By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) June 22 | The 10 year old West Fork, Arkansas boy who made national headlines last November after refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because he felt the part of the pledge that states 'liberty and justice for all' just isn't true, has been asked to be the Grand Marshall in this upcoming weekend's Northwest Arkansas Gay Pride Parade.
According to 10 year old Will Phillips:
"There really isn't liberty and justice for all," Will said. "Gays and lesbians can't marry. There's still a lot of racism and sexism in the world." Phillips goes on to say that It's wrong for anyone to be treated differently just because of the way they are born," who declares himself as an ambassador for equal rights.
In March 2010, Will was awarded the prestigious GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV Segment" for his appearance on CNN. In his acceptance speech he encouraged President Obama to "use the bully pulpit of the Presidency" to promote equality for all Americans.
Reporter Will's parents say they're not worried about any backlash.
However, Will has participated in the parade in the past and realizes there may be some protestors. He plans on treating them just like everyone else.
"Pretty much all you need to do is smile wider and wave at them," said Will.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the corner of Meadow and Church in downtown Fayetteville. It will run down East Avenue then onto Dickson Street, where it will end with a rally at the Walton Arts Center parking lot. Will is scheduled to speak at the rally.
An acquaintance of Joney Harper, creator of NWA Pride, Barbara Dunnam said;
"When I heard about this I was worried. My first thought was why is a little boy Grand Marshall of a Gay Pride Parade. I know Joney, I love her to pieces but I did not understand. In my eyes, children of 10 have no business dealing with issues of a sexual nature. They have a hard enough time with their own identities.(That was my first thought.) Then I read and realized it was not about sexuality. It was about equality and all children should growing up understanding equality. Not tolerance but acceptance of everyone for who we are. God made us all. He did not make any mistakes. So we are all equal. The GLBT community deals with horrible discrimination every day. The gay community deserves a day to march and show support for each other and seek equal rights.
They deserve to have the streets lined with friends,family and supporters who believe in them.
Martin Luther King did it. There were certainly a whole lot of whites who had a problem with equality for those who were not white as the driven snow. They stood strong and persevered.
This young man should be able to do this. We as adults have no business judging him or his parents and it will truly be a beautiful day when those that do not fit our perfect representation of self become part of our perfect representation of self by acceptance that they too are a perfect representation of our selves!"
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