New York City Pride Week Begins With Rally's Call For Action

New York City kicked off its Pride Week festivities on Saturday with a rally in Bryant Park that featured several key figures in the gay rights movement, along with various entertainers.

In a year where the political climate surrounding gay rights is hotly charged, particularly in regard to same-sex marriage and Don't Ask, Don't Tell, many of the speakers called for action on the part of the gay community.

Lt. Dan Choi, who was recently discharged from the U.S. Army after revealing on television that he was gay, said at the rally that while he is honored to fight for his country, he won't stop there.

"You are a slave (when you aren't honest about who you are). There are many things worth fighting for. Freedom can be so expensive. But love is worth it... Gay soldiers, just like straight soldiers, want to serve their country."

He said love is what has led him to where he is now. "I fell in love. And that is why I am on this journey today."

Choi, the son of a Baptist minister, said his life could easily have gone in another direction, pretending that he is not gay in order to lead an easier life.

"I could have this fake love. Fake wife. Fake marriage." He said it was the thought of dying in combat, though, that made him be honest. He said he didn't want to have a wife take part in a military funeral and be given an American flag in his name when it was all based on a lie. He called the ceremony too "solemn" to be based on lies.

Choi, who was wearing the same boots that he wore while serving in Iraq, said it is time to overturn the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, a Clinton-era initiative under which members of the United States military are not asked whether they are gay, but are barred from publicly admitting that they are homosexual.

"Gay and lesbian soldiers have been serving since before their countries knew how to discriminate against them. The time for asking is over. It is time to tell."

Also appearing at the rally was Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black; Catherine Marino-Thomas, board president of Marriage Equality New York; musicians Michael Lynch, Josh Zuckerman and Rachel Sage; Cleve Jones, who worked as an intern in Harvey Milk's office; and many others.

This year's pride festivities mark the 40th anniversary of New York City's Stonewall riots of 1969. During June of that year, patrons of the now-famous West Village bar rioted against the city's police, who would often raid the bar. It is seen as the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. The city's first gay pride march was held on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

NYC Pride has now become a weeklong celebration. This year the city will mark Pride with Pridefest, a street fair in the West Village; Sunday's Dance on the Pier in Chelsea; and Saturday's Rapture, a dance on the pier for women. Art exhibitions, parties, and performances will also be held all week throughout the city, culminating in the annual parade down 5th Avenue on Sunday.

New York City Pride Week Begins With Rally's Call For Action

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