An LGBTIQA+ march on Washington D.C has been planned for June 11, to coincide with the Capital Pride Festival.
16,000 people have already said they will attend the march and over 65,000 have registered their interest on the National Pride Faceboook page.
The event has been announced following the enormous turnout at the Women’s March on Washington and sister marches that took place worldwide.
“We want to build off the momentum the strong women in the US and around the world started on January 21st. They set the tone with their leadership and it is our intention as a community to follow their lead and play our part,” the organisers say on Facebook.
In a tweet, the National Pride March account noted that event will be all-inclusive saying, “Every identity, race, religion, age group, etc in our diverse community will be welcomed and involved.”
The march will take place nearly 40 years since the first national march on Washington for gay and lesbian rights. In October 1979, over 100,000 people from the LGBT+ community and their allies rallied to demand equality.
Since then, significant protests for LGBT+ rights have taken place in Washington, including in 1993, when nearly a million people marched for civil rights bills against discrimination, an increase in AIDS research funding and reproductive rights.
The march has been organised by New York resident David Bruinooge, who told the Washington Blade that he was inspired by the Women’s March.
“In the back of my mind as an openly gay man I thought the gay community should be doing something like this to follow up on the momentum,” says Bruinooge.
Supporters who cannot attend the march in the nation’s capital are being urged to reach out to Pride organisations and participate in local events in solidarity.
