Participants in Gay-Rights March Jam Hotels in Capital

Gay activists began lobbying Congress and gay veterans clashed with the American Legion over a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Thursday as participants in Sunday’s march for gay rights flowed into the capital, filling hotel rooms as far as 100 miles away.

March organizers predict that more than 1 million people will join in the demonstration, urging action on a range of gay and lesbian issues, including legal protection against discrimination and an end to the military’s ban on homosexuals.

Although organizers insist that politicians friendly to the gay cause have not intentionally headed out of town for the weekend, the list of those scheduled to participate in the march and following rally is short. It includes the mayors of New York and Washington, Democratic House members Patricia Schroeder of Colorado and Nancy Pelosi of San Franciso, and Congress’ two openly gay members--Massachusetts Democrats Barney Frank and Gerry Studds.

President Clinton told a group of gay-rights advocates last week that he wanted to take part in the events by electronic hookup from Boston, where he plans to address a group of newspaper executives that day. Instead, Pelosi will read a statement on his behalf at the rally.

“I think he’s missed an opportunity but this is not a big deal,” said Torie Osborn, head of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force. “The big deal will come this summer when he has to decide the military issue.”

Tourism officials said the demand for rooms exceeds anything in memory, catching the local hotel industry off guard. Expecting the same rate of cancellations associated with conventions, hotels overbooked by as much as 20%--but the cancellations have not occurred.

“Not only is Washington sold out but Baltimore is and they’re sending people” to Richmond, Va., said Emily Vetter, president of the Hotel Assn. of Washington.

“We will see people sleeping in lobbies and churches and any type of public accommodation,” predicted Barry Douglas, a member of the march’s executive committee. Some people, he added, just won’t sleep.

As activists launched a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of a House subcommittee that deals with health issues, including AIDS, received so many requests for meetings that he scheduled a single session with about 100 people today. Similarly, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reserved Tuesday for an open forum as her staff met Thursday with a steady stream of visitors.

An aide said that Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), in meeting with the New Jersey Gay and Lesbian Caucus, reaffirmed his support for lifting the miltary ban on gays.

Eric Rosenthal, who organized the lobbying, said: “The important thing about this effort is that members of Congress get to hear firsthand from their own constituents about discrimination.”

The dispute involving the American Legion arose when the organization demanded that Defense Secretary Les Aspin cancel an Army permit allowing a gay and lesbian veterans group to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington on Monday.

Lt. Col. Marilla Cushman, speaking for the Army, said the wreath-laying met Army requirements because it would be silent. Aspin, however, had yet to respond to the American Legion request.

Groups are arriving in the capital from as far away as Alaska. Tens of thousands of gay Californians are expected to march. “People are joking (about) how empty the Castro will be,” said San Francisco resident Steve Taravella, referring to the city’s gay district.

Only one conservative group, Public Advocate of the U.S., plans a counterdemonstration, using the slogan, “Families Fight Back.” But other groups opposing the gay-rights agenda will be watching to “see what the new rhetoric is,” said the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Orange County-based Traditional Values Coalition.

“We have a number of film crews that are going to be out at the events recording to see how it compares with media reports,” Shelton said.

As for what impact the march may have on the gay-rights debate, Gary Bauer, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, another conservative group, said it would depend somewhat on news coverage.

“This is, I think, a risky proposition,” Bauer said. “On the one hand, if the media attention is just on numbers of people in the street and those folks who are there are on their good behavior, it will be a plus for them. But one doesn’t have to search very far to find fairly bizarre activities, and if the attention is on those things, I think it will remind Americans why they are hesitant to accept this as a normal political movement.”

Times staff writer Paul Richter contributed to this story.