New Activism Group GetEQUAL Launches

A new LGBT activism group founded by the organizers of last fall’s March On Washington has launched. Via press release from GetEQUAL:

It is 2010 in the United States of America, and nearly every day we see reminders of a simple, sad fact: LGBTQ people are not equal. Since 2008’s momentous election, many of us feel like we have been waiting, waiting for our hope to be rewarded. But while our president has declared himself a “fierce advocate for equality,” we have seen little in the way of real progress. Instead, we’ve heard only empty promises — not just from elected officials, but from our own leadership, who urge patience and claim to know “best” how to attain equality for all.

We’re tired of waiting to be treated as equals. We’re tired of watching the rights of LGBTQ people being trampled, ignored, put on hold or stripped away. The time for waiting is over. Now is the time to act. Please join us in pledging to take bold action to demand equality for LGBTQ people, and to hold accountable any person or organization who stands in our way. Together, we can create a powerful force that can’t be ignored.

From what I’ve been able to discern, GetEQUAL plans to be a direct action group a la ACT-UP, rather than a lobbying group such as HRC. Here’s GetEQUAL’s first clip from Will Phillips, the ten year old boy who got national attention for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance until LGBT equality is achieved. Will’s speech here is a shorter version of the one that he delivered to a standing ovation at Saturday’s GLAAD Media Awards in NYC.