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Catherine Read

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by Catherine Read

#WomensMarch in Washington, DC

#WomensMarch 2017 Washington DC (Jan. 21, 2017) The Women’s March on Washington, DC, was remarkable on so many levels. To begin with, it started with an idea. No one owned the idea. It wasn’t trademarked, funded by a corporation or association, or even managed. It was an idea that traveled from Hawaii, on the ripple of a butterfly wing, to encircle the globe.

There was no fee to attend, no registration, no security, no bag checks or tickets. There was no speciality pricing on hotel rooms. People just showed up – by charter bus, on the metro, by foot and car. They stayed with friends, or friends of friends, or welcoming strangers. They were young and old, able-bodied and in wheelchairs, young families and older couples, a rainbow of ethnicities, languages and beliefs.

Womens March DC II

The signs were made of brown cardboard from packing boxes and poster board or whatever was at hand. Painted, colored with markers, taped onto sticks. They were clever, creative, blunt, profane, colorful, accusatory, uplifting . . . They were homemade. Home made. These thoughts, feelings and ideas belonged to the people who made them, brought them, carried them through the streets. The materials used to create these messages spoke so loudly to the grassroots energy of those who showed up: our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers.

The images on social media leading up to Saturday’s march showed planes and trains and buses full of women. In pink pussy hats, and t-shirts with their messages, and smiles on their faces. There was a sense of hope, optimism and energy that radiated from their faces. There was a sense of community that said we are stronger together.

Womens March DC IIIThere were so many men who came, and marched and chanted – including my own husband. They were not there as the leaders of this movement, but as supporters, and followers and believers in a world where equality means equality for everyone.

The crowds exceeded expectations and spilled out all over the city. As the crowds spilled out of their boundaries in cities and small towns all over the world . . . on every single continent.

And nothing bad happened. No incidents, no injuries, no arrests. Despite the millions of people out in the street all over the world. There was no need for armed men in riot gear, the national guard or the army reserve.

There is a lesson in all of this. One that it will take some time to process. It will be written about in the decades ahead as something extraordinary that speaks to our common humanity in the fight for equality across the globe. It is a universal message about the rights of women to be seen as human beings with all the rights and privileges thereto.

Womens March DCThis is the story of resistance to a national narrative that wants to exclude us. And the story of people getting woke. Finally. To understanding that we must look out for everyone’s rights. This means being engaged, informed and willing to work at the democratic process.

Women have worked for centuries to get where we are. It’s not far enough. Not for our daughters, our granddaughters or the generations to come.

Filed Under: Blogging, Political, Women Tagged With: #WomensMarch, DC March, equality, Pussy Hats, Suffragists, Trump, Washington DC

by Catherine Read

A Straight Ally: Traveling the Road toward Equality

Pride Flag The Highline NYC(Sept. 22, 2012) On Monday evening at Oakton High School, I’m sitting on a panel: Being a Straight Ally for Equality to talk about what it means to advocate for LGBT issues as an openly heterosexual person. The event moderator, Christopher Schaffer, asked me to send him a bio that he could read to introduce me to the audience.  This made me stop and think: What could I say about my journey from birth to “straight ally?”  Surely none of us are born playing that role.  At what point did I become a staunch outspoken activist for LGBT rights?

When I was in 8th grade, my parents split and my sister and I ended up Vinton, VA, with our mom (that’s in Roanoke County.)  My first day of school at William Byrd Middle School, in my first period Algebra I class, a boy named Gareth asked me if I was new, where I lived and where I came from. He was part of a close knit group of boys also in that same class who would become my life long friends. I met Gareth, Wayne, Jay, Stu, Monty, Keith and Jeff in August of 1975 and I consider them the family of my heart.  Three of them are gay.

Wm Byrd HS Brain Boys 1978Back in high school, gay people did not roam the halls in all their awesome gayness assured of acceptance by understanding teachers, administrators and students. We did not have GLEE, Modern Family or Ellen to model what it meant to be gay in America in the 1970s. Gay students were afraid. They lived in fear of others finding out.  My best friend Jeff – to this day I still consider him my best friend – shared that with me when he finally came out to me in our 30s. I couldn’t understand why Jeff didn’t tell me sooner – why he thought it would make a difference in our relationship.  But this is something I can never fully understand – I can never truly stand in his shoes and see the world the way he lived it in a hostile, unaccepting, homophobic world of Roanoke in the 1970s.Read More

Filed Under: Blogging, Equality for Virginia, Political Tagged With: equality, gay, LGBT, straight ally, transgender

by Catherine Read

Marriage Equality – Standing on the Side of Love

(Feb. 14, 2012) Fairfax, VA. Valentine’s Day 2012 was a special one for Kären Rasmussen and Barb Brehm. They went to the Fairfax County Courthouse seeking a marriage license knowing full well they would be turned away. It was an opportunity to raise awareness about the fight for marriage equality in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It’s a movement supported by many faith communities, including Unitarian Universalists, the faith community where Kären is a pastor. There were supporters there from People of Faith for Equality in Virginia (POFEV) and a number of other local organizations and churches.

Post Script: Kären and Barb, both retired Navy veterans, were legally married on Valentine’s Day in 2014 in Maryland after 27 years together as a couple. Virginia continues to move closer and closer to recognizing same sex marriage here in the Commonwealth.  Someday soon the state slogan will be “Virginia is for ALL Lovers!”

Filed Under: Equality for Virginia, Political, TV Shows, Virginia, Women Tagged With: equality, marriage equality, same sex marriage, Virginia

Catherine S. Read
I believe in the power of community and the ability of one person to make a difference.

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