LGBT rights group Equality Matters has organized the first-ever Online March for Equality, to be held the week of the upcoming presidential inauguration, Jan. 18-24.

Organizers are asking users of social networking sites, including Facebook, to change their profile pictures to one of several badges created by the group. The badges highlight the rights denied to LGBT Americans, including the ability to file joint taxes, make medical decisions for a spouse or receive government benefits such as Social Security.

“If the gay community is going to achieve equality, we need to find new ways to educate the American public and reach them where they spend their time. We felt the best way to achieve that was to take advantage of the web and sites like Facebook,” said Bruce Namerow, founder of Equality Matters.

Since its launch just over one week ago, the Facebook event has attracted more than 135,000 invited guests with more than 40,000 registering their intent to “attend” this virtual event. The numbers continue to grow rapidly and organizers are hopeful that numbers will exceed 100,000 before the event begins on January 18.

“We have been just amazed at the response. People are clearly looking for an outlet to show their support for LGBT equality and this provides a whole new way to harness that energy,” Namerow said.

While the Facebook event page is the center of the group’s efforts,  organizers have also launched a website at www.equalitymatters.org that is intended to educate visitors about the issue. It includes a detailed list of 1138 rights and responsibilities that are denied gay and lesbian couples by federal law. The number 1138 comes from a government report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) in 2004 and available for download at the site.