Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Newsweek poses the question about the African-American and lgbt civil rights movements

I hate talking about this comparison because it makes me feel like a piece of rope in a tug of war. But Newsweek is taking an interesting look at how the lgbt civil rights movement compares to the African-American civil rights movement:

Four months before Rosa Parks refused to vacate her bus seat to a white man in 1955, she attended a retreat at the Highlander center in Tennessee, where she took a workshop alongside blacks and whites on school desegregation. More than a half century later, the Highlander center is still training soldiers in the fight for equal rights. Only now the battleground has shifted. Last January, four dozen gay and lesbian activists gathered for a center retreat overlooking the Smoky Mountains to get inspiration on how they could show—not just tell—America that their rights are being violated.

But how? There are no “heterosexuals only” Woolworth counters where gays and lesbians can protest segregation; even Woolworth itself is long gone from the U.S. “We needed to create the urgency and critical mass to stop the injustice towards our community,” says Robin McGehee, a mother of two and cofounder of the civil-disobedience group that was formed during those five days in Tennessee, called GetEQUAL. “What are our lunch-counter images?”

More here

Before BOTH groups get defensive and start yanking and pulling me and the rest of mine (i.e. lgbts of color), allow me to throw out some thoughts You can either take or leave these thoughts, but they are MY observations.


To the African-American community - Yes the lgbt civil rights movement is the same as the African-American civil rights movement.  Just because the conditions of injustices are different do not make the injustices more palatable. Remember before you throw out Bible verses against the lgbt community that Bible verses were used to justify slavery and segregation. You should be flattered that lgbts are copying the work done in the 50s and 60s just like African-Americans back then copied the work of Gandhi. You see, no one group has the patent when it comes to fighting for their rights.

To the lgbt community - Gay is NOT the new black. And don't ever say some dumb shit like that ever again. It's counterproductive and it keeps you from educating yourself on the nuances of the African-American struggle. Yes the struggle for lgbt equality is similar to the African-American civil rights movement, but that does not mean it excuses you from taking into account the different nuances between the two. And above all, stop making it sound so simplistic. Marching was only part of the story. Behind each march was a plan  as to how said march would affect the movement as a whole, which proves that marching alone without a game plan will get you nowhere. And remember that you all don't have to get along. Goodness knows those working in the African-American civil rights movement didn't. But they learned to work together. Educate yourselves on how this was done.


To both communities - As an lgbt of color I have to say from the heart that BOTH of  y'all are getting on my damn nerves. The irony is that lgbts and African-Americans are similar in terms of history. If you would stop fighting, you would learn this.  Also don't ignore the ignore the needs of lgbts of color in your community. Don't assume to know who we are or what we want. Ask us. Lastly,  as an lgbt of color, let me say that I will NOT make a choice between my racial heritage and my sexual identity. I embrace both. But when I feel that the lgbt community is wrong, I will say so. And that  also goes for the black community.

I am not a commodity, I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay.  Deal with it.



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11 comments:

  1. "I am not a commodity, I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay. Deal with it."

    That's what I love about you -- your spine of steel in standing up to two communities that don't always see eye to eye.

    I don't think the struggle for civil rights "belongs" to any one group. It doesn't belong to women, blacks, LGBT. It belongs to ALL of us, because we ALL lose when civil rights are violated.

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  2. Thank you! This is a great post! It clarifies a lot for me and I appreciate your writing it.

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  3. Thank you for this post. It makes sense. Gay will never be the new Black.

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  4. Anonymous5:36 PM

    SO GLAD TO BE AN ATHEIST AND NOT PART OF YOUR MAKE BELIEVE god WORLD. :) YOU PEOPLE ARE SAD :(

    YOU WILL WORSHIP SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT EXIST BEFORE REPECTING A LIVING BEING.

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  5. Thank you anonymous atheist. That was totally . . . strange.

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  6. Anonymous5:53 PM

    Sometimes I get irritated by people not acknowledging that LGBT is not a color.

    Any plans to link to this on Box Turtle or JMG?

    I remember one of the marches coming down Graymont Avenue on the way to Legion Field as a child in Birmingham. It made a lasting impression.

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  7. Hi anonymous. I will try to link it to the blend later.

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  8. An excellent and thoughtful piece, exactly the sort of thing I like about your blog.

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  9. Anonymous5:59 AM

    Most lucid article I've seen about these issues. Very well done: A great read.

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  10. For far too long the peeps in the LGBT movement have forgotten that we exist, and it has been to the detriment of the TBLG movement as a whole.

    The African American community would like to forget that we exist, but news flash for the AA community, we're here and the chocolate SGL and trans community ain't going away.

    I didn't give up by membership in the Black community when I transitioned, and I still get called the n-word by white peeps gay and straight.

    And I agree we have a common enemy to fight in the same conservative anti civil right Forces of Intolerance the AA civil rights movement battled. They took the lessons learned in LOSING to us and are applying them in battling the GLBT movement

    The sooner we start working together intersectionally, the better.

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  11. Your closing statement reminds me of something I was told Jeremiah Wright and Trinity UCC in Chicago often said - "We're unashamedly black and unapologetically christian" - or maybe it was "We're unapologetically black and unashamedly christian" - it's been a while since I heard that. That really reasonates with me.

    Terrance Heath at Republic of T has blogged about the same issue - I don't know if you've read what he has written on his experiences of being black and gay.

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