As rank-and-file members of the NAACP gather in Houston for the group’s national convention, it’s clear the nation’s oldest black civil-rights group isn’t of one mind about LGBT equality. Since NAACP leadership approved a historic resolution supporting same-sex marriage on May 19, several chapter heads—as well as national board member Rev. Keith Ratliff—resigned over the issue. Ratliff told the gay community to “stop hijacking the civil-rights movement.”
Sorry ’bout that. Our bad!
Sadly sentiments against the resolution have only become stronger in Houston: “I’ve got gay people in my congregation, but I would not marry them,” The Reverend James Nash, pastor of St. Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church, told Reuters. “That’s not the will of God, but who am I to tell them what lifestyle choices they can make?” Yet another man of God, Reverend Elston McCowan of St. Louis, said both his chapter and his congregation had a “mixed reaction” to the resolution.
It’s obvious a lot of the grumbling on the NAACP’s stance is coming from clergymen: the black church’s historical involvement in the civil-rights movement has muddied the waters in what should be a secular issue. No one is telling Reverends Nash, McCowan or Ratliff they have to let a gay couple jump the broom in their chapel. Just like no one is currently forcing them to marry anyone they don’t want to, for whatever reason.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
As national board member Anita Russell says, “We’re not asking them to change their beliefs. It’s not a moral or a religious issue.”
Fortunately, the black community and the LGBT community are simpatico on at least one topic: Our complete disgust at Mitt Romney.
evanb
OK, “Rev.” Ratliff and associated NAACP buffoons, if you don’t think gay and lesbian Americans have a place in the civil rights movement, then you clearly don’t need our support when the Republican Congress, conservative state legislators, and the Supreme Court take up affirmative action and voter rights. You seem to have forgotten what being in the back of the bus feels like; those of us who are still back there will welcome your company once your fellow-travelling rightwing nutjobs are done undoing your rights, too.
Tired
Yes from The CAAP not the NAACP. The NAACP and the majority of their members support marriage equality.
@evanb: Just beacsue a few disagree with the majority then of course the WHOLE organization must be made up of buffoons, even the ones who support marriage equality..
Mighty
Evanb epic win!
Diesel69
Remember BLACKS—The Martin Luther Speech on freedom–I will survive–WAS WRITTEN BY A GAY MAN—SO YOUR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IS THANKS TO THE GAYS——SO DONT THROUGH US TO THE BACK OF THE BUS NOW——-CAUSE YOUR LIBERTY COULD CHANGE AT ANYTIME AND THIS TIME WE MIGHT NOT BE THEIR FOR YOU——-
Pedro
@Diesel69: If you’re going to blast the caps at least spell-check dude!
Aquarelle
@Pedro: Gosh, you must be so manly — you use the word “dude.”
evanb
@Tired: Please read the post carefully before lashing out; I wrote “and associated NAACP buffoons” referring to those NAACPers who side with the Rev Stupidhead, not the whole organization. (Although if “the majority of members” of NAACP support marriage equality, where were they during the Prop 8 fight, trying to talk down the black churches that locked arms with the Mormons to oppose marriage equality? A nice resolution years later won’t erase my memory.
Colin
The blacks again. What else could be expected of these people?
Colin
@evanb: @evanb: Exactly.
Meowzer
@evanb:
I couldn’t agree more.
I’ve always been of the mind that every black person and every woman should be on the side of LGBT rights. It wasn’t long ago they were struggling for theirs and should remember from where they came.
When one minority is trampled, it’s a slippery slope until others begin to lose their footing too.
hassia
@evanb, Just a thought.
Want to see an example of how racism and queerphobia work in conjunction? When Uganda enacts anti-queer legislation, we say: “Why are black people so homophobic?” When the Ukraine enacts anti-queer legislation, we don’t say: “Why are white people so homophobic?” We treat the Ukraine as an individual nation. We the the Ukrainian people as individuals. We blame the homophobia on the repressive government, rather than an entire race of people. The very OPPOSITE of what we do in the case of Uganda.
Furthermore following you logic, the CPAC convention held every year reaffirms the belief that all white people are homophobic!!!
hassia
@Meowzer · Member. …..should remember from where they came? I guess that sums it up rigt there.
MJ (different from the other one)
As a Black person I remember where I came from. they made sure I learned every year so I will not forget. all I can say is that thankfully most Black people, (or at least the many that I’m around) don’t share the Reverends’ sentiment, or else I would have a lot more white friends than I do Black, and I would not be in Virginia AT ALL. and @hassia: brings up a good point there. Just sayin’.
ChrisC
Apparently Keith Ratliff isn’t even aware of what a Civil Rights issue is. Marriage gives liberties and rights. When someone is denied them, an issue arises. Therefore, a Civil Rights issue. What a tool
Selrah
@hassia: Your comment is brilliant.
I will just say this: African Americans are very religious. They have the same problems as very religious White Americans.
Charli
I live in Houston. There’s white AND black backwoods bafoons of every kind here! But again theyre in every state! I’ve been to every state in the U.S. and I educate every single idiot I cross paths with. One by one, and boy am I tired!!!!!
James
Black people don’t owe gay people shit.
Misty
Enough with “the blacks” comments. Homophobia exists in all ethnic groups, and if we want to put it on any race more than another, it should be white conservatives. I’m getting sick of these racist comments.
Tel
@Colin: How is a comment like this helpful? Also, if its ok for you to be racist, why can’t the NAACP be homophobic? Aside from being offensive, it seems contradictory. We can’t expect tolerance if we don’t have it.
PTBoat
Civil rights do not belong to one minority. They belong to us all.
Tired
@evanb: I understand what you are trying to say man but to your point about Prop 8 please name me one out spoken gay group that marched on Salma or were a part of the Freedom Riders? There are LGBT allies in the black community but some how if ALL black people are not for LGBT rights then to hell with ALL Black people and that’s a shame.
Tired
@hassia: Speak on it… Very well said
Charli
@James:
Aaaaaaand white people don’t owe you jack!!!
UsualPlayers
Your article is poorly written.
KARUADAM
For as long as the bloody “Christian white republican” are in the USA there is NO! hope.
YES! Christianity is a mental ill ness.
Janus
@James :
We’re not saying African Americans owe us anything, just that it’s kinda hypocritical that, in the past, African Americans marched for civil rights, and yet today, many of them are against another minority gaining the same rights they protested decades for. Can anyone say “two-faced”?
Janus
@KARUADAM: I am a Christian, and I am a 16 year old Caucasian male, and my mental health is obviously better than yours if you are willing to blame a entire religion and race for the actions/words of a group of misguided zealots and small-minded bigots. As for my religion’s stance on homosexuality, most Christians follow the teachings of the Bible; however, I know better than to believe everything I read, especially when said reading material is thousands of years old and has been translated an uncountable number of times, so it’s most likely riddled with mistakes. Let’s not forget the fact that many other religious groups seem to enjoy rewriting it entirely, the Mormons being a case in point.
Selrah
@Janus: “many of them are against another minority gaining the same rights they protested decades for.”
They were not the SAME rights. Civil rights? Yes. Same rights? No.
Alex
Stop hijacking the civil rights movement? The civil rights movement is borrowed. It didn’t start with them they do not own it. It is an idea that has existed throughout time.
Tackle
@hassia: Excellent comment. What you wrote about, I see on Queerty often.
Mark
@James: Agreed.
And I find the assumption that black people must be on the “side” of gays during their plight to be condescending and borderline ra-cist. You’re basically saying “how dare YOU have the audacity to oppose ME?!” Black people don’t owe gay people their understanding or support, nor do you get to tell me what to think or how to feel. It’s great when black folks are willing to give their support, but no one is owed shit. Blacks and gays are not allies or ‘brothers’ in the journey to Utopia, or in overthrowing ‘the man.’ But let’s be real, as much as some would like to *pretend* that both communities should understand each other, that’s not what this is actually about. The truth is that the gay community couldn’t care less about black people, or what they think, they just don’t want anyone else to add to the naysays.
The black community accounts for like 12-14% of the US population and holds next to no political power in this country. We’re not the ones who create anti-gay policies and propositions to keep gays from being able to marry…and we don’t raise tens of millions of dollars to promote them, so it’s laughable when gay white men get on here and bellyache about black people being the ones oppressing them, when it’s actually their own families, neighbors, religious leaders, bosses, etc., etc. who’re doing the real gunning for them. If the gay community were being supported enough by whites and others, then black homophobia wouldn’t be a hinderance at all. They’d be able to step right over it and move on. But I guess facing the reality that it’s their own who don’t like them is a little too painful, so instead they focus their attention at black people having the nerve to also oppose.
DTG
I seriously encourage Queerty to look up Colin’s IP address and to ban it so that he and his 20 other personalities will have to find somewhere else to troll to fill the emptiness of his empty, meaningless life.
Colin
@DTG: LOL. Truth hurts, I know.
DTG
LOL! Colin, trolls like you spend entirely too much time masturbating instead of having real sex. That’s why you’re so plugged up, frustrated and bitter. People who’re actually getting touched by a hand that isn’t their own don’t have time to build a reputations for themselves as an internet troll. Heh. No one ever looks in your direction and your phone doesn’t ring. All you have is attention seeking on Queerty in between rubbing yourself raw. I’d be maladjusted too if I were you, thank God I’m not! 😀
Justinrotnluk
So I guess They’re not James Baldwin fans?
James
@Charli: I never said whites owe black people anything,because they don’t.
James
@Colin: LOL…that’s already the case.
Colin
@DTG: LOL. Did you think of all that yourself? Someone has way too much time on their hands…
KARUADAM
Janus, what ever you believe, or not I do feel sorry for you mental condition, but stop belive in everything you think it will help you much mor.
Charli
@James:
Ok then my apologies. Don’t you think that AA should at the very least have empathy for another’s fight for equality? We all know that if one group of people are oppressed then we ALL are!!!
I agree that my race ” WERE” the dumbest freaking racist S.O.B’s in the world back in the day of the Civil Rights movement but I was no where around then.And if I were.. I for one would have been on the RIGHT side of history!!!!! It’s a fact that NOM had a plan to put a wedge between the LGBT and AA communities to help them. But it backfired! And that is why the NAACP has endorsed us. NOM tried to use the AA as a pawn!!! Again… they are going down with the ship!!! And the world will be a better ( more loving and tolerable place) for ALL!!! So my opinion is that we should ALL stick together and fight this fight and break the chains of every kind of prejudice.
Do you agree?
Remy
@Colin: I actually had a conversation yesterday with a black coworker. We work in a CHRISTIAN business that serves the underserved populations in a major urban area. She does NOT get why people are against gay marriage and is very much for it, as are most of the people there. Don’t lump all people together simply because they produce more melanin than you do (which is really one of the VERY FEW genetic differences between white and black people).
As a white gay male, I LIKE being around black people and I REFUSE to stop hanging around with them because of a few nutjobs.
Halston
@Mark: You said a mouthful and then some! Thank you!
LittIe,Kiwi
stories like this always bring out the wimpy racist white boys.
http://littlekiwilovesbauhaus.blogspot.com/2010/06/ongoing-civil-rights-movement.html
the civil rights movement is ongoing. and it includes everyone who is not a part of the ruling class majority of white heterosexual (christian) males.
Colin
@Remy: Oh well! Knock yourself out.
Ian
Werent they the same people screaming about ‘equality’ 50 years ago?
KARUADAM
Dionte; you may have seen men being put on fire on TV, but I have aseen it in real!. As (RSA)Republic of South Africa, I am white African, and seen worst in the USA. Thank for the bloody white Christian republican that think they are whiter then I am!!.
RLS
Oh joy, another Black vs Gay thread. How very…2008
KARUADAM
@Janus: @Janus: Remember the idiots in Europe, that say the “Jews kill God” and what we did to them in the name of a dead “bloody God”. Listen smart ass I can only thanks Jesus, that I am not a Christian and Christianity should be outlaw…
Jerry
@hassia — Listen, I don’t disagree that there’s plenty of racism to tackle in the gay community, but I think your comparison of our reactions between the laws in Uganda and the laws in the Ukraine fail to take into account the fact that European countries on the whole tend to be supportive of their gay citizens, while Africa’s, with the sole exception of South Africa, tend towards the hostile. In fact, the only place on Earth with a worse record than Africa on gay rights issues is the middle east, and even they have their exception (i.e. Isreal). Now, I totally agree that it’s wrong to hold black people all over the world responsible for those anti-gay laws in Africa, or that white people should get a pass because of the progressive posture of Europe (especially since most of that is centered in Western Europe), but I wouldn’t call it racism to react to the global representation of LGBT rights by asking why things are so bad for gays in Africa….In fact, given this picture, I’d say it’s a fair question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory
Selrah
@Jerry: I think you completely missed the point.
Let me break it down for you:
When Africa (predominately black country) is hostile towards homosexuals, it is viewed as BLACK people being hostile toward homosexuals, not their government.
When the Ukraine (predominately white country) is hostile towards homosexuals, it is viewed as the government of that country being hostile, not the WHITE citizens.
Let me break it down even further:
When a person that belongs to a minority group does something wrong, that action is blamed on the entire group.
When a person that belongs to the majority group does something wrong, that action is blamed on the individual.
Let me break it down even even further with an example:
A black guy walks into a store and robs the store. The response? Black people are criminals.
A white guy walks into the same store and robs the store. The response? That guy is an asshole/criminal/low-life.
I think the question that gay people should be asking themselves is why are they using the same logic against black people that straight people use against them?
KARUADAM
@Selrah: Selrah, you are right in many way!. The “Munti” (native to Africa)are still tribal people. In the Ukraine, they are tribal in the their head and, so white in the USA. One of the biggest problem in the USA is that “we” are not a “RACE” just many people in one place. And yes Christianity is a cults not a religion. the only three TRU religion in the world are Judaism, Hinduism, & Buddhism…
KARUADAM
@Janus: Janus, homie put yourself to the test! and only try what I do! (only if you want to!?) say to yourself!! I am Homosexual! not gay!. Its OK if you are “gay” mean nothing to me, but come to terms with yourself and be what you really are Homosexual, (like people who are smoking Marijuana, & Homosexual,at the lees we don`t murder millions for being Homos, or pot head, Adam A Karu (PS, I am a redical liberal after all and ultra Democrat.
Pup
Reverend Nash when you say “That’s not the will of God, but who am I to tell them what lifestyle choices they can make?”
You should do more listening than spouting off at the mouth on what God does and does not want. It is clear to me that you are confusing a connection with God with the thought that you speak for him. He speaks for himself and does quite well with it. Hf only you would listen more perhaps you would hear it more.
Gurl Please
@DTG: I agree with you wholeheartedly! Colin and others like him flock to articles such as time one in order to spew venom and hate. Queerty obviously is aware of it, yet they allow it…….Says alot doesn’t it?
the other Greg
@Selrah: That’s beautiful! I’ve disagreed with you at times, but this last post of yours is freakin’ awesome. (Hope that doesn’t sound too white-boy-ish.)
the other Greg
Census data shows that black people get married at MUCH lower rates than whites, Latinos and Asians do. Either that’s some kind of sociological/economic “problem” or it’s not. (Debatable but I’m inclined to think it’s not.) Either way, why worry about OTHER people’s marriages? Makes no sense.
the other Greg
Re: #54, I meant straight black people – have no idea at what rate LGBT blacks get married, probably not enough data yet!
Colin
@Gurl Please: It says that I’m right, no matter what the routine black apologists here say.
Still, I think it’s very cute when blacks try to think. At least you’re trying.
Colin
@Jerry: Don’t ever try to explain race realities to a black person/black people, Jerry. It’s a lose-lose situation.
KARUADAM
@Colin: Colin, why it`s sound that you think you white?. You are white? Christian? republican? American? you will be exterminated in concentration camps cheers…
Glennmcgahee
I’ve got to add that the LGBT community that so enthusiastically supports Obama while he evolves on “gay marriage” need to understand that while he said he now is ok with it, he’ll leave it up to the individual states. If they had left the Civil Rights Act of 1964 up to the individual states it never would have passed. He knows this and has done us no favor.
He started his 1st campaign in the black churches with anti-gay evangelists and depends on them now. Remember Proposition 8 in California. It was the black churches of that state who turned out in droves to defeat it. Sorry, but I’ll not be supporting Obama this year unless I hear him stand up to their bigotry.
prettygirls
@Glennmcgahee. Honey if you’re still harping on those fake prop 8 numbers from 2008 then you don’t need to be voting anyway.
Janus
@Pup: I agree with you wholeheartedly.
lonny day
@evanb: No, we remember what back of the bus feels like. There is no shortage of gay white men ready to remind people of color which section of the bus is appropriate lol. The LBGTQ community still has some distance to go to be the demonstration of equality we’re demanding of others. If you want to copy what worked, Dr. King when he encountered separation, exclusion and prejudice didn’t get vitriolic with people — he did the opposite.. he spoke to the best in people regardless of what they demonstrated. If equality is what we say we’re after then maybe let’s keep talking about what it would take to have people be open to a different view.. lambasting people’s strongly held beliefs never produces the result we say we want.. If anything, I would charge the straight, pious well thought off parents and friends of LGBTQ community to start to speak up in church. [Speaking to them now] Say why your queer friends and family are important to you.. that our lives matter to you and the quality of our lives matter to you. Say Something..