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| Bayard Rustin |
“I ask you, does it make sense to honor the 50th anniversary
of a march whose coordinator was shoved in the background due to
homophobia by inviting someone as a headliner who is committing the same
offense against gays in the present? Absolutely not.”
There is going to be a controversy regarding Saturday night's concert in Washington, DC regarding the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. From the blog of
B.Scott:
Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who back in 2002 declared God
delivered him from “the curse homosexuality,” did not appear in a
Saturday evening concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the March
on Washington, after several gay activists objected to his participation
in the event.
McClurkin was scheduled to perform at the
D.C. government-sponsored concert with other singers at the Martin
Luther King Jr. Memorial during the “Reflections on Peace From Ghandi to
King” event. But at the request of Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), who
fielded concerns from the activists Friday, the Grammy-winning singer
decided not to perform.
“The commission on human rights and
Donnie McClurkin’s management decided that it would be best for him to
withdraw because the purpose of the event is to bring people together,”
said Gray’s spokeswoman, Doxie McCoy. “Mayor Gray said the purpose of
the event is to promote peace and harmony. That is what King was all
about.”
However, in a statement released on
video, McClurkin took issue with how the situation was portrayed. He
said the mayor “uninvited me from a concert that I was supposed to
headline.” He said “I was asked not to attend.”
The video is
here if you want to watch it. Of course McClurkin makes out like he was the victim in this situation. In a comment on his video, McClurkin says the following:
CIVIL RIGHTS ARE FOR EVERYONE...gay, straight, religious, secular, male,
female, all cultures and colors. Let's not mistake that everyone who
lives here in america...everyone should have equal rights..whether we
believe them to be right or wrong. They're just BASIC rights for ALL~!
My spiritual stance is right...but cannot infringe on anyone's choice to
do as they choose as long as it a basic right. everyone will not follow
our christian principles..so what do we do with those who don't...don't
give them the right to live civilly? This isn't a theocracy...so even
if I, you or we don't agree...everyone has to be able to live a full
life.
But Mr. McClurkin, what about those children you maligned in 2009 at the COGIC youth conference? In 2009, McClurkin
said the following about lgbt children at the conference:
I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go ... No, don't applaud 'cuz it ain't funny. It's because we failed. I see them everywhere."
In that same post I linked to (from Rod McCollum -
Rod2.0 Beta), McClurkin said the following about lesbians:
"These young girls are just as bad as the boys in homosexuality, you don't see it. They can hide ... but there are some evil young hard butch girls."
In 2008 while in Barbados, he
compared gays to drug dealers and prostitutes:
"The lifestyle began to grow. The girls did not want a broken man . . . . In homosexuality, there's always someone to abuse you. My lust for man and lust for God was pulling me one way and tearing me apart." ..
"He said Donnie, go and talk to others. I don't condemn it, so don't condemn them. God does not hate the homosexual, he hates the sin," said McClurkin, adding he is now a sincere, compassionate man, who keeps his masculinity, is ready for a wife and who is "transformed by the blood of Jesus".
But here is the thing. Nowhere in the video did McClurkin address those comments he made; comments which most likely had a lot to do with him being disinvited from the concert. And don't expect him or anyone defending him to mention those comments. My guess is that they are going to turn the situation around to make him seem like a so-called victim of the alleged homosexual agenda.
And that, my friends, is my problem with this incident - the dishonesty which i am guessing will come from McClurkin and many of his defenders.
My personal opinion is that McClurkin is not the type of person I would have invited in the first place to sing at a concert honoring a march on civil rights, particularly not THIS march.
You see, the 1963 March on Washington was coordinated and successfully accomplished by Bayard Rustin, an openly gay African-American who was an integral part of the African-American civil rights movement. Rustin also mentored Dr. King on nonviolent resistance.
Rustin had to serve in the background because of the homophobia of the times not only from the white community, but also the African-American community. Several prominent civil rights leaders did not want him involved and one, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, was going to start a rumor that he and Dr. King were lovers.
So Rustin never got his due for what he did in the Civil Rights Movement. Now I ask you, does it make sense to honor the 50th anniversary of a march whose coordinator was shoved in the background due to homophobia by inviting someone as a headliner who is committing the same offense against gays in the present?
Absolutely not.
The irony of it all would most likely escape McClurkin. Instead of trying to create an aura of victimhood for himself, perhaps he should think about those whom his rhetoric victimized.
Had today's technology been around back then, I doubt Rustin would have
exploited it to address the attacks on his sexual orientation. I somehow don't see
Rustin posting videos of himself complaining about how he was treated. Rustin didn't care about such things. He only cared about the cause of social justice.
Maybe McClurkin should take the hint.
