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| Bayard Rustin |
In celebration of Black History Month, the following piece I wrote and initially published by The Huffington Post is very appropriate. Throughout the piece are photos of famous lgbts of color:
As a gay African-American, I've heard the argument about how "you
can't compare the gay civil rights movement to the African-American
civil rights movement" more times than I care to count.
The
constant so-called moral outrage of some African-American heterosexuals
when the topic is mentioned has gotten me to the point where my mind
automatically tunes out the monotonous drones of how supposed sinful
homosexuals are "high jacking" the civil rights movement or how gays
"can't compare their sin with black skin."
As such, I almost missed the epiphany which occurred two weeks ago.
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| Nell Carter |
I
was vaguely scanning comments on a conservative site by an anonymous
African-American female as she went on and on about how gays were never
subjected to slavery, segregation or declared three fifths a person.
While the logical side of my mind was gathering up the customary
argument of how wrong it was for disadvantaged people of any stripe to
play the "Oppression Olympics," the emotional side of my mind struck
immediately.
"This is the most ignorant crap I've ever heard," I
thought. "Just where in the hell does she think gay black people were
during slavery and segregation? On a spaceship orbiting the Earth? "
I
was instantly struck by oddity of what I had thought. Not that my
outrage wasn't coming from a place of truth, mind you, but how the
simple fact never entered my mind that yes, gay people were subjected
to slavery, segregation and racism because of our skin. Just as LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people of color exist now, we
existed back then. Then it suddenly struck me again that I've never
recalled any acknowledgement of this fact during the myriad of
discussions, I've read, listened to or seen regarding comparisons
between the gay and civil rights movements.
And why is that?
