GOProud members take part in anti-abortion march

GOProud staffer Holly Parker stands outside the Archives Metro station in D.C. on Friday in support of the March for Life. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

GOProud members handed out red and white stickers to passersby at the Archives Metro station on Pennsylvania Avenue that read “Hello, I’m… pro life & pro gay” before attending a rally on the National Mall in opposition of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

They then proceeded to march to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“So many in the media when they talk about social issues, they talk about gay marriage and abortion as if it’s one thing. And the common portrayal is pro-life people are anti-gay for some reason,” GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia told the Washington Blade as he and a handful of others stood outside the Metro station before the rally. “We know that that’s not true; that your position on issues affecting gay people has nothing to do with your position on abortion. Also it gives us a chance to demonstrate for our pro-life people a common ground with other pro-life people who are here who may not be used to seeing gay people talking about this issue.”

LaSalvia, who pointed out GOProud does not have a position on abortion, stressed he is pro-life.

“Everybody has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” LaSalvia said. “I think that means gay people and unborn people too.”

GOProud member Holly Parker noted to the Blade that her younger sister is adopted and she has “multiple friends who have had abortions and have come to regret it.”

“I’m just out here for them and for my fighting for pro-life,” Parker said.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Tennessee Congresswoman Diane Black, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley are among those who spoke during the rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people to the Mall. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) addressed participants via a pre-recorded video message.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sponsored an all-night prayer vigil before the March for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast D.C.

“I’ve got to stand up for what I am and not for what people want me to be,” gay D.C. resident Michael Jones told the Blade as he stood outside the Archives Metro station. “I’ve got to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, like the unborn children.”