The National Equality March
Sunday morning I woke up in a bit of a funk, as sometimes happens when one is stressed out and tired and in the early stages of a nasty cold caught from one's girlfriend. As I was brooding over an uninspiring bowl of oatmeal, roommate Kate suggested, "You know what would make you feel better? Thousands of gay people with rainbows!"

And so it did.

We didn't start out with the march at the beginning, but walked to Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue to meet it partway. The marchers hadn't made it that far yet, but we were waiting for a scant few minutes before we saw the Harbinger of the Gay - a delightful young man with a rainbow flag in each hand who danced enthusiastically to music on his headphones.

And then, everyone arrived in force.

Kate and I stood on a raised planter on the Plaza for half an hour watching hundreds and hundreds of people march by. Scores of people carrying signs or rainbow flags or simply lending their presence to show that they believed in equal rights for everyone. Great, huge, happy, delightful masses of people marching their way down Pennsylvania Avenue, more people that I can properly comprehend, all of them People Like Me.

Kate and I laughed and took photos and pointed out people and read interesting signs to each other. And I'll admit it, there were several times when my voice got caught in my throat and my vision got blurry and I almost cried, right there on my big hunk of marble, as I watched the great ocean of people and rainbows wash past me.

After countless people had passed us, and with countless more still to come, we joined some of Kate's teammates who had taken an overnight bus down from Brown to be a part of it all. We continued to march down Pennsylvania, past the Newseum's ten story copy of the First Amendment, and on towards the gleaming white Capitol building. And maybe also - I know it's corny - but I'm sure we were also marching towards a more equal future, where the love and acceptance that flowed down Pennsylvania Avenue on a bright Sunday in Washington, DC has kept going and infused the whole country with love and acceptance.

And by golly, by the time we got to the Capitol, I felt not just better, but great.

My photos of the march are on Facebook here.