Lesbian activist Jasmyne Cannick believes mainstream gay groups ‘coerce [black gay men and lesbians] into doing their work’ while ignoring other issues important to this demographic. (File photo)
In search of a Black Gay Agenda From marriage to healthcare, priorities may differ from general gay rights groups
When
about
100
black
gay
and
lesbian
leaders
gathered
in
Los
Angeles
last
month
for
a
first-of-its-kind
presidential
forum
entitled
“It’s
a
Black
Thang:
The
Black
LGBT
Vote
’08,”
the
disconnect
between
the
crowd
and
mainstream
gay
rights
organizations
was
almost
instantly
obvious.
“Same-sex
marriage,
as
far
as
I’m
concerned,
isn’t
in
the
top
five
concerns
for
me
as
a
black
gay
man,”
said
panelist
Jeffery
King,
founder
of
In
the
Meantime,
a
Los
Angeles
group
for
black
gay
men.
“And
I
believe
that
also
speaks
for
a
lot
of
other
people
as
well.”
King’s
comment
drew
applause
from
the
audience
and
unanimous
agreement
from
his
fellow
panelists.
The
consensus
denunciation
of
what
for
years
has
been
a
top
focus
of
gay
rights
organizations
and
the
media
illustrates
the
profound
detachment
many
black
gay
Americans
feel
toward
the
so-called
“gay
agenda.”
Prior
to
the
forum,
the
event’s
organizer,
black
lesbian
journalist
and
activist
Jasmyne
Cannick,
rebuffed
a
request
from
members
of
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
who
wanted
to
register
voters
and
recruit
black
gay
attendees
to
canvass
black
neighborhoods
in
favor
of
same-sex
marriage.
“The
folks
leading
the
gay
rights
movement
have
traditionally
never
cared
about
anything
other
than
that,”
Cannick
said.
“They
are
nowhere
to
be
found
on
bread-and-butter
issues
which
same-gender
loving
people
who
happen
to
be
minorities
are
often
dealing
with.”
But
it’s
a
mistake
to
assume
that
black
gay
men
and
lesbians
don’t
support
marriage
equality,
or
that
they
are
the
only
gay
Americans
who
disagree
with
the
major
priorities
of
mainstream
gay
rights
organizations,
said
H.
Alexander
Robinson,
CEO
of
the
gay
National
Black
Justice
coalition.
“You
can
find
as
many
non-black
gay
folks
who
would
not
put
marriage
equality
at
the
top
of
their
list
of
priorities,”
said
Robinson,
noting
that
NBJC
formed
in
late
2003
primarily
to
respond
to
the
increasingly
hostile
rhetoric
coming
from
black
ministers
about
same-sex
marriage.
“What
I
hear
from
my
folks
is
we
didn’t
choose
it
as
a
priority,
no
one
asked
us
if
this
was
our
priority,
so
there
is
some
resistance,”
said
Robinson,
who
added
that
millions
of
dollars
have
been
spent
fighting
the
“worthy
cause”
of
legalizing
same-sex
marriage.
“But
there
are
many
other
issues
that
rise
to
the
top
of
the
list
as
things
that
need
attention.”
NBJC
has
hosted
numerous
town
hall
meetings
across
the
country
to
gauge
the
concerns
of
black
gay
men
and
lesbians,
and
is
in
the
process
of
preparing
“America’s
Black
LGBT
Political
Agenda.”
An
early
draft
of
the
agenda
ranks
improving
access
to
health
care
and
eliminating
economic
racial
disparities
as
the
top
two
objectives,
followed
by
ending
homophobia
in
black
neighborhoods
and
institutions,
and
“realizing
all
civil
rights
as
LGBT
citizens.”
Ronald
Moore
agrees
that
class
plays
as
much
a
factor
as
ethnicity
in
gay
people
feeling
ambivalent
about
the
issues
on
which
gay
rights
organizations
focus.
But
the
former
diversity
manager
for
Hewlett
Packard,
who
is
now
diversity
and
inclusion
director
for
Kimberly-Clark,
also
knows
that
even
financially
successful
African-Americans
have
a
difficult
time
breaking
into
the
country
club
culture
of
many
gay
rights
groups.
“At
some
point,
I’m
always
sort
of
reminded
that
I
am
on
the
outside,”
said
Moore,
a
longtime
activist
who
is
currently
the
political
board
chair
for
Georgia
Equality.
“When
you’re
willing
to
write
checks,
a
lot
of
homes
get
open
to
you,
but
you’re
rarely
invited
to
these
places
without
it
being
a
fundraiser.”
The
most
urgent
issues
Moore
would
place
at
the
top
of
a
black
gay
agenda
would
be
fighting
racism
within
white
gay
organizations,
and
eliminating
homophobia
among
black
families.
“Coming
out
[as
black
gay
men
and
lesbians]
is
the
most
potent
weapon
we
have,
but
that’s
still
the
hardest
step
to
take,”
Moore
said.
“We
need
more
people
of
color
to
come
out
and
we
need
more
of
the
white
GLBT
organizations
to
understand
we
can’t
and
will
not
leave
our
blackness
at
the
door.
“I’ve
found
that
the
mainstream
gay
organizations,
unless
they
do
the
work,
are
coming
from
a
majority
white
background,”
Moore
added.
“I
think
there’s
still
a
strong
feeling
of
we’re
all
for
diversity,
as
long
as
you’re
just
like
us.”
The
Human
Rights
Campaign,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
rights
group,
recognizes
that
it
has
“a
longstanding
reputation
of
not
being
good
on
issues
dealing
with
race
and
gender
identity,”
said
Cuc
Vu,
chief
diversity
officer
at
HRC.
...
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
