page_title: National Equality March
section_title: Speakers
hierarchical_section_title: National Equality March / History / Speakers
caption_attribution_description: English: Lady Gaga giving a speech at National Equality March Русский: Леди Гага произносит речь на Национальном Марше Равенства
context_page_description: The National Equality March was a national political rally that occurred October 11, 2009 in Washington, D.C. It called for equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The march was called for by activist David Mixner and implemented by Cleve Jones, and organized by Equality Across America and the Courage Campaign. Kip Williams and Robin McGehee served as co-directors. Leaders like actress Michelle Clunie, Courage Campaign marketing director, Billy Pollina and New York gubernatorial aide Peter Yacobellis hosted the first fundraiser in the spring of 2009. This was the first national march in Washington, D.C. for LGBT rights since the 2000 Millennium March.
  Many groups joined by also organizing other events for the weekend, which coincided with National Coming Out Day on October 11 and marked eleven years since the beating and murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, which prompted national attention and action to expand hate crime laws.
context_section_description: After the march a rally at the US Capitol featured more than 30 speakers, including:
  Jarrett Barrios – President of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts and President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
  Dustin Lance Black – American screenwriter, director, television producer, and LGBT rights activist
  Julian Bond – chairperson of NAACP and former Georgia State Senator who has often likened the US gay rights movement to the Civil Rights Movement, as he did in a Washington Post op-ed explaining his reasons for participating in the march
  Staceyann Chin – spoken word poet, performing artist and LGBT rights activist
  1st Lt. Daniel Choi – openly gay United States Army combat veteran and Arabic linguist whose discharge from the New York Army National Guard under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is currently being reviewed
  Penelope Williams - Dominican American bisexual and immigration right activist, spokesperson for national bisexual rights group BiNet USA, officially introduced bisexual speaker Lady Gaga
  Lady Gaga – singer and bisexual-identified LGBTQ activist
  Michael Huffington – conservative bisexual activist, former United States Congressman, film producer
  Tanner Efinger – March Organizer and Founder of Postcards to the President
  Cleve Jones – the march’s co-chairperson and longtime gay rights activist
  David Mixner – civil rights activist and best-selling author
  Nicole Murray-Ramirez – LGBT rights activist and a San Diego city commissioner
  Chloe Michelle Noble – bi-queer human rights activist and founder of Homeless Youth Pridewalk and Operation Shine America
  Cynthia Nixon – lesbian-identified bisexual actress, most notably from Sex and the City
  Reverend Troy Deroy Perry II – founder of the Metropolitan Community Church
  Christine C. Quinn – first openly gay speaker of the New York City Council Speaker
  Bill Rosendahl – openly gay Los Angeles City Council member
  Judy Shepard – mother of brutally murdered gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard and co-founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation
  Babs Siperstein – the first openly transgender member of the Democratic National Committee
  Maxim Thorne – Senior Vice President of the NAACP
  Urvashi Vaid – LBGT activist
  Lawrence Webb – first openly gay, African-American elected official in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Falls Church City Council member
  Sherry Wolf -author, LGBT and socialist activist, associate editor of International Socialist Review
  Kit Yan – slam poet, musician, activist, and out transgender man
caption: Singer and bisexual-identified LGBTQ activist Lady Gaga delivers a speech.
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