Putting it together

With just two months to go, organizers work to make the march on Washington a success

When the temperature has been hovering well below freezing and snow has been in the air, it's hard to imagine a sunny day in late April with thousands of marchers filling the Mall in Washington, D.C. But for organizers of the Millennium March on Washington, that spring day seems much too close.

"Time has been the most difficult thing," says Dianne Hardy-Garcia, who is co-executive director of the march along with Malcolm Lazin. "The biggest issue now is having the resources to get the word out. People say, `I know there's a march in April.' Now we have to get them to understand it's April 30."

As the clock ticks, organizers are scrambling to make sure not only that the word gets out but that the event lives up to expectations. Moreover, in an effort, to make sure the march has a lasting effect on gay politics, activists have established a series of ambitious goals for creating new resources for local groups and fostering existing ones.

"I think the previous marches have done great things," says Hardy-Garcia, who has taken a leave from the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas to work on the march. "But now you have to translate our visibility into power and into action. We have to move to a point where the gay community is a factor hi Congress and in legislatures. The movement is moving into adolescence."

As past marches have done, this year's march will feature a diverse range of speakers. However, unlike past events this year's march will also attempt to build a voter database and to strengthen gay and lesbian people-of-color groups.

"The voting pledges are the real reason to do the march this year," Hardy-Garcia says. "We have to use this opportunity. We are getting close to declaring ourselves a bloc of voters, and that is substantive for politicians." Volunteers will distribute pledge cards at the march asking participants to provide their name, address, and telephone number.

The pledges will then be compiled into a voter database and distributed to state and local organizations. "We want to get 100,000 to 200,000 to take that pledge," Hardy-Garcia says. "Then we will give the list away to the people who do the work. It's not going to be sold."

"I still get excited about the march, and I've seen it all," says march treasurer Donna Red Wing. "We can organize, we can mobilize, we can get people jazzed about the election. We happen to have the first presidential election of the millennium, and that's exciting."

In order to strengthen people-of-color groups, tire march board has passed a series of resolutions guaranteeing them visibility at the march, an opportunity for organizational development, and 30% of profits from the march.

"People-of-color organizations provide a strong bridge to our allies, and if that bridge isn't strong, our movement isn't strong," Hardy-Garcia says.

However, not all activists are sold on the board's stated commitment. To protest the march, the National Association of Black and White Men Together has moved its string meeting in Washington, D.C., from the same weekend as the march to a date two weeks earlier.

Other people-of-color activists, including Mandy Carter and Barbara Smith, are members of the Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process, a group formed to protest the march and to pressure for greater financial disclosure from its organizers. Carter, who was on the boards of the 1987 and 1993 marches, told the board in a December meeting, "If I continue to hear about the 50% people of color on the MMOW board, I'm going to scream. With all due respect, there is a qualitative difference between being a person of color and representing a people-of-color constituency."

The march has had a bumpy ride from the start. The event immediately became a lightning rod for controversy when it was announced as a joint effort of the Human Rights Campaign and the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches that was to be managed by veteran event producer Robin Tyler. Tyler herself became the target of criticism not just from outside activists, who said she was unaccountable, but also from the march board, which apparently grew dissatisfied with her efforts. Late last year Tyler resigned her position.

"She could not provide what we needed," Red Wing says. "She just could not do what we needed her to do."

Tyler's departure has not placated critics of the march, who say the event remains ill-considered at best. "The march continues to remain financially and politically unaccountable to the community it claims to represent," says Bill Dobbs, a member of the Ad Hoc Committee. "The event is not viable. Will they see the light and cancel it? I hope so."

Hardy-Garcia says the march will go on but nevertheless credits the Ad Hoc Committee with forcing the march board to establish specific political goals for the event. "A lot of what happened politically with this march is to the credit of the Ad Hoc Committee," she says.

Critics have also complained bitterly that the board failed to release financial records despite promises to do so. Finally, in late January, the board released a financial summary, putting the cost of the march at $1.7 million. The production of the event itself was budgeted at $550,000. Other projections included $400,000 for staff, consultants, communications, and media; $500,000 for lease costs, travel, printing, equipment, and other office expenses; and slightly less than $100,000 for insurance.

The board projects that the event will bring in about $1.95 million, a profit of $250,000. The largest single source of revenue is expected to be the Millennium March Festival, a two-day fair featuring vendors and entertainment. The board estimates that the festival will bring in more than $750,000 in revenue through entrance fees, concessions, and other money sources. In addition, hotel commissions are estimated at $400,000, and corporate marketing revenue is projected to be $350,000. (The Advocate is a corporate sponsor of the march.)

Hardy-Garcia says local activists remain the key to a good turnout. "We have to do the same old standing out on the corner, passing out fliers," she says. While the march has field organizers, Hardy-Garcia admits that "we need more people." She also acknowledges that other critical details of the march, such as transportation and housing matters, have not yet been worked out. "There has to be a bus plan," she says. "There has to be alternative housing because we don't want kids sleeping in the streets."

Still, Hardy-Garcia remains optimistic that the event will overcome the problems that have plagued it and become a turning point both for the movement and for individuals. "We're hoping the march continues the legacy of past marches to inspire a new generation of leaders to form a new generation of organizations," she says. "And we need these kind of moments. Heterosexuals have those life-affirming moments all the time--weddings, anniversary parties, Valentine's Day. For gay and lesbian people, we have to create them. No one else will."

What's happening

The Millennium March takes place April 30, but the weekend will feature a series of other events. Here is some information about transportation, lodging, and festivities.

Travel: United Airlines is sponsoring the Millennium March and offering discounted fares for flights to Washington. Information about schedules and fares for the march is available by calling (800) 521-4041 and referring to Code 596EB.

Hotels: Washington, D.C., Accommodations is the official housing bureau for the Millennium March. Hotel reservations are available through the march's Web site or by calling (800) 554.2220. Most hotels are requiring a two- or three-night stay.

The march: Marchers will start lining up at the Ellipse at 8 a.m. Sunday, and the march will kick off at 10 a.m. Organizers also are encouraging people to march from wherever they are staying, but they are asking that marchers reach the Mall by noon, when the program events start. The exact program, which will last until 6 p.m. is yet to be determined.

Millennium March Festival: There will be a festival on Pennsylvania Avenue from 11 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, The festival will feature music and entertainment as well as vendors.

Equality Rocks concert: The concert will be hosted by Melissa Etheridge, Ellen DeGeneres, Anne Heche, and Kristen Johnson and will take place Saturday night, April 29, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Other performers will be announced upon confirmation, Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

Millennium March National Dinner: Serving to kick off the weekend, the dinner will be held Friday night, April 28, at the International Trade Center Building, Ticket prices and speakers have not yet been announced.

Other events: A range of other activities not officially connected to the Millennium March will also take place in Washington during the weekend, including several dance parties for men and for women, Also under consideration is a reunion of Queer Nation members.

THE ADVOCATE POLL SPONSORED BY SAAB

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