As the discussion over gay rights continues, so, too, does the debate as to whether the gay rights issue is a civil rights issue, namely one that some say is reflective of the black civil rights movement. In the upcoming film, The New Black, filmmaker Yoruba Richen explores the histories of the African American and LGBT civil rights movements. “The film specifically looks at homophobia in the Black church, and how the Christian right has exploited this phenomenon that exists in order to promote an anti-gay political agenda,†says Richen. Her project is demonstrative of how the parallels and distinctions between the African American and gay rights movements are complex and multi-layered.
“As both of these movements have reached maturation we have multiple generations working for civil rights,†says J. Bob Alotta, executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. “Right now you would be talking about grandchildren and children of civil rights activists. Our elders were Black Panthers and marching with [Martin Luther King Jr]. Not only have we learned from them, but when we start talking about identity politics it’s apparent that many of us embody multiple identities.â€
In light of the recent
advances in gay rights policies, such as the legalization of same sex marriage in New York, the civil rights movement may seem to be a part of the past, but Alotta asserts that’s not the case. “We haven’t eradicated racism and we do live in a country built on slavery right now,†she says. “There are plenty of queer people of color whose experiences prove that every day. There are multiple movements going on. Surely the American civil rights movement set the standard for civil rights movements going today.â€Black and gay activists have always played a formidable role in the civil rights movement, but weren’t necessarily widely accepted. “We have progressively gotten to a place where people could voice desires,†says Herb Green, who teaches early African American literature in the English department at the City College of San Francisco. Green is also on faculty in the school’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered [LGBT] Studies Department. “With the turn of the century things are shifting quickly as technology and modernism changes the social dynamic,†he says. “People have access to more information.â€
That wasn’t always the case. Consider Bayard Rustin, a civil rights activist who was the key organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. “Bayard Rustin was an integral part of the civil rights movement,†Green says. “He was a gay Black man and worked closely with King. But when it came time to have him as a representative of the struggle, people were nervous.â€
Green also says that African American author James Baldwin, a fervent activist who participated in the civil rights march, was also criticized for his sexual orientation. This schism has gradually shifted with organizations, such as the National Black Justice Coalition, that are committed to protecting the rights of Black LGBT people and bridging gaps between them and members of the straight community of color.
But as the gay rights movement gains momentum, some Black LGBT activists caution against making comparisons to the civil rights movement by predominantly White gay rights organizations. Kenyon Farrow is co-editing a book called Stand Up! The Shifting Politics of Racial Uplift, which will be published in the spring. “I’m often troubled by it, as someone who has worked in LGBT specific work,†Farrow says. “The people that are working in gay organizations say that the same people who don’t want us to get married are the same people who sent Rosa Parks
to the back of the bus. They have zero to none practical experience working on racial justice movements. To me the problem is that they aren’t actually interested in racial justice and they’re only interested in using the narrative of the civil rights movement. The comparison is not right because there are different sets of issues.â€Farrow doesn’t discount the impact of homophobia on the Black LGBT community, but says that it manifests in different ways. “When you do the polling in the Black community around these issues, it’s unmistakable that the majority of Black folks in the U.S. are uncomfortable with same sex marriage, mostly for reasons that fall under religious terms, the Bible or the Koran. That is one piece,†he says. “But when you look at the polling around how Black people feel, they are overwhelmingly in favor of ending employment discrimination, they are overwhelmingly in support of people not being subjected to violence and not being discriminated against in terms of housing. You shouldn’t be able to mess with someone’s money or ability to provide. We need to work around those sets of issues.â€
One area where progress is being made in the Black LGBT community is in preventing bullying of LGBT teens. The Out and UpFront Project is a youth leadership initiative organized by the Ruth Ellis Center to train LGBT youth in advocacy, leadership, and civic engagement to stop bullying of LGBT teens in Detroit, which will take place later this month. “Black and brown LGBT teens feel particularly targeted and have disproportionate drop out rates,†Farrow says. “That’s an issue you can have a conversation about. The fight in the Black community is a fight about culture, and not so much policy. How do we change and challenge the culture about homophobia? That to me is where the interesting work is happening. [Comedienne] Mo’Nique has LGBT folks on her show. We’re visible in ways that wasn’t happening five years ago.â€
- LGBT RESOURCES:
- Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network
- Human Rights Campaign
- Out & Equal
- Read more about being Black & Gay in Corporate America in the July issue of Black Enterprise magazine, on stands July 19, 2011