Gays and lesbians need to hear from all voices in the community

One of the drawbacks of working full-time while running a blog is how you miss interesting news. By the time you get to the new, it's already been covered to the point of over saturation.

On the other hand, this problem challenges you to find new things to cover and this is a huge boon, especially if you are black and gay and need to remind folks that in all the talk of ENDA, DADT, same-sex marriage, the black gay and lesbian community is a subset with specific needs and problems which, if we are not careful, get unintentionally ignored - such as the issue of self esteem.

All of the laws regarding ENDA, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the expansion of places where gays and lesbians can get marry don't mean @!&# if young gays and lesbian do not feel worthy enough to take advantages of these things. If they don't see people who look like them and whom they feel have an understanding of their problems in the public eye, there is a danger that they will be a permanent underclass in the gay who won't take advantage of any positive lgbt change.

With that in mind, I want to show the following Human Rights Campaign video of Dustin Baker. He was at the time of this video the only openly gay seminarian at the Howard University School of Divinity, tells of his experience in the black church as a gay man and how hes risen above it to find his calling in ministry.

There is no excuse why other stories like his aren't being widely heard in our community. Gays and lesbians are as diverse as the world in which we live and until we start addressing that fact, all of the pro-gay laws in the world won't get us where we need to go:

Not another gay marriage will lead to bestiality lie! and other Monday midday news briefs

Police deliberately destroy lesbian’s military career out of spite - What are you reading is true and is a damn shame.

Next Up For the GOP Bestiality Rodeo Round-Up: AZ Sen Candidate J D Hayworth! - Sen. John McCain's Republican primary challenger says gay marriage could lead to people marrying horses. No offense on heterosexual marriages in general but from what I've seen in some cases, they have the people marrying dogs market cornered big time.

Gov. Bob McDonnell says he’s done enough to protect gays - How about not being such a big homophobe?

Government revisiting restrictions on blood donations by gay men - a touchy, touchy issue.

South Carolinians to rally against potential HIV/AIDS budget cuts

With the news coming in last week that the South Carolina House of Representatives have chosen to cut out HIV/AIDS funding from the state budget, more information about the exact programs being cut as well as what the gay community and their allies plan to do about it is coming in.

The following is from Tamera Tedder, president of the South Carolina Pride Movement:

As some of you know last week a vote to have all funding for AIDS has been cut from the budget in South Carolina. Project FAITH and ADAP are two of the programs which are currently on the chopping block under the proposed budget.

ADAP is the AIDS Drug Assistance Program which helps HIV positive patients gain access to the necessary medication to maintain their health. If access to these medications is unavailable for a large population, rapidly increasing death rates will be seen across our state.

South Carolina ranks 8th in the nation for new AIDS cases annually. Our capital, and the location of our rally, Columbia, ranks 9th among larger metropolitan areas for new AIDS cases annually. This is NO time to cut funding! *South Carolina ranks FIRST in the nation for the percentage of cumulative cases of AIDS from heterosexual contact

Please JOIN US on Wednesday, March 17 from 11:30-12:30 inside the State House in the Rotunda. We are joining together to show our legislators how important AIDS funding and the future of our community is to us. 

Related posts:

South Carolina House of Representatives votes to cut ALL HIV/AIDS funding