Lift that barge, tote that bale, drive that wedge

Unfortunately as the lgbt community tries to deal with losing in California, ugliness is prevailing.

The scuttlebutt seems to be that the African-American community overwhelmingly supported the anti-gay marriage equality amendment.

Now the blogsphere on the left is filled with comments by some angry lgbts over this.

Part of me can say that I understand their anger. But I won't.

I simply will not give an ounce of sympathy. And here is why:

I live in South Carolina. When the marriage amendment hit us, nobody gave a damn because everyone figured that South Carolina was so homophobic, it wasn' t worth worrying about.

I guess what happened in California proves that not only your silence but your location will NOT protect you.

When we lost, we got demoralized but we got back up again and got united. We assessed why we lost and are better because of it.

All I can say in this matter is don't let your anger make you say things that are counterproductive and stupid - like the threats I read on the Queerty site. Very nice guys - you really did something special. Now Peter Labarbera and Matt Barber can plead victimhood for days.

I am of the opinion of Pam Spaulding. She wrote an excellent piece on how the defeats should make lgbts deal with the issue of race in their community:

For those of us who are black and gay, a group too often marginalized within a marginalized community, I see this as a clear signal to the LGBT advocacy community. There hasn't been enough outreach to those groups who voted against us. We haven't reached them; there hasn't been enough effort expended.

I've been blogging for years about the need to discuss race in regards to LGBT issues. I hope that this is now the wakeup call for our "professional gays" out there who represent us to come out of their comfort zones and help bridge this concrete education gap. The belief that white=gay is big part of the problem, and as long as black LGBTs are invisible in their own communities and there is a dearth of color in the public face of LGBT leadership, the socially conservative black community can remain in denial that I exist as a black lesbian.

This is a teachable moment people, so hush up and learn. The religious right is going to use your anger to drive a wedge where there should be a bridge.