Road Trip: Creating Change

Creating Change is terrific fun for an organizer in a lot of ways. The cherry on top for me was the good fortune of the conference being held over Veterans Day weekend across the street from the National World War I Memorial in Kansas City. My very first trip out to the Task Force's annual LGBT activist get-together was also my very first time marching in a Veterans' Day Parade!

My predecessor in Grassroots and I worked with the parade organizers to register an official contingent in the parade for LGBT veterans. I'm pleased to report that the organizers treated us respectfully and approved our application for a contingent.

Over the course of my five days in Kansas City for the conference I had the pleasure of meeting so many supporters of LGBT military personnel and SLDN's work, several of them veterans. We held a workshop briefing folks on the issues and spotlighting how local activists can get a resolution passed in their municipality advocating for repeal of DADT. I had so many conversations with folks excited about the opportunities created by some recent election results.

On Saturday morning, following a breakfast event for veterans and allies, sixteen of us from the conference lined up to march. We got to the Liberty Memorial early enough that we were placed in the parade right behind the color guard. A Korean War veteran led our group with an Honor Every Veteran sign sticking out from the basket of her wheelchair. We carried a rainbow flag and Honor Every Veteran signs. The veterans in our group wore SLDN's rainbow "Proud Veteran" pins. It was freezing cold and an awfully early morning for many of us, but we were all very glad to be there.

I'll admit I was nervous. The thought crossed my mind that we might meet with opposition. A few of the high schoolers in their JROTC regiments snickered at the rainbow flag as we passed. But no one yelled at us, or threw anything, or used any of the many other tactics queer people learn to fear, living in a world where too often we're physically attacked for being who we are. It was delightfully uneventful -- we simply marched from the beginning of the parade route to the end, honoring the service of our community's veterans.

It was an empowering experience for me, to stand proudly as a queer person in a fairly conservative environment and proclaim my support for LGBT service members and veterans. I can only imagine how empowering it must have been for the vets in our contingent, many of whom told me they had never had such an opportunity before.

Returning to the conference, our group decided impromptu to bring some Veterans' Day cheer to the rest of the Creating Change attendees. We reformed our ranks and marched with our flag, banner, and signs through the lobby and central conference event space, picking up new people along the way. As our contingent morphed into a conga line of sorts, I found myself a very happy activist.

- Jill Raney