Hunk-A-Lot Hump Day: Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty

Washington DC Trip Day 4: Newseum & Miscellaneous

I started out the day heading east from the hotel, found my way to the Newseum which was great and definitely my type of museum, and then down to the Capitol for more pics. At the end of this post, I have some miscellaneous that didn't make it into the prior posts.

Harman Center for the Arts


National Building Museum


First Amendment outside the Newseum


Portion of the communications antenna that was atop the North Tower of the World Trade Center NYC with the front pages from world newspapers of the next day's coverage in the background, in the Newseum


Portions of the Berlin Wall, in the Newseum


Capitol


Smithsonian Castle (from atop Newseum)


Treasury


Old Post Office


Ford's Theater (Where Lincoln Was Shot)


Washington Monument

Washington DC Trip Day 3: National Equality March And Rally

I spent today at the National Equality March and Rally. I got a great spot atop a stone wall (stonewall, get it?) at 15th St NW and Pennsylvania Avenue so I could get some good pics above the heads of the crowd. They're currently estimating attendance at 250,000. I'm not an expert, but look at the photos below. The parade route was packed, including people walking down the sidewalks on 15th, and it lasted 65 minutes with the marchers walking at a decent clip and no stoppages. Seems like more than 250K to me. Maybe at the rally, and more in the march?

Based on a lukewarm response at the announcement of the event months ago, I expected about 1,000 people to show up and that it would be an embarrassment for our community. I was thoroughly impressed. Our leaders and organization that said this wouldn't be a success (yep, Barney, I'm talking to you) have only shown that they are being replaced by a new generation of activist. Start paying attention or lose your power. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Even if it doesn't make any difference on Capitol Hill, the march and rally certainly show a realignment within our movement.

Towards the end of the march, I jumped in and walked, too. Shortly after I did that, I spotted Mike from Mike In The Middle Ages and we had a brief chat. I first met him at the blogger get-together in New York City a year ago.

How many people can say they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol of the United States for their civil rights? Very awe inspiring.

At the rally, I was most inspired by an 18-year-old straight man Sam Sussman from Orange County, NY that gave a fiery speech about civil rights. See the speech here.

Washington DC Trip Day 2: Art Galleries

Across the street from my hotel are two art museums housed in the same building. The building layout is in the form of a rectangle with a large courtyard on the inside. On the west side is the National American Art Museum and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery is on the east.

The atrium is huge and I expected it to be loud with a lot of echoing but not so. You could hear everything that happened but the sound was immediately absorbed.

I'm not much for museums so this was a stretch for me. I enjoyed the 1934: A New Deal for Artists collection. Check out the full collection.

This was my favorite of that collection:
Gold is Where You Find It by Tyrone Comfort, 1934

A bust of First U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton

Eunice Kennedy Shriver 1921-2009 by David Lenz, 2009

Among the Sierra Nevada, California by Albert Bierstadt, in the 1860's

The Chief's Canoe by Belmore Browne before 1927

Tenement Flats by Millard Sheets, 1934

Black Panther by Alice Dinneen, 1934 (It's hard to tell here, but the red in the anthuriums just jumped off the canvas from across the room and drew me right to the painting.)

The Great Hall

A large map of the United States with neon borders and monitors showing various pop culture programs.

Quotes were on the walls throughout the museum. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Being inexhaustible, life and nature are a constant stimulus for a creative mind.
Hans Hofmann, 1880-1966

Art ain't about paint,
it ain't about canvas.
It's about ideas.
Too many people died
without ever getting
Their mind out to the world.
Thornton Dial Sr., 1993

It was a surprisingly good adventure!

Washington DC Trip Day 2: Arlington National Cemetery

I attended the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery that was organized as part of the National Equality March scheduled for noon. I stepped off the Metro at 11:30 into the cool and drizzly weather, went through the ornate iron gates, and headed up the hill to the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Walk this way.

Shhhhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. We're getting closer.

There was definitely an LGBT presence but the crowd was decidedly mixed since so many tourists were visiting. Hard to estimate the numbers in attendance for the Knights Out ceremony. I took the following photo about 11:50 and it definitely became more crowded by noon — maybe 50% more than you see here.

The Memorial Theater is on the left, the sentinel is on the right, and the tomb itself is to the right out of frame. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by a Tomb Guard sentinel. The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in any weather. Sentinels, all volunteers, are considered to be the best of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard). They pace in front of the tomb in two hour shifts and we were able to see a changing of the guard at noon. It's a process definitely choreographed by a straight guy. Boring and no jazz hands.

An officer holds the wreath before the ceremony.

Openly gay First Lieutenant Daniel Choi returns with a high ranking Navy official after placing the wreath in front of the tomb.

I found my political activist friends Tom and Jim from Orange County among the crowd and I snapped a pic of them with their friend Dan! Jim served in the Navy during Vietnam and was able to meet one of the ceremony's officials that also served during that time.

First Lieutenant Daniel Choi.

From his wikipedia entry:

Daniel Choi (born 1981) is a United States Army combat veteran of the Iraq war who served as an infantry officer. He has become known for challenging America's policy regarding gays serving in its military when he came out of the closet on March 20, 2009 in an appearance on the The Rachel Maddow Show. Since the show, he has become an LGBT rights activist.

The officers depart after the ceremony. I love a man in a uniform!

The engraving on the front of the tomb reads:

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD

This was a great tribute to our fallen and serving-in-silence brothers and sisters.