by Cynthia Laird
Less than one month after an estimated 100,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the National Equality March, the two co-directors of the organization overseeing the event have abruptly quit.Kip Williams and Robin McGehee have resigned from Equality Across America. In a statement sent to the Bay Area Reporter on Tuesday, November 3, Williams said that he was moving on "for personal and professional reasons.""First, I need more security in my life, because I worked on the march for less than minimum wage and without health insurance," Williams stated. "Second, I share with EAA the goal of full federal equality, but I have different ideas about the road to get there."Williams said it was not accurate to characterize his leaving over differences with longtime gay activist Cleve Jones, who first called for the October march on Washington and who has been the public face of the event. While Williams said he left more for financial security, he did indicate that there were strategic differences with Jones and others over the future of the organization.When Jones first mentioned the idea of a march in May at the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality rally in Fresno following the state Supreme Court's decision upholding Proposition 8, he trumpeted the plan as a way for newly energized LGBT and allied activists to continue pushing for change in the wake of the Prop 8's passage last November and the state Supreme Court's subsequent decision upholding the ban on same-sex marriage.McGehee, a Fresno resident, was the lead organizer of Meet in the Middle, and parlayed that experience into working with Williams to help Jones realize the goal of staging a national march in about five months on a shoestring budget.Now, it appears as though Williams and McGehee will continue working together, though it remains unclear what their next steps will be......
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