Equality Day Rally

The Religious Coalition for Equality organized the third annual Equality Day which brought 1,500 people to Olympia on February 26, 2007. The event was supported by 83 organizations and congregations.
On Equality Day, clergy and people of faith—both straight and gay— gathered with other allies and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to lobby their legislators to end legal discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals and families.
The noontime rally provided legislators and others an opportunity to hear prominent clergy & community leaders speak in support of gay rights.
After the rally, clergy and Equality Day participants met with their legislators to discuss why they support LGBT civil rights. Cheri, Alton and I joined our friend Arianne, mother of a gay son, for meetings with our representatives Larry Springer and Roger Goodman. They were both empathetic but stumped on the situation of our inability to have one of us quit work to stay home with Alton because neither of our employers will allow us to cover the other on our medical insurance polices because our marriage is not legally recognized in our state. Equality Day was a powerful opportunity for people of faith, labor union members, school teachers, grandmothers, and teenagers to join together and show their support for marriage equality and other rights currently denied the gay community.
The saddest part of the day was watching the handful of Christians counter-protesting across the street and holding signs which declared hell and damnation for the gay and lesbian people of faith at the rally. They do so much damage to the gospel message with their pharasitical ranting.