Image courtesy of www.slutwalkdc.org
Full disclosure: I really meant to listen to the speeches at SlutWalk D.C. The crowd was in high spirits, the speakers enthusiastic, and the weather beautiful … until all of a sudden the temperature dropped, the clouds gathered low overhead, and the thunder boomed at a eerily well-timed pause during the first speech. So I cursed myself for not owning an umbrella and biked home, spurred on by thoughts of dry clothes.
The walk itself was just as impressive as the downpour that followed. I’m horrible at estimating crowd size, but the chants of the marchers could be heard from two (very long) blocks away and the signs, outfits, and sheer numbers were enough to both draw double- and triple-takes and warrant an escort by the D.C. police. My personal favorite signs were “My dress is not a yes” and “Ask permission to gain admission,” as well as the very direct “Tube tops don’t cause rape, rapists do.”
Yes, I said it. A national priority. For far too long we have had to sit back, waiting around for the president to get the courage to act righteously, while his administration works to acquiesce the LGBT community with tokenist attempts to include a “gay” agenda. Since 1993, when Clinton’s good intention manifested itself into a destructive policy known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ roughly 13,500 U.S. citizens serving in the armed forces have been discharged. Professional, courageous, committed, intelligent, service members with merit and passion are being turned away because of who they choose to love and who they choose to sleep with. Nearly $363 million dollars have been waisted within the span of 16 years, to enforce a policy that tells people they are less then human if they are gay, lesbian, trans, or bisexual. 
Too often we forget that there is a tremendous amount to be learned through the personal experiences of people at the frontlines. The doctors who exist in a constant state of precarity to the violent behavior of the anti-choice right, the activists who time after time face verbal abuse by the religious right as they raise awareness on self-determination, and the stigmitization of women who face such difficult decisions about the future of their own bodies. There is something to be learned from people in their every day struggles for justice. Listening to their narratives and carrying those intimate stories of liberation into our own activist work is so vital to achieving our goals. 
