Today is National Day Without a Gay, in which LGBT and their allies will be out with the lavender flu. In support of that effort, I’ll be posting  about the LGBT community to make this Gay News Day.

Barack Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee has chosen the Lesbian and Gay Band Association, with members from across the country, to march in the inaugural parade in Washington on Jan. 20. The band’s website announced:

We are extremely pleased to announce that the Lesbian and Gay Band Association will be included as a marching contingent in the Inaugural Parade. This is the first time that an LGBT group will be represented in a Presidential Inaugural Parade, truly our chance to make history.

Bill Clinton allowed gay groups to perform their music on the sidewalk during his inauguration but not to march in the parade, according the Washington Blade, which broke the story.  During  GWB’s first inauguration, the Crawford, Texas High School marching band joined the parade.

Expect something a little more sedate than this LGBA video from Halloween 2008where band members dressed as the cast from Wicked.

The Gay and Lesbian Band association will be viewed by millions, including some very special guests, many of 330 surviving members of the  Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black force of elite pilots, who’ve been invited by Barack Obama to watch the inauguration.  Their bravery during the war — on behalf of a country that actively discriminated against them — helped persuade President Harry S. Truman to desegregate the military in 1948.