International Committee voting Members: (recently realigned due to European delegate stepping down due to threatening emails, as well as Canadian delegate stepping down due to time constraints, and 2 non-voting field members not listed below)

Joe Knudson, Chairman & Spokesperson
Jonathan Wolfman, Oversight 
James Vivian, Administrative
Arturo Shultz, Communications
Marc Holcomb, Location Advisor
Jesse D. Greer, Coordinator of Ancillary Events
Alexander Hope, Head of Public Relations
Isidro Gonzales, Event Advisor

Purpose & Urgency of Event:

This is grassroots organizing of hungry, aggressive, and eager LGBT & LGBT friendly activists, advocates, and all other allies worldwide working at planning and organizing various marches, after parties, watch parties, etc. around the world, with the trust and hope that entire LGBT communities and all LGBT and Human Rights organizations worldwide will put all egos aside and come together in unity for this historic event. This one day, April 21, 2011, our voices will be heard worldwide. The momentum is strong and fierce with recent actions at the United Nations, as well as the recent speech given by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and we must enhance this momentum by going forward with this  education and enlightenment to societies and governments worldwide as to our BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS and that the LGBT DEMAND and INTEND to gain our FULL CIVIL RIGHTS NOW! With election year in America upon us, as well as current work taking place for the ultimate passage of omnibus LGBT equality legislation in America, the window of opportunity is upon us and has never been as open as it is now. As our International Committee chairman recently stated to a reporter, "FAILURE TO TAKE ACTION NOW AND FAILURE OF THOSE TO PARTICIPATE IS NOTHING SHORT OF FAILING OUR OWN LGBT COMMUNITIES AND DENYING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS TO ALL WORLDWIDE!"

Synopsis of Event Structure:

(... LGBT, family, friends, & allies CALL TO ARMS)

The structure is simple; it is Town Hall type of organizing, more so from the bottom up, rather than the top down. It is not one centrally located march, rather a number of marches worldwide, along with other local ancillary events in numerous locations (both march site & non-march site locations) such as private watch parties both on & offline, in addition to public watch parties at local LGBT community centers (both of these sort of a join in & create your own event type of thing for those unable to attend a physical march), as well as after parties upon completion of the march at set locations arranged by Lead Organizer for that march city. Inclusion of the masses, regardless of where, is in the utmost minds of the committee, in addition to introducing and bringing in as Lead Organizers many from the younger generation as well as seasoned individuals as after all, the younger generation is our future of tomorrow. The committee is utilizing extensive online social networking for the success of this event!

We are guiding and assisting these independent Lead Organizers in numerous ways for them to plan and organize these marches in each of their locations. This guidance takes on many forms, such as a continual private message thread on facebook for updates, questions, interactions, etc.; this thread includes all Lead Organizers, along with every member of the International Committee, in addition to any other active LGBT Activist/Advocate so desiring to be a part of thishistoric event. A set of guidelines/suggestions has been given to each Lead Organizer for use in their planning and organizing: http://thegaylyblogger.blogspot.com/2011/11/guidelinessuggestions-to-help-lead.html

With each Lead Organizer knowing their own location in most every aspect (land area, local & state LGBT organizations,  LGBT community centers, LGBT & LGBT friendly businesses, etc.) much better than the International Committee, we felt it important the existence of their own freedom to organize. Many already receiving assistance from their local LGBT community centers, LGBT organizations, and LGBT businesses prove this approach is working; assistance such as organizing fundraisers, donating much needed supplies (one LGBT club even having a designated sign making night with all supplies furnished), etc. Starting the preparations early allow for this involvement of the local community every step of the way while building excitement and riding the momentum up to the huge event. Involvement of the community encourages a more active participation on event day... (an extremely helpful link to assist in locating LGBT community centers across the world is http://www.lgbtcenters.org/ ).

Another great area of assistance many Lead Organizers have found is the total support from the various PFLAG chapters (locate one anywhere in the world at http://community.pflag.org/page.aspx?pid=803 ), thus involving the many thousands upon thousands of supportive family and friends that do exist; in addition, certain LGBT friendly churches have offered fundraising assistance for such events (to inquire for specific areas, go to http://www.gaychurch.org/Find_a_Church/find_a_church.htm ).

Lead Organizers are finding unity and cooperation among other LGBT equality organizations for this historic event, with one Lead Organizer in close association with GetEQUAL, an organization that inspires and encourages the LGBT to take that bold action such as we are with these marches! Another group of activists the Lead Organizers are finding very receptive to a coalition for this event is the various Occupy movements around the world; the important thing here is that our organizers contact the local Occupy group in their march site location immediately to get our event on the local Occupy calendar, assuring them while the LGBT lead this event with our demand for FULL CIVIL RIGHTS NOW, they are welcome to include their various demands as well ( http://www.occupytogether.org/ is a great site to locate the Occupy groups in various cities around the world). Every single day unity is being achieved among various LGBT equality organizations as affiliations are continually being formed for this historic event!

With social media at the forefront of mass communications, the committee is utilizing one of the largest social sites in the world, FACEBOOK, to achieve inclusion of the masses. Proving this effectiveness is being achieved at this very early stage with one Lead Organizer having several thousand members in a group designated as their local chapter of theWorldwide Marches, with the availability to set up an individual Event Page for that specific location with mass invites for this historic event; care must be given though so as to not slight the benefit of a broad coalition of those LGBT equality groups and organizations not represented on FACEBOOK. Twitter, LinkedIn, dot429 professional LGBT network, and many others are also being utilized to achieve results.

Registered Lead Organizers & Location of Marches: (additional locations in process of confirming)
Adam Hoover Dayton, OH
Curtis Sledge, Jr. Washington, DC
Michael Connett Northern Kentucky-Greater Cincinnati
Mohammad Azam Pakistan
Noa Francis Shayden Chicago
Dusty Wenk Atlanta
Eyad Alkurabi Albany
Christianne M. Bharath NYC
Marc Holcomb Oklahoma City
Capri Mahaffey Hampton, VA

(each registered lead organizer is assigned a security ID# to verify identification in press releases and media contact, as well as field verification should anyone encountered in planning wish verification with the International Committee)

Fundraising:

The subject was touched briefly above in some of the narrative. To expand, with the structure these marches have taken on, along with the independence advantage bestowed upon each of the Lead Organizers, expenses incurred will be minimal as we are not setting the stage for box office attractions along with their inherent expenses, rather we are setting the stage with enthusiastic and eager diverse individuals from all walks of life, along with our family, friends, and all other allies. WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE HAVE DEMANDS, and while we may show up with homemade signs and banners, WE WILL BE SHOWING UP! We are NOT trying to impress anyone with fancy paraphernalia, WE ARE MARCHING TO MAKE A BOLD IMPRESSION of our DEMAND and INTENT to GAIN OUR BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS, to LIVE WITHIN THE SAME LAWS & GUARANTEES enjoyed by other segments of society. It doesn't take a great deal of money to accomplish this...

The committee found, in the preliminary study prior to launching this event, there are many LGBT owned & LGBT friendly businesses within the local communities more than willing to donate certain services and supplies for an event of this nature; one just needs to find them and ask. Most LGBT communities have local newsletters, e-magazines, etc. that many times have a section in the back listing LGBT owned & LGBT friendly businesses in the area; word of mouth around the community is another great source of information. LGBT churches, clubs, bars, community centers many times will help with supplies for signs and banners; in addition, LGBT clubs and bars encourage fundraising events sponsored by and at their location, as well as the placement of promotional flyers as it draws patrons to their establishment. Additional encouragement for this participation many times is accomplished by scheduling watch parties and after parties at their particular establishment on event day to accommodate those not able to physically attend a march, as well as a place for the marchers to gather after the event (this also works well for those establishments in non-march site locations).  When approaching stores for supply donations, it best to mention they are for signs and banners for the Worldwide Human/Civil Rights Marches coming up in the city (Dollar & Thrift stores are great places to approach as well).

The committee did approve the sale of an Official Event T-Shirt; the printing and sales are totally handled by an LGBT owned business out of Atlanta. The company is totally independent of this event, with no committee member nor family or friends of any committee member benefiting from the sales of the T-Shirt. The company has agreed to donate $3.00 (USD) per T-Shirt sold to help defray any allowable ancillary expenses incurred by either a committee member or a registered Lead Organizer in the planning and organizing of this event, providing an original receipt is available detailing the expense. Those incurred expenses should be minimal considering the structure of this event, the aggressive solicitation of donated supplies at each march site location, as well as the availability to each independent Lead Organizer of fundraising efforts at each of their march site locations as touched upon above. The Official Event T-Shirt link ishttps://www.facebook.com/LGBTCommunityUSA?sk=app_135607783795&fb_source=message

To alleviate the need for extensive and time consuming fundraising revenue distribution and internal controls at the committee level, the committee has reached an agreement with the T-Shirt supplier to submit a report of T-Shirt sales to the committee at the end of each month beginning with January and ending with April; likewise, the Lead Organizers will  submit electronic copies of original receipts to the committee at the end of each month for the same time period of any expenses incurred at march site location level that was not either donated or paid for by local fundraisers. The committee will summarize the receipts and send the T-Shirt supplier a list of disbursements to be made to each Lead Organizer, along with any expenses incurred by the committee, by the 15th of the month following month end to the extent fundraising revenue from T-Shirt sales covers those disbursements (any underage or overage of revenue will be carried over to the next month). It is projected and highly anticipated fundraising revenue from T-Shirt sales will far exceed any reimbursement necessary to either Lead Organizers or the committee; any excess will be divided equally and donated to an LGBT charity at the local level chosen by each Lead Organizer, along with any excess of funds from fundraising done, if any, by the Lead Organizer at their local level. It is highly suggested all Lead Organizers promote the Official Event T-Shirt along with the promotion of their own march site location. T-Shirt promotion is not just for march site locations, but worldwide to every location, including all those watch parties, after parties, and other non-march ancillary events.

With each independent Lead Organizer being autonomous in nature, it is their choice, as an independent, as to how they will account and hold fundraising revenue from their own local march site fundraisers to cover their own expenses incurred, if any. A confidential Identification Number has been assigned to each registered Lead Organizer for various reasons with one of those being a way for local march site location individuals encountered to verify and confirm with the committee the legitimacy of each Lead Organizer as a registered Lead Organizer for the 2012 Worldwide LGBT Civil Rights Marches.

Honorary March Leader:

The Gay Reverend Magora E. Kennedy is 100% New York State, suburban and urban. Rev. Magora was born in Albany, New York, the state capital, on September 22, 1938. Rev. Magora, with her minister's collar on, was there the very first night of the Stonewall Rebellion on Friday, June 27, 1969. As our International Committee chairman recently stated in a press release, "I definitely feel a part of the Stonewall Rebellion having visited with Rev. Magora for extended conversations over the telephone on two separate occasions; I could write for hours on what we talked about. As the International Committee Chairman of the 2012 Worldwide LGBT Civil Rights Marches, I was ecstatic when Rev. Magora proudly accepted the title of Honorary March Leader I bestowed upon her on behalf of the committee."
For the complete press release, clink the following link http://thegaylyblogger.blogspot.com/2011/12/2012-honorary-march-leader-for-lgbt.html

Proof why this Education & Enlightenment is so vitally important:

One of the administrators of the creator of this event, the International Committee chairman, received a letter a few months back from a US Congressman. This member of Congress had just finished reading a book given to them by one of their constituents. The following statement was made by the politician regarding their view of the rights available to individuals of the LGBT community, as well as the effect the book had upon them.

“I have always respected the rights of an individual to live their life as they see fit within the constraints of the bodies of law within their territorial jurisdiction. With that being said, certain individuals with situations resulting from behavioral and sexual choices due to individual identity are not always allowed these same rights. I have always taken the majority position of those who elected me to office when legislation or decisions of this nature come up. Recently, I have assessed various ways of encouraging those who elect us to educate themselves in this particular area in order that they understand the ramifications that could result when voicing their position if ignorance on any issue is present. This book could be that partial eye opener with the education they need in this area. I see things somewhat differently having read it, giving me the courage to realize an injustice is possibly done to those individuals with varying sexual preference and identity.” 

The member of Congress went on to say, “A clerk in the office, who incidentally read the book after I finished, shared with me a group created on facebook. I am sure you are aware that campaigns carried out by collective groups of advocates, on any issue, carry more weight as the number of participants rise. With the aggressive goal of one million, the campaign will carry significant weight, once met, when taken through the proper channels to the target audience.”

A committee comprised of various group members from the creator of this event reviewed some of the details of this letter from the Congressman as the letter contained a challenge issued to the group LET'S REACH 1 MILLION PEOPLE CAMPAIGN...It's a start! LGBT EQUALITY; this was done to determine if the group wanted to accept the challenge and the committee so decided to take on the challenge with full force of the group. The confidentiality of the politician was requested and is being honored by the group during this challenge period of which the group is still in.

The quotes above from the politician emphasized to this march committee just how important this education and enlightenment process truly is; with a member of our own Congress so acknowledging, we felt it was time to take BOLD action by initiating this event and taking the steps necessary to make these marches a truly historic event in this education and enlightenment process.

A totally separate letter from a different politician, US Senator Dr. Tom Coburn, was made available by the International Committee chairman and it too, shows the need for this education and enlightenment process to take place within the US Government. With it being this necessary in America, the purported World Leader in the advancement of BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS, think how important this is to all governments and societies Worldwide. To read this letter, go to
http://thegaylyblogger.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-senator-dr-tom-coburn-informed-or.html

In Closing:

The committee extends our open arms to every single member of society and to all governments worldwide to participate in this historic event and commit not only to yourself, but to all mankind, to the ACHIEVEMENT of BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS for every individual in the world...

If additional information is desired, please contact the International Committee Chairman 
joechuckknudson@gmail.com or USA telephone number 405-410-2934.