1979 March on Washington photograph

This photograph shows members from the Ohio Gay Rights Coalition at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on October 14, 1979, in Washington D.C. The banner they hold reads "Someone you love is gay. Gays are everywhere, even Columbus, Ohio." Between 75,000 and 125,000 LGBTQ men and women attended the rally to fight for civil rights legislating for LGBTQ Americans. Busloads of gay rights activists from Columbus, Ohio, and throughout the state drove to Washington to participate in the march, which represented a culmination of nearly a decade of organizing in the years since the Stonewall Riots of 1969. However, the march and the wider gay and lesbian community at the time was not always accepting of transgender (termed transsexual at the time), non-binary and queer people in the movement toward equality. The push for equality for the entire LGBTQ community (not just the gay or lesbian community) has changed over time and continues to evolve even today. Established January 22, 1977, the Ohio Gay Rights Coalition was a group which sought to strengthen the gay community by unifying various gay rights groups throughout Ohio in order to more quickly gain equal rights for gay Ohioans. The Ohio Gay Rights Coalition dissolved on October 25, 1983, and the Stonewall Union of Columbus, Ohio, became the primary gay rights organization in central Ohio