My column 'drops' on Saturday

I have just received final confirmation that barring anything out of the ordinary, my column on the importance of Black prides and how the African-American community ignores lgbts of color will be appearing Saturday as a part of the State newspaper's Saturday Opinion Extra package.

This means that it will most likely appear online but not in the printed newspaper, which is okay by me. Progress is progress.

Of course I reiterate the "barring anything out of the ordinary part" because as many of you know, South Carolina is in the middle of a huge controversy regarding our Governor (Mark Sanford) and his refusal to accept $700 million of President Obama's stimulus package.

The General Assembly passed a budget including the stimulus money and Sanford vetoed it. The General Assembly overrode his veto thereby causing the situation to go to the State Supreme Court.

The court today ordered Gov. Sanford to accept the budget and thereby apply for the $700 million.

So in the middle of all of this lovely hullabaloo, my column will come out - the equivalent of finding out that you have won the Pulitzer Prize 60 seconds before Jesus comes back to Earth.

Still, my column appearing is a remarkable achievement which I will forever be proud of. As far as I know this will be the first time that the State newspaper will address lgbt issues from an African-American gay man's perspective on its editorial pages.

I've done a lot of good things with my book and this blog, but this column is special. It's personal. What I wrote isn't just for me but every lgbt of color, living or dead, who have been marginalized by an intentionally ignorant African-American community. Trust me when I say I am very proud of what I wrote. It's to the point and makes no apologies, especially about the role of God in our lives.

I have no idea what the fallout, if any, will be. I'm not going to lie about what I hope to accomplish. I want a nice controversy just in time for South Carolina Black Pride (June 18-21). I want comments both positive and negative, I want pastors to talk about it in church, and I want definitely want it to be read by as many folks as possible.

Like the proverb says, a man is like a turtle in that they both have to stick their necks out to move forward.