Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on October 11, 1987. Its success, size, scope, and historical importance have led to it being called, "The Great March". It marked the first national coverage of ACT UP, with AIDS activists prominent in the main march as well as the civil disobedience actions at the Supreme Court.

LGBT community desire for a new march was prompted by two major events in the 1980s: the spread of AIDS and the Ronald Reagan administration's lack of acknowledgment of the AIDS crisis; and the Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick upholding the criminalization of sodomy between two consenting men in the privacy of a home. In 1986, Steve Ault & Joyce Hunter, co-coordinators of the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, drafted documents to extant LGBT organizations soliciting interest in a new march. The response was favorable, and the two organized an initial planning meeting in New York City on July 16, 1986, where it was decided that the march would be held in 1987. Representatives from all known LGBT organizations were subsequently invited to a national conference in New York City on November 14–16, 1986 where they would discuss the politics, logistics and organization of the event. The delegates would be addressing four primary concerns:

Throughout the weekend, delegates debated many aspects of the march itself, including bisexual and transgender inclusion, needs of minorities and people of color, and whether or not to include non-LGBT-centric issues such as Apartheid as part of the march's platform. At the end of the weekend, the overall structure for the National Steering Committee had been set.

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