We have a history of criticizing the NAACP for failing to make an official statement on gay marriage. For an organization dedicated to ending any type of discrimination, so too should that mission — or at least a few cursory words — be dedicated to ending all types of discrimination. But because the NAACP’s members and board are rooted in some religious institutions that don’t look kindly on homos getting married, the NAACP remains neutral on the issue. Except there’s a new leader in town. Might she change things up?
Just last year NAACP chief Benjamin Todd Jealous (pictured, right) was saying his organization doesn’t have an official position on marriage equality because the NAACP lacks consensus on this issue. Rather than take a leadership position and guide the NAACP toward acceptance of gay Americans, Jealous threw the responsibility on The Gays: “If gay rights groups want to change the opinion polls in the black community, they have to invest in it. It’s a long-term conversation. The battle to oppose Prop 8 could have been much better run. They came to the black community late, with the expectation that they were going to get certain results.” He’s right; it is the responsibility of gay Americans to reach out to people of color.
But it’s also the responsibility of the NAACP to work with gay Americans. Because the NAACP is gay America, the same way gay America is the NAACP. It’s one giant Venn Diagram, folks, and there’s no separation of the two classes. (I know this, because I belong to both categories, but outgoing NAACP chairman Julian Bond really says it best.)
Now here comes Roslyn Brock (pictured, top), elected the NAACP’s new chairwoman, and it has the Baltimore Sun‘s editorial board all sorts of excited about how Brock, 44, and Jealous, 37, could inject their youth to create actual change among the ranks. (Both are the youngest persons to hold their posts at the NAACP, and as WaPo notes, thus never experienced legal segregation first hand.)
How about we take this to the next level?
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But how exactly do Ms. Brock and Mr. Jealous intend to signal the new direction in which they want to take the organization? One way would be to embrace President Barack Obama‘s call for ending the military’s discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which forces gay and lesbian soldiers to lie about who they are or face dismissal. The arguments heard today against gays serving openly in the military offer an eerie echo of fears voiced 60 years ago about allowing black soldiers to serve on an equal footing with whites.
When President Harry S. Truman signed the executive order integrating the armed forces in 1948, the decision was hailed by the NAACP as a great step forward in the struggle for equal rights. There’s no reason the fight for equal treatment of gays and lesbians in the military shouldn’t be part of the NAACP’s long tradition of working to level the playing field for all oppressed minorities.
Enlarging the NAACP’s civil rights mission to include combating discrimination against gay and lesbian service members might bring Ms. Brock and Mr. Jealous in conflict with their base of supporters among African-American churchgoers, many of whom oppose homosexuality on religious grounds. Ironically, the two young leaders could find themselves obliged to undertake the delicate task of reminding rank-and-file members that the Bible was also once used to justify slavery and segregation. They might also point out that many of the gay soldiers discriminated against by the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy are black.
Not just many. Disproportionately many. If ever there was a reason for the NAACP to come out for gays, this is it. The United States has a law on the books that is used not just to discriminate against gay Americans, but gay black Americans. While people of color make up 29 percent of active duty troops, they make up 45 percent of those dismissed in 2008.
We’re thrilled to hear about how, with Jealous and Brock at the helm, the NAACP is looking to reclaim its influence among black Americans. How it’s looking to social networking and web technologies, like live streaming forums on its website, to connect with larger audiences. But Brock comes to the job with huge shoes to fill. She replaces Bond, the great orator and natural (excuse the pun) bond between blacks and gays. In him, we found a voice that didn’t just resonate with black America or gay America, but America at large.
It is not Brock’s duty to one-up Bond. It is Brock’s duty to build on his legacy. And that includes having the NAACP recognize LGBT equality is not a “gay issue,” nor is it a “black issue.” It’s a human issue, and one so obvious that the NAACP has no choice but to support it. Because that’s just what it does.
chgo921
Let me first say that I have NO clue whether the NAACP will “finally” endorse gay rights. But the headline of post implies that Julian Bond was somehow opposed to the organization supporting gay rights. But as you point out in the post, Bond had been an advocate for gay rights — while heading the NAACP. Why suggest he has to leave the organization for it to finally back gay issues? (This is indicative of the problem I have with Queerty: you frame things negatively at any opportunity, even when it’s misleading.)
James
Why don’t the white gay editors at queerty challenge the entrenched racism against black gays and lesbians? Do the queerty editors not realize black gays have straight family members that SUPPORT US. However, some black gays and straight frankly are not interested in working with the mainstream white gay community. The reason why is you white queers are a bunch of motherfucking racists!
Chitwon Kev
@James:
Thank you.
As much as querrty traffics in that entrenched racism both in its’ editorials and in its’ comment moderation, these motherfuckers have the nerve to (for all intents and purposes) DEMAND the the NAACP support them and make gay issues a priority.
Now I actually think that the NAACP should make DADT a priority. But I also think that the NAACP needs to be a leading voice against racism in the white gay community. Including this and other blogs.
And yes, your headline does slur probably the most articulate voice on gay rights in the black community.
terrwill
@James: Someone is a little cranky today, did you get a little sand in your vagina?????
Chitwon Kev
@James:
Hold it, James.
#3 goes way too far.
I think that both communities would rather have our respective communities as allies.
And the fact the the gay and the black communitites have been at odds with one another is the fault of the leadership of BOTH communities (although in the black community, I would confine it to much of the church leadership).
Neither community has exactly been Miss Polly Purebread in this situation.
AndrewW
Well written Queerty.
Whether or not she makes tries to make a real difference depends on her religious beliefs. Like the Baltimore Sun said:
“Enlarging the NAACP’s civil rights mission to include combating discrimination against gay and lesbian service members might bring Ms. Brock and Mr. Jealous in conflict with their base of supporters among African-American churchgoers, many of whom oppose homosexuality on religious grounds. Ironically, the two young leaders could find themselves obliged to undertake the delicate task of reminding rank-and-file members that the Bible was also once used to justify slavery and segregation.”
In 100 years the NAACP has never taken a stand on LGBT Equality. As remarkable as that is for a self-proclaimed civil rights advocates – they must take a stand on the repeal of DADT.
Chitown Kev
@AndrewW:
The California chapter of the NAACP opposed Proposition 8 in California (and took a political hit for it) and the Maine chapter of the NAACP (yes, there is a Maine NAACP!) supported gay marriage. (There are some local chapters that have not).
And the NAACP has taken position on issues such as LGBT bullying, hate crimes, and ENDA…all gay civil rights, last I checked.
Timothy
I only hope that she is AS GOOD of a supporter as Julian Bond. He was there for us every chance he had, a consistent ally and friend. The only thing that I hope happens is that the NAACP can grow to the point where it can throw its legacy and image behind the quest for equality of all people.
Unfortunately, often the most visible opposition (though certainly not the majority) to equality comes from an African-American. We see it in DC, we see it in Maryland, we see it in Washington State.
And I think there are two reasons.
First, I can almost hear our opponents say, “let’s have Joe say it. He’s black so they can’t call him a bigot or suggest that he’s supporting discrimination. And it proves that gay rights are not civil rights.”
But I also think it is a deliberate attempt by some folks to pit our two minority communities against each other. If each of us opposes the other out of animosity or hostility, both are weaker.
Which is why folks like Julian Bond have been so important. He counterbalances that image.
Chitown Kev
@Timothy:
Yep.
Which is why this blog should not be trafficing in racism. It doesn’t make things any better and plays right into the hands of the “invisible” opposition (which is far more powerful).
Timothy
Chitown Kev,
I’m sorry if what I’m about to say comes across as insensitive or offensive. I’m not completely sure how to word this and I don’t want to be a jerk. But here goes:
I haven’t seen overt racism here.
I don’t read every posting and not much of the comments section so I may have overlooked it. Also, being a white guy, sometime I am less sensitive to racism. I may not catch a subtle slur or notice an intentional slight both because I am not looking for it (it doesn’t impact me as directly) and because I, lacking context, may not even recognize it if I were trying.
So I’m not arguing with you.
But as I haven’t seen it, I think I do have to ask: are you absolutely certain that it raises to the level of “trafficking in racism?”
I am sure that I say stupid and offensive things. I am sure that from time to time I’ll make an assumption or start with a bias – perhaps even an unconscious bias – that prejudices my perspective.
But prejudice can be simply ignorance rather than animus. And I hope that my prejudices are not the same thing as racism or bigotry.
I don’t know the level of offense here. But if it were that bad, wouldn’t I have seen it? Or am I just being a clueless white guy?
delurker
@Timothy: There was a story late last year where an older gay black professor was allegedly killed by a younger white man. The white man, a former marine, claimed that the black professor got him drunk and assaulted him or took advantage of him. Many queerty commenters openly sided with the killer over the black professor, who was active in an d contributed to the gay community, and said there was not way sex between the two could have been consensual. Some even lusted after the alleged killer, who I guess was attractive by their standards.
Even the way the queerty editors wrote the blog post lent credence to the alleged killer’s claim that he may have been the victim. There was nothing to support this other than what the perp said. The person would could have denied it or contradicted it is dead and riddled with stab wounds.
The racism here was not of the KKK, lynch him, burn him, but it was racism. There was little sympathy from the editors or the queerty community at large for the black victim but more than a little for the white killer.
Dirty Ole Man
I am NOT in the mood for Queerty’s RACE BAITING
THREADS today! When will you pathetic bastards
realize that alienating and criticizing the Black Community
WILL NOT make them into an ally for Gay Rights.
The title and premise of this thread is absolutely insulting!
Fuck You Queerty!
Timothy
Delurker,
Yikes. I’m glad I missed those comments.
I very much hope that some here challenged that type of thinking. And, further, I hope that there were plenty of white guys who were there to call out and condemn this bigotry (so it couldn’t be dismissed as just “touchiness” or something equally demeaning).
Ya know, it really makes me sad that racial bigotry still exists to the extent that it does.
I can get being ignorant (I’m sure I am too) or prejudiced (we all start from some perspective). And I know that you can differ on plenty of issues (reparations, for example) without being a hater.
But I have absolutely no respect for racists. And while I’m sure that their nastiness feeds their insecurities and makes them feel special for a moment (“I’m better cuz of the amount of melanin in my skin”), ultimately such attitudes eat your soul and leave your humanity withered.
Sexy Rexy
Is the NAACP even relevant anymore?
Kieran
@ dirty ole man: You deserve to be insulted. Deal with it.
AndrewW
@Chitown Kev: As far as I know the only thing the National organization has done formally is an LGBT Task Force. They have yet to take a formal position.
Kieran
Whether Gay people finally get full and equal rights in America is going to be up to…..guess who? Gay people in America. Let’s not expect others to fight our battles for us. They won’t. It’s ourselves alone we must look to in the final analysis.
reason
I see the NAACP as an organization that has lost its luster as time passed, failing a large section of African Americans right along side the government and some citizens. Correct me if I am wrong. I don’t believe, while it would be nice symbolically, that gaining the NAACP’s support is going to make any relevant difference. How many African Americans or anyone in general would know what in the world you were talking about if you name dropped Rosyln Brock or Julian Bond, or better yet one significant accomplishment of the NAACP over the last year? If we want to appeal to any community, it will require our “entire community” making an outreach directly to the people. I really don’t know if organizations like these and Gay Inc. have lost there way or just no longer have the power to affect change. The only organizations that seem to have power are corporations and AIPAC, maybe the NAACP and Gay Inc. should take a note out of AIPAC’s playbook; a good step one would be getting leaders that would put their life before the cause not the accretion of money and power before the cause.
I really don’t see the reason for some to start making accusations of racism etc. That does nothing but make people scared to engage, dividing people into corners. Who is going to saunter out there and engage a community if they feel that there going to be flogged with hostility even from their own gay brethren? It has some parallels to the Harold Ford thing were it’s being portrayed that if you change your mind and support us we will still ridicule you to death.
terrwill
@Timothy: One of the problems here on Qweirty is that people are waaaaay too sensitive and are so damm quick to pull out the race card, that they would make a blackjack dealer in Vegas jealous. I am quite vocal in my missives at those who cast their hate at the Gay community. I do not believe in sugar coating and am kinda sorta not a PC type of guy. I hit the haters with both barrels. Yet many times when I have fired at a black person, certain posters pull the race card out, when one can find threads running at the same time where I have called members of other races the exact same thing……..
I realize the black community have faced racism since they first set foot in this country. But it doesn’t further any ones cause by causing divisivness within a community of persons who all face similar issues. How I continualy escribe some of the drama that exists in the Qweirty threads is a circular firing squad kinda defeats the purpose..
Acem
I think people need to realize that the NAACP and GLAAD aren’t half-sisters. So long as the NAACP doesn’t take a stance *against* issues surrounding gay rights, I’m good.
Child Please
Oh trust me, as a person of color, I’ve never felt like part of the gay community.
terrwill
My first flagosm!!!
terrwill
@Child Please: I don’t know where you reside, and things may be different. However I hang out at a few different Gay bars. Club types to the neighborhood “Cheers” type of joint. I also sometimes attend events at local Gay center. The Gay Black men and women are as part of the community as any other group. I am not saying that everyone all sit around and sing kumbaya, but anyone who wants to be is part of the community. If you can I would advise at least checking out a local Gay center….
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
I read the article closely and the Day Editor, J.D (who is maybe not out with his real name) admitted that he was black and gay unlike previous editors: (white) South African Andrew Belonsky, who now runs Gawker with an Afrikaaner fist, Japhy Grant who had a terrible editing time and their boss; David Hauslaib of Syracuse, New York who runs the show and has his own race issue by self-admission with a NYU Professor who was black.) The “Overlords” as the Power Couple describe themselves if you include David’s boyfriend; Trent Vanegas who runs PinkIsTheNewBlog from Detroit, or LA lately as they make money off of racism every time your enraged ass comes back here. How was Hawaii, BTW?
David Hauslaib’s Queerty stoked the racist flames in Hillary Versus Obama (bashing Hillary which caused a mass exodus of lesbians,) then putting every negative article about Obama you could muster including poor Bo, the White House Dog – though President-Elect Barack Obama’s embrace of Reverend Rick Warren, the homophobic pastor made their job ‘manna from heaven’. Then JD came along and there were a lot of hot black men in Morning Goods but, uh-oh, the twink boi-lovers were not clicking so much…. So, now it’s Davey-Wavey and those who like him until your eyeballs pop out! I’m guessing that this message won’t get posted like with a lot of my other queerty-challenging posts until I’m banned for exposing these race-baiting snarky gays for profit which would be a badge of honor!!! I also don’t shy away from any subject: race including reverse racism, AIDS ignorance and internalized homophobia but I’m a confessed political junkie. Note, Queerty did put the kabosh on racially-tense Season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race (who take out advertising) and whatever other corporate advertiser has bought their Overlord Soul!
Day Editor J.D Writes:
‘But it’s also the responsibility of the NAACP to work with gay Americans. Because the NAACP is gay America, the same way gay America is the NAACP. It’s one giant Venn Diagram, folks, and there’s no separation of the two classes. (I know this, because I belong to both categories, but outgoing NAACP chairman Julian Bond really says it best.)’
Hold on, J. D (who is black) wrote:
“I know this, because I belong to both categories.”
I think the Uh-Oh’s (Decade 2000’s) term is called Punk’d!
So in summary because this is some Victor/Victoria shit:
The race-baiting ‘Reverse-Racist’ who is controlled by a self-admitted ‘kinda racist’ (a class-action subpoena could obtain this information and prove me correct) ‘Overlord’ as proudly touted in his Facebook profile who dates outside of his race RUNS THIS SITE! Oh, by the way, it’s an open relationship and the bf is rather someone’s taste, I’m sure!
Keith Boykin should be writing about THIS!
delurker
I read the above post about 3 times and I don’t know what is being said. Lots to unpack there.
Stan
Why is it gay blacks always call out gay whites for racism but not straight blacks for homophobia?
WHY is that?
Why does black homophobia always get blamed on white gays? 70% of black voters were against gay marriage in California and somehow it was turned against the gays and WE were at fault for OUR rights being stripped from us. That seems very calculated to me.
And to black gay posters on here, we see you calling us racist every chance given, but what are you doing to battle homophobia within your own racial communities? Are you as quick to call out your family members as homophobes to their faces, when they depict such a stance, as you are to call white gay men racist every chance you get?
ewe
@Stan: I think it is black evangelical voters you may have a beef with. Perhaps you need to just be a bit more specific when directing your anger toward the real culprits of discrimination.
ewe
@Child Please Is that a fact? Plenty of caucasians feel the same way.
ewe
The NAACP has previously stated that although our experiences may be different the principles remain the same. I don’t get why so many here are attacking the NAACP.
ewe
@James: James: you certainly are not part of any solution.
Tim
Some African Americans not understanding how our fight for equality is a civil rights fight is not all the gay communities fault.
GLBT members were the first to fight against racism in any era you can name with out needing to be rationalized or schooled as to why there is a need to fight racism. Our community thought a reciprical level of support would be all but common sense. To not recognize the similarities between the two struggles is one thing, to be vocally for one and against the other is, well…startling.
The gay community engaging and pondering the why & how of this does not make us racist. Heck, if we didn’t, we’d be chumps who didn’t get anywhere in our quest for full equality.
Where we could use support, and seem to find it difficult to get it, is our gay black brothers and sisters engaging their own blood ties in to this issue instead of sitting back for us to knock on the doors of their sisters, brothers, mothers, and extended family while screaming racist mother f*ckers at us the whole time.
This post by queerty was meant to do that. It had great hope and an uplifting note it both segwayed to and ended on. To recollect posts made by random posters months ago as your justification to why queert and the queer community as a whole is racist and can go skrew ourselves is not only resolving no problems, it’s actually stimulating more.
(editor background: My Korean mother and father made Anne Coulter look like a morally corrupt liberal. That’s how conservative and religious they were, included in that, my brother, sister, sister in law, my whole family. I don’t think they even knew being gay was actually real. I really do think they figured it was a caricture in films. It took 12 years of ‘going there’ …that uncomfortable, awkward, much needed place for them to finally not only come around, but be at my civil ceremony last summer in support. We are in the works to start a support system for other Asians, specifically Korean GLBT members in Northern California who met the same difficult transition and we didn’t wait for white gays to do so. Nor did we call white gays racist nazis for fighting in their own turfs. Being Asian isn’t exactly viewed as a ‘prize’ either by some in the community, but I don’t let those minority hateful voices in the community stop me from working towards what is RIGHT in this world and that is equality for all! If you try hard enough, you can and will find racism and prejudice in every group of society, that shouldn’t negate that group and other members of it from experiencing full equality!)
Sam
I know, right? And after HRC came out and endorsed affirmative action and the elimination of racism in America? The least the NAACP could do would be to officially support same-sex marriage. I mean, it’s not like we’re asking them to do something we haven’t done ourselves!
Does anyone have the link to that HRC statement supporting all the goals of the NAACP? I can’t seem to find it. What’s that? You can’t be… There isn’t one?
Oh. Well this is embarrassing.
Sam
@Tim: You may be overstating white LGBT’s support for civil rights just a tad. The first? In every era?
Also, it’s segue. Segway is that funny thing you ride on. Said with love!
ewe
@Tim:
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2708
delurker
@Stan: “Why is it gay blacks always call out gay whites for racism but not straight blacks for homophobia?’
Why do white gays bristle at the accusations of racism but do nothing to combat it?
Acem
@Stan:
For pete sake, do some updated reading before perching yourself on a makeshift high horse to wag your blame figure at the alleged bigotry of Black peopl,e while spouting off that now very automaton (and bogus) “70% of black voters were against gay marriage in California…” BS. That figured has been refuted for a good while now.
Once the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the real number of Black folks voting in favor of Prop 8 was actually 59%…not too much higher than the White folks who also voted Yes, eh? The biggest difference being that it wasn’t the Black vote that actually got it passed (nor was it put on the ballot in the first place by Black folks.)
I imagine that since Novemer ’08, many a Californian Caucasian who voted in favor of Prop 8 has been getting a nice little chuckle out of seeing the gay community lash out at African Americans because a law passed denying them the ability to marry. I suppose it’s easier for some to point an angry finger at the homophobia of a dark-skinned “Andre” (whose type you don’t see fawned over at gay bars…parades…or in Bel-Ami porn) than it is to reconcile the homophobia of a cute, blond-haired/blue-eyed “Brad,” isn’t it?
reason
I think the main supporters of African American civil rights were the Jews, but that is irrelevant. The situation surrounding the lack of mainstream support in the African American community is a lot more complicated then the average thinker comprehends. A culture of racism that, lets be honest, was alive in well all the way through the Regan years has ingrained a culture of distrust and a dependence on religion. Centuries of systematic cultural and personal destruction has left an unacceptably large section of the African American community in tatters, why wouldn’t some hold on to one of the pillars of stability and upward mobility, religion, in their communities. I think one of the reasons there is not more support is because the destruction that has been mated out has never been reversed or atoned for, people like to believe that African Americans have there rights and everything is honky-Dorey but that couldn’t be further from the truth, the community is very much in need, as the statistics show, and the gay community is currently missing in action. The finger pointing can go both ways. Trying to shoulder all the responsibility on to African American gays or educated and affluent African Americans is a deferment of responsibility and a testament to a character deficit. If the gay community wants to win favor all of us need to be out there telling them why we deserve rights, but further than that the educated among us should be aiding the less fortunate in that community by tutoring youth, volunteering, mentoring, strengthening business ties, and community integration that is how you win hearts in souls not by being a lazy slug and pointing fingers.
Some sections of the gay community are just as bad when it comes to empathy as parts of the African American community. We have both suffered from adversity, some of us learned something from it others maybe don’t have the mental capacity, the will, or guts to learn and apply. I am an empathetic person and try to find the deeper reasons why people may be failing, if you don’t you will never be able to connect. The Jewish community suffered great hardships in this world, but the one thing that remained in tact was culture which is born out of religion, whether practicing or not, its served the community very well. The blacks that went through slavery weren’t so lucky, their culture and self worth was destroyed, after freedom was granted they were put through another century of discrimination and prohibition of quality education while being saddled with other psychological burdens. Twenty years later for some, people are asking a community that has been ravished to pull it self up from its own boot straps on a foundation for many that does not exist. Blacks that come here from overseas, as the statistics show, are much more affluent then their counterparts. Some Americans chose to exculpate themselves from being part of the solutions, “oh its their community they should handle it,” well no if your an American its our community and were responsible for cleaning up the sins of our past and present, black, Jew, white, Asian or other, after all its is enlightened self interest. Are community needs to pull its head out of its as- and work for those votes and full acceptance in the African American community getting us one step closer to full equality. You can call me every name in the book, but honestly that is how I see it, and I won’t be deterred from calling out any person, community, or group of people whether it’s for playing the race cards, being dishonest, lacking empathy, racism, or whatever it may be.
Rich
Some of you all sound so angry at the gay community, it’s a wonder you’re even part of it (and if you don’t consider yourself to be, why exactly are you on queerty again?)
Oh, and what are YOU members of the black and gay community doing to build a bridge between both communities? You keep blowing the whistle at whites not doing enough, what exactly are you doing but sitting on the sidelines and judging caucasian LGBT people? by your own admissions, you’re sitting back watching and laughing at caucasian gays doing the work then ultimately ridiculing them for it not being enough.
It’s funny to me how black gays see nothing wrong with lumping all whites together or all religious people together and going after them, but if someone dares quote factual research and results from their community and states it it’s pure racism. Pure bull is what I say. Everytime the topic of outreach to the black community comes up ALL black gays do is sit back, mouth off, make racist remarks toward whites, followed by homophobic remarks and that’s how you expect to bridge the gap? you think that makes white gays ever want to engage anything with the black community knowing this is how black homosexuals react, much less for how they would be met by black hetrosexuals?
The gay community is not promoting segregation, a percentage of the black community is voting for discrimination, and considering it’s a higher percentage than any other demograhic, it’s inexcusable. Period.
Mark
I think both communities need to come together and find common ground. Perhaps some gay white men have experienced more homophobia in the black community than others, but to harbor ill will toward any group of people won’t help attain a friend. We must recognize those in the black community who have come to our aid and speak on our aspirations and solidify their standing by using them as an example. What I also think we could use from black gays and lesbians is them leading the ground-work by example. For those of them who argue that it’s hard to feel like part of our community, it’s not about community, it’s about you. Your rights being denied in the governments eyes. I’d argue that you’re more effected in the law of the land in 2010 for being gay than you are for being black, and you should never have to choose either or, but witnessing discrimination in either case should make you want to rise up and fight. It’s disheartening hearing a commentator above say because they’ve observed some post they precieved as racist on here, they don’t believe in equal rights for gays. That’s like me saying, well, I’ve been gay bashed twice in my life and both were young black men so now black people shouldn’t be allowed to vote now. It comes off the same militant way of thinking and neither is better.
Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, Raaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, Raaaaaaaaaaaaacist!
Thanks for having the courage to rightly critisize the NAACP. They deserve much harsher critism than this. What a bunch of bigots. Their hypocrisy is disgusting.
The only racism I have seen on this post is a bunch of bullies trying to intimidate white dudes into never critisizing anyone black or they will bully, be hostilie, and harass. Pathetic.
Guess what asshats. Americans in general are really tired of being called racists over the most ridiculous and minor critism. Toughen up bitches, get used to it because it’s going to get more hardcore and if you’re having a nervous breakdown over a post like this you need to smoke a blunt. There should be WAAAAAAAAAY more talk about the NAACP and thier grotesque homophobia. Bigot hypocrites like the NAACP should be critisized in a much harsher manner than this mild blog. Anyone who is against that is a self-loathing racist enemy of gay rights. Go crawl back into the closet.
reason
@Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, Raaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, Raaaaaaaaaaaaacist!: Your a dangerous individual, a divider, and have no place in the gay community. If its a race war you wish to start try stormfront, you will be more at home there. I am curious what specific incident do you hold so much animosity against the NAACP for, and are you even gay?
Taryl
@Rich:
Rich, your post was as littered with jaded, racially-based cynicism towards blacks what you accuse blacks of having towards whites. Because of that, I’m not going to bother going point by point with you over those few little questions you barely asked in amongst the muck, as it is ultimately pointless because all you were doing was trying to condescendingly grandstand. Your own bad attitude is as much a hindrance to gap-bridging and fellowship amongst racial diving lines as anyone else’s — so, really, who are you to sit there and judge/criticize/patronize others for what you’re doing yourself?
Please.
People like you (notice I didn’t say “white people,” do I get bonus points for that?) don’t actually give that much of a damn about how much the black community overall advocates rights for gays. Let’s be real. On the surface, you just don’t want anyone else to add to the general opposition. And when it happens, you have a good ass time using it as a license to levy pent up personal anger you had towards black people in general.
As far as the black community VOTING for discrimination at higher percentage than any other demographic goes…sure, no denying that (although it is greatly exaggerated. The truth is that Whites and Blacks differ on gay support by approximately ten percent.) On the flip side, however, one could say that – statistically – it is white politicians/law-makers and white community/religious leaders who are overwhelmingly the forerunners in coming up with anti-gay propositions and initiatives, and who pump mega-millions into it. Now add on top of that the white voters who voted in favor of discrimination. Seriously, who is the bigger threat? Cumulatively, *who* is the *real* social and political power keeping gays second class citizens in America?
RaymondKevin
My two cents;
1) Julian Bond is one of the most high-profile civil rights leaders to publicly back gay rights issues. The headline almost infers that his presence at the NAACP was blocking the organization from advancing gay issues, which is decidedly not the case.
2) Black women and men in the military are impacted by DADT more than any other racial or ethnic groups, so it is very surprising that the NAACP has not called for DADT to be repealed.
Er.
As a black gay person I don’t understand why everyone here takes the crazy gay black trolls and (bloggers – Jas) so seriously. They don’t speak for all black and there are probably some out there like myself that agree with you.
Qjersey
@James:
in the gay male community, Asian men experience far more racism than black men. The most overt racism black men experience is based on social class in the gay community, e.g., show up at a gay bar looking like a thug, yep you’ll get some flack. Show up looking like the other clones, most won’t really care.
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
Day Editor J.D Writes:
‘But it’s also the responsibility of the NAACP to work with gay Americans. Because the NAACP is gay America, the same way gay America is the NAACP. It’s one giant Venn Diagram, folks, and there’s no separation of the two classes. (I know this, because I belong to both categories, but outgoing NAACP chairman Julian Bond really says it best.)’
Hold on, J. D (who is black) wrote:
“I know this, because I belong to both categories.”
Re-posted portion of Post #23
David Ehrenstein
@Child Please: Oh trust me as a gay person of color it was made clear to me from nanosecond one that the black community doesn’t want me because I’m gay.
delurker
@reason: “I think the main supporters of African American civil rights were the Jews, but that is irrelevant.”
I think the main supporters were African Americans, but it is irrelevant.
delurker
@Qjersey: yay conformity! we’re really a great, accepting community if you look like all the other tools. great message.
Er.
@delurker: belton/
Woah Woah wait I just went back to the post about the hate-crime post people here were mentioning and are you people crazy?
There were 2 or 3 bothersome replies(like calling the killer cute) but where was the “white gay mafia” siding with the killer at? There were more comments complaining about racism that didn’t have a chance to even surface than comments that could be perceived as a slight against the professor.
And isn’t Fitz (the person that questioned the post/proffesser) black?
http://www.queerty.com/was-professor-don-belton-murdered-over-a-rape-or-regrets-over-a-consensual-relationship-20091230/
http://www.queerty.com/tag/don-belton
Er.
@Er.:
More than 2 or 3 actually but my point still stands.
delurker
@Er.: why did the post even beg the question that the victim was a rapist? if it where any other context, it would be derided as a bogus gay panic defense. not here.
I don’t know what Fitz is other than really, really stupid.
Chitown Kev
@Qjersey:
This is pretty much on target, actually.@Stan:
I always call out straight blacks on their homophobia.
Josh AZ
Roslyn Brock Is Taking Over for Julian Bond. Does That Mean the NAACP Will Finally Back Gay Issues?
No. The members of the NAACP are too religious.
Chitown Kev
@Timothy:
Yes.
And of course there are straight black people that traffic in homophobia as well.
And when I say trafficing, I do mean in the sense of drugs. It seems as if racism and homophobia and sexism gives people a high and a feeling of superiority.
As you say, because most of queerty’s posters are (presumably) white, they know the more overt expressions of racism but not the subtle expressions.
And yes, I do make the distinction between racial “ignorance” and overt animus, although some of the subtler expressions of racism that are, in fact, animus, masked as ignorance.
Oh, and not all black people support reparations. Because I don’t, for one.
That’s what my comments on the Belton thread were all about.
Chitown Kev
@Stan:
“are you as quick to call out your family members as homophobes to their faces, when they depict such a stance, as you are to call white gay men racist every chance you get?”
Yep.
Some of my family members I don’t even go around because of their homophobia, even though I’m invited to do so ALL THE TIME.
A now confused John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@dontblamemeivotedforhillary:
Where is Andrew Bolonsky in the staff tagline with Gawker? Can’t see him….
http://gawker.com/
Chitown Kev
http://www.queerty.com/why-does-maryland-rep-emmett-burns-want-to-ban-outside-marriages-because-gay-is-not-the-new-black-20100129/
http://www.queerty.com/same-sex-marriage-advocates-cannot-equate-their-struggle-with-the-african-american-battle-for-civil-rights-or-south-african-movement-to-end-apartheid-they-simply-have-not-earned-it-20100125/
And that’s just 2 examples.
I get attacked all the time by black gays on this blog and others.
Chitown Kev
@Er.:
seconded
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
Lots of issues here:
First, a really really big fuck you to Queerty; once again you besmirch the integrity of a giant in civil rights movements, Julian Bond. During his testimony in New Jersey in support of marriage equality, Bond stated the following: “…Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity, and their personhood. ..Black people, of all people, should not oppose equality. And that is what gay marriage represents. It does not matter the rationale – religious, cultural, pseudo-scientific. No people of goodwill should oppose marriage equality. And they should not think that civil unions are a substitute. At best, civil unions are separate but equal. And we all know separate is never equal….”
Second, before attacking the NAACP, did you look into the mirror about gay support of NAACP issues? The gay community involves itself with issues important to the LGBT community. Without any support from any outside source, the gay community rallied to focus funding, treatment and prevention programs for HIV/AIDS. Spending levels of $$$:HIV/AIDS patients is higher than any other medical program. The NAACP is rightly concerned about the diminishing funding for sickle-cell anemia and the much higher levels of heart disease and diabetes among black America than white America.
Third, gay America comes out fighting for our civil rights. There were riots when Dan White, essentially, got off for the murder of Harvey Milk, riots when Pete Wilson vetoed AB101 (employment discrimination protections). There were protests nationwide over the Matthew Shepherd murder, hundreds of thousands attended the march on Washington and the Names Project quilt. Yet, when black kids are bashed and killed, when black communities receive less taxpayer funding, per capita, for schools and health care, when blacks are denied equal protection in employment and equal opportunity for advancement, when colleges/universities use racially biased testing, when banks discriminate on housing and credit card lending, and many many many more instances of discrimination, gay America does not join the fight. Surely most of us condemn such action, but we do not participate and help black America overcome the continued discrimination they face.
Basically, we drive gay issues among ourselves while black America drives the issues of importance to them.
Fourth, it is silly to expect the NAACP to back-burner, say the discriminatory law enforcement/sentencing of black Americans compared to white Americans in favor of marriage-equality just as it would be silly for HRC to back-burner marriage-equality in favor of efforts to achieve equal enforcement/sentencing of crimes irrespective of a defendant’s race.
Fifth, white gay America fails to apply that which we complain about straight America to ourselves in reference to black gay America. We loudly complain when straight America chides us that “we are pushing our gayness so publicly” without taking into account that straight America is always talking about their husband/wife, their kids, their family, and handholding and other displays of public affection. Very ignorantly, white gays fail to understand that black gays has race issues to deal with that we do not. Similarly, gay America fails to take into account that lesbians have additional issues relating to women’s issues.
+++++++++++++++++
The gay community has many real rabid enemies from NOM, Focus on the Family, the Catholic Cult and Moron Church and Bigot Baptists to the politico hacks and pundits who make their income/power-base bashing us. The NAACP is not our enemy; and many an NAACP leader, most specifically Julian Bond, continue to voice loud public support. Gay America should be wishing Roslyn Brock much success in pushing forward those issues of import to the NAACP.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
I should have noted that Julian Bond was citing “[his] my dear friend” Coretta Scott King: “Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity, and their personhood.”
Bond was making the point that he is not the only leading figure within the black civil rights movement to loudly and unequivocally support gay rights and marriage-equality.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
@Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, Raaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, Raaaaaaaaaaaaacist!: You are a turd. Oh, wait, sorry, turds have an important, although yucky, purpose. You don’t, asshole. Opps, did it again, assholes are important too. Okay, got it, you are a racist ignoramus.
1EqualityUSA
Any communities who are victims of oppression heightens the danger for all. Funneling whole segments of Americans into the political machine is too tempting. Politics is corrupt. Equality should not be held out of reach, as it forces communities to vote in a less free way. To be beholden to any political party for equality is an infringement on the votes of those oppressed. No vote should be motivated by oppression. Pain must be acknowledged, but to lick our wounds for generations is self-indulgent. Wallowing in pain paralyzes us and widens the target. Let’s brush ourselves off and say, “No more.” I believe we are transitioning to the next level. Every person has a gift and never before has this been more apparent.
1EqualityUSA
Mike in Asheville, nee “in Brooklyn”, Oppression and racism does exist. I’ve seen it with friends who were trying to buy a house in Fresno. The lenders were making it abundantly clear to this couple that they weren’t welcome in that neighborhood. What the lenders didn’t know is that nurses band together. What the lenders didn’t know is that, for every time they would up the ante, making it impossible to financially meet the needs to seal the deal, nurse-friends would put up the cash and trump them. They got their house. It was a painful thing to watch. I think the way around oppression is banding together. Strength in numbers has never been more true. I do believe we are in transition and getting to a better place.
Lukas P.
The real world versus the pretend one: It’s nice, comforting, and easy to presume that another recipient of discrimination will stand up for me when I’m discriminated against.
It’s also naive and illogical to believe that.
Should I assume as a sure thing or a given that my Hispanic/Latina neighbor who’s Catholic will actively support my right to marry a man? Should I automatically count on my Jewish friend to understand why I believe DADT should be repealed? Would I be right to think my colleague who got physically, sexually and mentally abused by her ex-husband would lobby for shelters for men being battered by their boyfriend?
The answer is three times NO.
That means I have work to do to relate my position to those people: why I believe in my “causes” and why I support those causes.
From experience — not idealism — I’ve learned that I don’t have much credibility with those people until I can match my words of understanding and empathy with actions by helping them fight against the injustices they face. I’ve also figured out that UNTIL and unless I get off my sorry ass and do something that matters to their cause can I ask them to lend a hand, a voice and a face to the things I’m hoping and working for.
Even then, their support isn’t guaranteed, let’s be honest, but I’d rather bet on a “maybe” than on a “no f’ing way” vote of confidence. Sure it’s a lot of work, and sometimes a stretch, but it will possibly, in fact often, yield positive results.
I can’t speak for other people, but the allies I’ve gained by supporting other folks’ protests/petitions/missions matters, probably wouldn’t have helped me out if I hadn’t expressed interest and understanding — and spent time –with them.
I’d welcome the help of the NAACP and Ms Brock in the overturn of DOMA and DADT and bans on same-sex marriage. But I won’t naively presume she’ll automatically and unquestionably see things “my” way.
That’s reality.
1EqualityUSA
How many dollars are given to the NAACP from church going folk? Follow the money. If 75 percent of NAACP donations come from those who find marriage equality loathsome, chances are, the leadership will take this into consideration before endorsing equality. Just as the HRC is shriveling up before our twitching eyes, the NAACP will become anemic, for those of us seeking equality will tire of sending dollars. I have lost faith in these groups. Ted Olson and David Boise described how politicians will vote against their conscience, while waiting for the courts to sort out injustice. Our case is airtight, so the only justice to be had will come from legal pools, not groups of humans. The real world versus the pretend one. Once it is legally solidified, minds of ordinary people will follow, though it may take another four decades. Another group will be targeted, as is always the case. Let’s do our best to support them after we’ve found our place in the sun. Many support us, Lukas P. Soon the majority will. My motive for helping others is not contingent upon reciprocation. The right thing to do smells, feels, and behaves like the right thing to do.
Mike K
Maybe you should get off your lazy ass and become a part of the gay community. I keep hearing about all this racism but I have yet to hear of one instance where anyone was refused participation due to their race. The giant chip on your shoulder becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Also sometimes people don’t like you simply because your an asshole and it has nothing to do with your race.
Mike K
Mike in Ashville:
“Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement,” she said. “Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions.”
Coretta Scott King
Apparently Mrs. King disagrees with you. Tell me again about all this racism? About how gays are only concerned with themselves? Do your homework!
Mike K
Lukas: Your willingness to suck up, (reach out), to others in order to obtain your civil rights assumes that your OK with having your civil rights voted on. Sorry I’m not. Who gives a crap what the NAACP thinks? I don’t need the approval of others to live my damned life. I deserve my constitutional rights because I’m an American not because I went door to door begging for them. Grow a spine and tell them you’ll see them in court!!!
James
I don’t understand the white gay community’s logic? Why do the editors of Queerty have this sense of entitlement that they AUTOMATICALLY think black straight people are going to support white queers? Give me a break! The NAACP is concerned about the black struggle NOT the white gay struggle. Black gay activists are working hard to work with the NAACP. Of course, there are problems with homophobia in the private sphere of black society nobody is disputing this. However, I remember a few months ago the editors at Queerty supported a white gay marine accused of killing a gay black man. I sincerely hope the NAACP DOES NOT SUPPORT the white gay community in their gay marriage struggle. FYI WHITE QUEERS, black straight people are OUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND WE TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE RACISM WE EXPERIENCE FROM YOU RACIST WHITE GAY MOTHERFUCKERS! SO, IF YOU WHITE MOTHERFUCKERS THINK YOU WILL GET SUPPORT FROM BLACK PEOPLE FORGET IT! WE DON’T NEED YOU!
delurker
@Mike K: White privilege is fun!
James
Did the white gay community care when Michael Sandy was murdered in 2006 by white males in New York City? Nope because you hypocritical white motherfuckers showed your true colours! Why the fuck should black people gay or straight support your struggle? Give me a fucking break!
Mike K
delurker People can only do to you what you allow them to.
1EqualityUSA
For the Church: To love unconditionally seems to be an impossibility. Unless we will it to happen. Can love even push through the cracks? Worldly politics choke the spirit. True Christians know that to bow before politicians is forsaking The Father. To suggest that our community needs to do just that, in order to be legally recognized in our own country is not only demeaning, but illegal. Those who were born this way know that harm comes to those who put all of their eggs in a political basket. The TDSRYT places us at the mercy of other people, with other motives. Like seaweed swaying slowly, the gay community gets pulled into a political machine. The end product cannot be a good one. True Christians would recognize the danger. The freedom of religion relies upon the concept of freedom. Any power that tugs on one’s freedoms sets the stage for future tugging. Only, in the future, the Church may be the ones in danger. Better to love unconditionally and set the stage for winning more hearts, because politics is a dead end. Humans with eyes to see and ears to hear, a spiritual sense, will be more impressed by a Church who sees danger to its own. Oppression is flawed wisdom. Oppression needs to be seen as impending doom to the Gospel, not a means to get needs met in political spheres. The ideal is always there. Martin Luther King said for us to keep our eyes on the prize. Wallowing in politics and making back room deals with Senators, in order to oppress other Americans, is not keeping ones eyes on the prize. Where the Church will stand convicted is that they taught the Word in a hateful way.
“Pascal said there were two things that frightened him. One was his own heart; the other, the silence of the eternal spheres. Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, held that the two things that awed him were the moral law within his breast and the starry firmament above. There has always been a tendency in literature to put these two together, and with certain justice, for only a Power great enough to control the heavens could ever solace the individual heart.”—Fulton Sheen
True Christians know the value of freedom.
Read more: http://www.queerty.com/what-made-germany-ban-all-these-reggae-albums-oh-just-their-anti-gay-hatred-anthems-20100228/comment-page-1/#comment-275418#ixzz0gwVazAhX
Chitown Kev
Mike in Ashville provides an excellent analysis of what some of the NAACP’s priorities are at the present time.
And yes, there’s the factor of the old church farts.
There’s also a few posters here that note the lack of luster that the NAACP actually has in the black community. That’s for the most part true, but that has almost always been true.
Other than the period 1940’s up through the 1950’s, the NAACP has always been a “topdown” organization in the style of HRC, as opposed to a grassroots organization (the SCLC came in and filled that gap in the South and to an extent the Black Muslims filled in that gap in the North).
And that goes as far back as when WEB Dubois ran the organization and touted the “Talented Tenth” philosophy.
In that respect of how it’s run, the NAACP hasn’t changed all that much; the organization is a magnet for the bourgies and is treated with suspicion by those blacks that are not middle class
And there’s nothing new about that at all. You can go back and look at some of the comments of the Rev. C.L. Franklin (yes, Arethea’s father) who thought that the NAACP was a bunch of Uncle Tom’s or you can reference some of the comments of Albert Cleage.
And remember that the NAACP and the SCLC were in constant turf wars during the civil rights movement.
Now with young leadership like Jealous and Brock, and with Jealous’ skills at community organizing, perhaps he can build back up a grassroots network among young black people, but that won’t be easy.
Remember, the old black guard (old farts that they can be) wasn’t too happy about Barack Obama initially.
Josh AZ
The member of the NAACP and their Board Members are more religious than the rest of the population. That’s all that’s going on here. They don’t support LGBT Equality because the majority of them believe homosexuality is wrong, sinful and deviant. Just like our Congress they are infected with ancient, fairy-tale thinking.
Two-thirds of people over the age of 50 continue to believe “homosexuality is wrong.” It’s too late for them to change the beliefs that were forced into there heads a long, long time ago. They believe they got those beliefs from God. Of course, they simply got them from their parents that were previously infected by their parents.
Kurt
“That Mean the NAACP Will Finally Back Gay Issues?”
I dunno. Any chance Queerty and the Gay Movement will start giving a damn about African-American issues?
1EqualityUSA
Christ never said a word about gays, so they didn’t get it from Him. Humans alter words to fit there needs and then accuse the oppressed of doing just this. Parents just never questioned the stance. We were born this way and to live any other reality would be a lie. Who would ask another to lie? Certainly not Jesus.
Sam
@Mike K: So that explains sentencing disparity between black and white offenders? The black guys just “let” the courts give them harsher sentences than white guys for the same crimes? Or the school to prison pipeline, where police officers are posted INSIDE minority high schools so that they can make arrests while white high schools have school security that just give detentions? The students “let” the cops in?
The most racist institution in America right now is the Prison-Industrial complex and it’s got the power of guns, prisons and the courts behind it. And it’s not rapists and murderers. It’s the fact that black teenagers are FAR more likely to be prosecuted for possession when caught with drugs, while white teenagers get let off with a slap on the wrist. If the black kid is convicted, he’s not eligible for financial aid for college, which is prohibited for those with drug convictions. So a black kid and a white kid both buy a dime bag, but one gets away with it and the other has his life ruined. And you think it’s because the black kid just “lets” it happen? Do you live in the real world?
Sam
@1EqualityUSA: Exactly. Jesus DID say that it’s easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. And nothing about gays. Yet we have these rich country club “Christians” telling US that WE’RE going to hell?
They should actually read those Bibles they’re beating us with.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
@No. 68 Mike K
Well I tried to Google the quote you provided from Coretta Scott King and there were no results, and so there is no reference.
Nonetheless, Mrs. King, a true American heroine, had to be referring to individual gays and lesbians who joined in to support racial civil rights. The efforts in Montgomery, for example, were in 1955-56; long before there were any gay and/or lesbian civil rights organization other than the Mattachine Society (founded in California 1950/51). There was no Mattachine Society presence in Montgomery, nor any other black civil rights march that I could find.
My post said nothing that gay/lesbians should not be supporting black civil rights nor that black Americans should not support gay rights. The point of my post was that important individuals indeed have supported gay rights issues including full marriage equality, and I included Julian Bond and Coretta Scott King as fine examples.
My point was that the gay community has no business telling the NAACP how to do their mission, supporting the advancement of black America. That is no way, shape or form, means that gays should not support civil rights irrespective of race and it does not mean that blacks should not support civil rights irrespective of sexual orientation.
Racism exists throughout American society including the gay community. My first experience at a bath house was at the Steamworks, Berkeley, in 1978; I was 18. The first man who engaged my attention was black; great smile, nice body, and fun chemistry. We were in the maze area, and no sooner were we kissing when a very attractive white man with a very hot muscular body, grabbed me by the arm, and in a condescending judgmental voice, said “You don’t want to touch that!” I broke away from him, and responded, “Oh yes I do; I thought you wanted to join us! Fuck off.” The black man, Carl, and I shared many a fun night together, including introducing me to his cousin Vincent, a blacktino (first time I had heard the term).
Josh AZ
@1EqualityUSA: Too bad for many radical Christians that Jesus didn’t have the presence of mind to CANCEL the Old Testament. THAT would have been helpful.
1EqualityUSA
Sam, Who better to offer a hand out of poverty than one who has tasted it? Who better to offer a hand out of discrimination than one who experienced it? I contend that oppressed communities need to band together in order to overcome waves. Human nature has us feel nothing, as long as the ground beneath stays solid. Eroding the safety of freedom, erodes the ground beneath all, including the religious minded. Unconditional love is impossible to sell, it needs to be lived. That is the only way it’s trueness may be measured. The Church ought to know this. It’s scary that they don’t and it makes the Church, the leaders of the Church, appear less true. If you have a few thousand lying around in a bank account, collecting dust, put someone through school. Do without toys to do so. Oppressed communities pool your money and put a worthy member of your neighborhood through school. The recipient of that generosity needs to then reach back, reach back for the vulnerable. Enough generations have passed. Unconditionally given love will win more hearts than drumming up anti-anyone sentiment. Oppression is a tired, old nag. We are better than generations past because we have the freedom to speak about our issues in a most public way. Anyone who threatens this freedom, threatens all. A barn raising is in order. Politics is corrupt, so to hold sermons in congress is throwing pearls to a system of ulterior motive. Love is better than that. Love is a better teacher, a better president, a better Christian. What bitter fruit oppression is.
1EqualityUSA
Josh AZ, He canceled it with His Person, only one who hasn’t read would believe otherwise.
ousslander
if you applied the same logic that Queerty applied about the Cheney’s support for the repeal of dadt then it should be applied to NAACP, who gave an image award to gave an ward to Van Jones. so by those standards the NAACP and those that accept it’s support also approve of the 9/11 truthers who believe that Pres. Bush arranged the terrorist attack. also that capitalism is evil and racist.
Applying such logic to the cheney’s or thE NAACp is ridiculous.
AV
I look forward to the day when L&G orgs will “finally back [poor, people of color and women] issues.”
Ben
The attitude you have in this post is pretty good evidence as to why people of color haven’t yet thrown in their lot with The Gays.
“Gay Americans should reach out to people of color.”
You imply with this message that there is no such thing as a gay person of color… as if gay communities of color don’t already exist, as if gay people of color haven’t already been trying to make inroads into a completely white-dominated “gay world” for years now.
One of the biggest problems with the LGBT activist community is that, for the most part, it is dominated by middle-class white gay men who are largely blind to their own privilege as such.
I’m not saying I condone civil rights organizations for their ambivalence on gay rights issues. But clearly there is responsibility for the situation on all sides. The very assumption that “gay Americans” and “people of color” are mutually exclusive groups is evidence itself of how white-centric the LGBT movement currently is.
1EqualityUSA
#85 Ben wrote, “One of the biggest problems with the LGBT activist community is that, for the most part, it is dominated by middle-class white gay men who are largely blind to their own privilege as such.”
It is precisely this that gives GLBT the audacity to strive for equality against a fifty foot wave of discrimination and Church-led accusation. It’s one of those realities that are difficult to wrap one’s mind around until much distance has been placed between. Looking back, gay communities of the future will be saying, “woof. This community spoke when it wasn’t safe to speak.” It will be viewed in the same light as Eleanor Roosevelt’s night ride through bigotry, resolved in the notion that freedom is worth risking one’s life. Fate would have her live a long life. Our gift, she.
Chitown Kev
@1EqualityUSA:
“It is precisely this that gives GLBT the audacity to strive for equality against a fifty foot wave of discrimination and Church-led accusation.”
I think there’s a lot of truth to that statement.
But there are positive ways and not so positive ways to use that white privilege. though.
Chitown Kev
@Chitown Kev:
For example, that white privilege could be used to highlight the structural and systemic racism that hurts black gay men along with homophobia.
It’s not as if it’s a matter of being one thing (racism) or another (homophobia).
Even white lesbians have figured that part out (in that case, you could discuss pay inequities between men and women).
1EqualityUSA
People underestimate the damage that inequality does. It takes years, generations to overcome being thought of as lesser than. Wallowing is self-indulgent, however, pain must be acknowledged before healing can even begin. Scars may fade, but they never disappear. That’s why we as a community must choose our words carefully and use just the right amount of power to attain equality. Allowing anger to choose our words will only serve to convict us. We have a legitimate request, made no more legitimate by harsh, ugly words.
1EqualityUSA
Chitown Kev, It’s time for you to do the inviting. Plan your reunion in a pleasant, neutral space. You’ve likely grown up since you made that decision to avoid family members. If they are inviting you to meet with them, it sounds as though they love you. Sometimes sunlight filtering in illuminates dust, but dust or not, they do seem to love you. Filtering in. Family connections are different from non-family relationships. The light can be brighter. Love conquers all.
Chitown Kev
@1EqualityUSA:
Not after the things that my cousin (whom I love like a brother) said to me when I went to his house the first time. (and this was 2 1/2 years or so ago).
And I attempted to talk to him over the phone, it turned out even worse.
It’s not all homophobia with him, by the way, a lot of people in the family feels that he’s an asshole.
Some of my family is actuallt pretty cool, and I talk with them all the time. But a few are some extremely virulent homophobes as well.
1EqualityUSA
We take time to come out and it is at a pace that suits us psychologically, so others need to be given time to come out of their fear as well. What a shock it must be to have someone reveal a secret. What a hurt to know that it was kept from them. Confusion and anger sometimes ruins the experience. If a person was immediately accepting and without any regard for the past, that would be weird. Embracing the “new you” with nary a question, that would be suspect. Our lives shape their views. Even that can cause resentment. Confusion is not comfortable. Being different is more of a lesson for those who encounter us, rather than the other way. People don’t often say the best things when they are confused. The guilt of such an unpleasant encounter would be enough to build a wall around it. Supplementing rationale, anger is a solid mortar. Rejection is a brick in the heart. To give in to this is to say that their feelings about us are justified. A death bed is not the place to finally speak. We were born this way and if anyone is uncomfortable about it, it is their issue. It is their lesson. Ours is to remain true to ourselves and refuse to lie when many are telling us that it is for the betterment of society. Ours is to extend an olive branch, even to those who have said words that continue to drift around in our memory banks like fish. We took time to reconcile ourselves, it is only fair that family and friends have an opportunity to grow. Frustration is believing we are deserving of any of this. Lessons have to be learned somehow. If we can’t connect with our own families, how can we connect to the world. Being different is difficult, but doable. The lesson is theirs.
Chitown Kev
@1EqualityUSA:
I’ve been out since I was 16 years old and I’m over 40 now. My cousin was actually more supportive than other members of my family at that point (and this was back in the mid-80’s).
Tha’s no longer true.
Lukas P.
@1EqualityUSA: My post wasn’t too clear. I support issues that don’t affect me personally because it’s the right thing to do. That’s how I was raised. My mom can smell injustice 10 km away! I’m not as attuned as she is, but I try to speak out when I see something that I see as wrong. I’m also aware that I do often fail to see sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia etc. uness it’s blatant. That’s part of the “white male privilege” thing.
As far as the NAACP goes, it would be wonderful to have them as an ally on LGBT issues, but I don’t think that we can assume they will automatically become more vocal about “us” just because the leadership is changing to a younger generation.
I see the issue of the Black churches has been raised here, and I’d hate for us to forget that not ALL churches preach “against us.” Many do, but I don’t think we can label that just as a “Black church thing” because many of the Latino/Hispanic catholic/evangelical churches and Asian parishes and “white” churches sing off similar pages.
Time for a late dinner. Back later or tomorrow to read the rest of the thread.
1EqualityUSA
Chitown Kev, I’m glad for that. (Post #56 lead to these thoughts of family.) Lukas P., Any churches involved in politics are chasing after the wind and feeding on it. Imploring Senators is futility. I question the motive of any church leader who would not recognize this. Faith in the Word is sufficient, if it is taught in a way that sets it apart from fairy tales. Faith in the Word is sufficient if it transforms hearts. Faith in the Word is enough to sustain a flock and justify unconditional love. Not all churches preach against us and some make money by stirring up fear and hatred. Some approach us with prejudices that they believe are confirmed and upheld in Scripture. Some love unconditionally. Where love is, God is, all else is suspect. Behavior is the Fruit of the Spirit. Healthy spiritual soil produces abundant fruit. A healthy spirit produces sweet fruit Pitting the flock and any others who will listen against those born differently does not resemble the Fruit of the Spirit? Turning off whole communities is negligent. Where’s the skill? Where’s the Wisdom? Where’s the cry in the wilderness? It’s not in politics. It doesn’t belong there.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
@No. 68 Mike K
Okay, I found the Coretta Scott King quote. It was part of a speech she gave at the 25th Anniversary fundraiser for Lamda Legal Defense Fund.
AND YOU DID LIFT THE QUOTE OUT OF CONTEXT.
Mrs. King was chastising black civil rights leaders/organizations that have not taken up gay rights causes as part of the civil rights cause.
“I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice… But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’ … I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.” — Coretta Scott King.
So, Mrs. King agrees with ME and not with you.
1EqualityUSA
Mike in Asheville, nee “in Brooklyn”, Thanks for this last post.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
@No.97 1EqualityUSA
Thank you.
I despise racism equally as I despise homophobia. A few years ago, my husband and I lived across from MacArthur Park, downtown LA. The park hosts many minorities, particularly Hispanic and black Angeleans. While walking my dog one day, I was accosted by a white woman who came running up to me shouting, “A man, thank Jesus, a white man.” I did not respond mostly as I was working to keep my shepherd mix from attacking. Repeated she said things such as “All these fucking Spics and nig..s” “Finally a white man”. She ceased including “Spics” in her tirade but kept up her diatribe about all the “n”s.
Typically I am not the confrontational type but as she went on and on, I just couldn’t take it anymore.
“Well that’s too bad for you lady. In my experience, black men are great kissers, have really big cocks, and love loving me!” I taunted.
“Fucking faggot!” she answered.
“Fucking right, bitch.”
Then I used my husband’s and my safety word with our dog. “Alert, Coco” The dog growled and and sneered; and off we went.
+++++++++++
Of course there is homophobia in the black community just like there is racism in the gay community. Being aware and working to end both is a good goal.
1EqualityUSA
Aren’t words powerful? All these years later and you are recounting this story as though it happened yesterday.