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15 Nov 2008 06:53 pm

The View From Your Protest: NYC

A reader writes:

I went, along with my straight sister. Turnout was very high, and the protest area was PACKED - there was almost no room to move around, and at a certain point it became so crowded that I couldn't lift my sign without hitting someone. 

It was an incredibly exciting day.  Several members of the New York City Council spoke, and the mood of the protesters was generally very positive and inspiring. One of the speakers mentioned that the last time she had seen this many gay people rally in the streets over something, it was 1998 and Matthew Shepard had just been murdered. That got me thinking - I'm 23, and a large part of the crowd was around my age - in 1998, I was 13 and just starting to realize that I was gay.

For younger gays, this is the first time we've had the chance to take to the streets and fight for our basic humanity.  Now that we've gotten a taste of what it feels like, I don't think we're ever going to give it up.

The next generation, gay and straight, get this more than ever. They will lead us now. I could not be happier to let them show me the way. This battle feels so much less lonely than it once did. The ripple has become a flood.

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