A Seat at the Table

The growing strength of the Gay rights movement was evident when nearly one million people showed up for the third March on Washington on April 25, 1993, at the time the largest demonstration in U.S. history. 

While the mood of the 1987 March had been somber in tone, the 1993 March was full of hope and cheer. With the election of the first President openly sympathetic to Gay rights, there was much to celebrate and the March received unprecedented media coverage, including the cover of Newsweek.

The NAACP endorsed the 1993 March, the first time the institution directly linked the Gay rights movement to the civil rights movement. The 1993 marchers demanded the Civil Rights Act be amended to provide protection for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Americans. It was also the first time that Bisexuals were included in the March name; attempts to add Transgender to the title failed.