS. It was a sobering

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Speaker 1: reminder not only of the impact of the disease, but

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Speaker 1: of the country's continued failure to respond to it appropriately.

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Speaker 1: Besides the march itself, several other events were held in

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Speaker 1: the days before and after October eleven. These included a

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Speaker 1: mass wedding in front of the I. R. S Building

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Speaker 1: on October tenth, and a civil disobedience demonstration on the

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Speaker 1: steps of the Supreme Court Building on October twelve. Approximately

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Speaker 1: eight hundred people were arrested at the latter event, but

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Speaker 1: the demonstration, like the march itself, remained peaceful, with no

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Speaker 1: injuries reported. Although it was a hold gray day in Washington,

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Speaker 1: the crowd at the march remained upbeat, shouting slogans singing

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Speaker 1: songs and waving signs as they went. The twenty block

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Speaker 1: route they followed began at the foot of the Washington

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Speaker 1: Monument and stretched all the way to the lawn in

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Speaker 1: front of the US Capital, where a rally was scheduled

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Speaker 1: to be held. Two of the key speakers that day

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Speaker 1: were gay US representatives Barney Frank and Jerry Studs, both

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Speaker 1: of whom were Massachusetts Democrats. Several allies of the movement

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Speaker 1: spoke as well, including former National Organization for Women president

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Speaker 1: Eleanor SMIL, United farm Workers Union president Caesar Chavez, and

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Speaker 1: civil rights leader and then presidential candidate Reverend Jesse Jackson.

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Speaker 1: Late in the afternoon, Jackson highlighted the need to recognize

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Speaker 1: the gay rights movement as a matter of human rights,

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Speaker 1: regardless of one's religious views or political affiliations. He said, quote,

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Speaker 1: let's find a common ground of humanity. We share the

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Speaker 1: desire for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, equal

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Speaker 1: protection under the law. Let's not dwell on distinctions. The

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Speaker 1: events of that weekend had a lasting effect on the

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Speaker 1: l g b t Q movement. It fostered the formation

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Speaker 1: and growth of new national groups, including act UP, the

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Speaker 1: AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power and advocacy group that offers

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Speaker 1: support to AIDS victims. But it also had a tremendous

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Speaker 1: impact on the local level. Many protesters went home and

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Speaker 1: channeled their excitement into founding social and political groups in

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Speaker 1: their own hometowns. Since then, the date of the March,

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Speaker 1: October eleven has been celebrated all around the world as

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Speaker 1: National coming Out Day. It's a chance for people of

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Speaker 1: all sexual identities to do what the marchers did all

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Speaker 1: those years ago, to show their pride, to encourage others

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Speaker 1: on their personal journeys, and to tell the world, As

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Speaker 1: one of the march slogans proclaimed, We're not going back

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Speaker 1: gay rights now. I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully you now

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Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday.

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Speaker 1: If you have a minute and you're so inclined, consider

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Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t D

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Speaker 1: i HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions,

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Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way at this day

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Speaker 1: at I heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays

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Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening.

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Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow. For another day.

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Speaker 1: In history class,