Past due, forever.The Millennium March The Millennium March on Washington drew about 500,000 people to the District of Columbia in 2000. Demonstrators called for equal rights without regard to gender; specifically, most marchers identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. closes its books with $330,000 in unpaid debt By most accounts, the Millennium March on Washington Millennium March on Washington was a controversial LGBT event held April 28 through April 30, 2000 in Washington, DC.[1] A march from the Washington Monument to the front lawn of the Capitol took place on April 30, where the crowd was addressed by several members of , D.C., was a success. Despite the controversy surrounding sur·round tr.v. sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds 1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle. 2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication. n. the march, hundreds of thousands of people attended the April 30, 2000, event, which raised visibility for gay rights. What the march didn't raise was enough money to pay off all its debts. The final audit of the event, made public May 31, shows the march leaving about $330,000 in unpaid debt. "We paid out the balance of cash that we had on May 31 on a pro rata [Latin, Proportionately.] A phrase that describes a division made according to a certain rate, percentage, or share. In a Bankruptcy case, when the debtor is insolvent, creditors generally agree to accept a pro rata share of what is owed to them. basis to all of the accounts payable," said Michael Armentrout, march treasurer. "Our legal advisers said that when you don't have enough money to pay everybody, the best way to proceed is to share equally with everyone." A majority of the $965,000 in debt the march had remaining at the end of last year was forgiven by three major lenders: the Human Rights Campaign, Online Partners, and Liberation Publications Inc., the publisher of The Advocate. Still owed to the march is a debt of $45,000 from the Cherry Fund, which contracted with the march to organize a series of dance parties during the march weekend. Still unresolved Not completed; not finished; not linked together. See resolve. is the question of funds missing from the Millennium Festival, a separately run event providing a venue for food and souvenir vendors. An undetermined amount of money allegedly vanished from the festival, with Armentrout estimating the amount in the mid-six-figure range. The festival was to turn a portion of its profits over to the march but instead posted its own loss. Armentrout said the FBI, which is investigating the loss, told him the money is gone for good. "It's not coming back, so it won't have any impact on the outcome of the Millennium March," he said. The march joins a long and troubling list of gay events that have finished in the red, including the three previous marches on Washington, Stonewall stone·wall v. stone·walled, stone·wall·ing, stone·walls v.intr. 1. Informal a. 25, and the Gay Games The Gay Games is the world's largest sporting and cultural event organized by LGBT athletes, artists, musicians, and others. Originally called the Gay Olympics, in Amsterdam and elsewhere. "The community in general does not do business in the best way possible," Armentrout said. "The march is just another sad example of not having the right kind of paid leadership to make sure the event does occur and does well financially. We have to do things better or not do it." |
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