It was only a few months ago that thousands of people celebrated President-elect Barack Obama’s election night victory at Broadway and East Pine Street on Capitol Hill. This past Saturday, members and allies of Seattle’s gay community rallied there again, asking Obama to keep his campaign promises.

The rally and march were organized by Join the Impact, a group dedicated to full equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community, and The Queer Ally Coalition, an organization that promotes grassroots organizing around LGBTQ issues, in response to an open letter from President-elect Obama.

The small group gathered at Seattle Central Community College, listened to speakers in the drizzle and then marched downtown to Westlake, chanting, “Yes, we can!” as cars were stopped by the police escort and a few passersby waved.

The letter, which was released by Obama’s campaign in 2007, promises that, if elected, Obama would address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and pass the Matthew Shepard Act. He also promises to work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The issue of DOMA was at the forefront of Join the Impact’s effort. Joe Mirabella, an organizer of the Seattle chapter of Join the Impact, has been with his partner for five years come February.

“We could go to Massachusetts or Connecticut and get married,” he wrote in an e-mail. “But still our marriage would not be recognized in Washington.”

DOMA leaves it up to the individual states to decide whether same-sex couples can marry. Therefore, same-sex marriages recognized in one state may not be recognized in another, unlike marriages between a man and a woman.

The second half of the act defines marriage for use in federal law as a union solely between a man and a woman. The 1996 legislation was passed by Congress and approved by President Clinton.

Obama is open to dialogue between the supporters of gay marriage and its opposition, said Andrew Caldwell, who marched on Saturday holding an enormous poster of Obama above his head.

“He’s saying, ‘I’m with you on the issue, I’m listening,’” Caldwell said. “He’s saying that about all the issues. I understand that. I’m very optimistic … I still have hope.”

Wen Liu is a UW senior and member of Queer People of Color Alliance (QPOCA) and ChiQ, a group in the Q Center for those who want to explore GLBTQ identities with other Chinese speakers and outside of the Western context. She was not aware of Join the Impact’s march and thinks the focus of the future gay rights movement should not be on achieving gay marriage.

“Marriage is only a white middle class concern,” she wrote in an e-mail. “And we should focus more on getting basic rights for all people such as universal health care, without getting [those rights] through the institution of marriage.”

Join the Impact wrote a letter in response to Obama’s, and the group’s goal is to gather one million signatures through this rally and others happening nationwide.

“We are not worried that Obama will back down on his promises,” Mirabella wrote. “We do not operate from a place of fear. We know that Obama needs a sign of support from us that he can take to Congress.”

Members of the group are delivering the letter to Obama after his inauguration, said Amy Balliett, a founder of Join the Impact.

“The goal was to maintain visibility and get as many signatures as possible,” she said. “We’ve got 10 people in the U-District getting signatures.”

The group is not using an online petition. Instead, signatures are being recorded on paper.

“The stack will be 50,000 sheets high, at least,” Mirabella wrote. “We assume we will receive some sheets that are not completely filled out, so it is likely to be an impressive visual impact.”

Reach reporter Erinn Unger at news@dailyuw.com.