Diversity Richmond offers cheap seats on bus to LGBTQ Equality March on Washington

Brad Kutner
May 10, 2017

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Diversity Richmond has your ticket to the biggest LGBTQ event in the country on June 11th, when thousands are expected to take to the streets of the nation’s Capital and demand recognition.

The Equality March on Washington was announced back in late January and has since garnered national attention; there was the Women’s March in February, the March for Science in April, and next month the nation’s LGBTQs and their allies will get their chance.

They’ll stop selling tickets on 5/25, so get in now while you can.

And while parking, cost and the general hassle of coming to DC might hold some Richmonders back from attending the event, the folks at Diversity Richmond have you covered. The LGBTQ non-profit rented buses within day’s of hearing about the event and they wanted to make the trip as affordable as possible so they reached out for additional funding and support. Sure enough, Altria, Virginia Pride, Capital One, and the Richmond Business Alliance stepped up in different ways to help make tickets (and a included breakfast) available for only $15.75.

“Politically its so importantly now to keep our voices heard and remind everyone we’re out there fighting,” she Tara Courtland, a queer Richmond resident who bought her ticket for the Diversity Richmond bus trip just this week. “Even if there weren’t political considerations, I’m always down for a good time and queer events are always a good time.”

Courtland is a bit of a veteran when it comes to political action – she attended the Women’s March and she’s attended a number of recent congressional Town Hall events to let her representative, the tea party Republican Dave Brat, know he doesn’t represent her views in Washington.

If you’ve never been to a large LGBT event, you don’t want to miss it,” she said, calling marches like this exciting and empowering. “And if you’re into politics, you know how important it is both to be part of the resistance and fight and to remind your allies and friends that you’re still in this.”

For Diversity Richmond’s President and Executive Director, Bill Harrison, marches like these are where memories are made.

He looked back fondly on his first DC Pride March nearly 40 years ago. He hopped in a car with some friends, drove to NOVA from his family farm in Emporia, VA, and took the train into the city. Harrison still has photos of him wearing a fertilizer cap with a sign saying “FARMERS ARE GAY TOO!” with the Jefferson Memorial in the background.

“I know that personally it impacted me,” he said. “That March on Washington prompted me to write my first Letter to the Editor of the Richmond News Leader.”

The News Leader, the old local afternoon paper in RVA, had ran an OpEd the week before saying the founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they saw the “degenerates” Marching in DC.

“I came back so with so much pride and positive feelings that it really got the ball rolling for me, and it was the first of many letters I wrote,” he said. “The growth that takes place, the enrichment of what our movement is all about… it’s being a part of something much bigger than us as individuals. It’s very moving.”

“It creates memories people will be able to share for years,” he said. “Standing people thousands of people, chanting, marching, its an incredible opportunity.”

You can snag tickets to the Diversity Bus by visiting their website here. 

But even if you can’t make it to DC, Diversity is teaming up with the Richmond Business Alliance to give folks a chance to participate here in town before the event.

On Wednesday, June 7th, 6:30-8:30PM in the Diversity Richmond event hall, we will get the anticipation and excitement rolling by having a poster and sign making party. Materials will be furnished, but feel free to bring your own! Poster boards, magic markers, banners…and your imagination are all needed.

“Have a message you want to share? A picture? Want to tell folks what’s been building up inside? We have the solution for you,” said Harrison. “And even if you aren’t attending the March, join us anyway to help design creative, informative and fun messages that we will take to Washington.”

Dinner will be provided for the sign making event thanks to the RBA.

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