“Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia’s got to go! Hey hey, ho ho, transphobia’s got to go!” I shouted at the top of my lungs while lifting a colorful sign proclaiming “Love is for All” above my head. Being queer, I’ve felt passionate about LGBT equality for quite some time, but never as much as I did shouting and marching for these ideals during the National Equality March.
At SI, I learned that when your thoughts, feelings and actions are in alignment, you are the most authentic, integrated and powerful person you can be. I also learned the value of integrating one’s body into this equation. As I write this, I feel my body start to twitch – I’m nervous and excited to be writing about the enormous impact that the march has had on me. I still feel excitement in my body from the march. That high that people talk about after a performance or sports tournament or whatever gets you high in life? Yeah, I got that high from marching. Because my thoughts, feelings and actions were in alignment, both in the time and energy I spent organizing to take Princeton students and then in the feeling of marching alongside friends, fellow students and tens of thousands of others for my ideals. Other than in a few extraordinary yoga classes, I’d never felt that connection between body and mind and others as clearly as I did while marching and chanting for equal rights.
I made a video slideshow with the soundtrack of us chanting (audio thanks to Sophie Jin), which comes as close to capturing the spirit as possible.
Related blog entries
Amelia, a fellow Princetonian activist, wrote about the march on a blog: http://www.care2.com/causes/civil-rights/blog/marching-for-equality-a-young-activists-perspective/
Emily, a fellow organizer, also wrote a blog entry about her thoughts: http://worthlessdrivel.net/2009/10/11/even-princeton-or-this-is-what-democracy-looks-like/
Wanderings 