As I watched the testimonies for and against the DC Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom act, what troubled me the most were all the brown faces testifying against equality. Most of their arguments were religious-based and included declarations of what "God" wants and what the Bible says. It is baffling that in the face of the immense discrimination that we have suffered as African Americans, there are still people ready to throw stones at another group who is discriminated against.
I'm an urban twenty-something, very likely half the age of the majority of anti-equality testifiers; but I grew up in a world where race was as much a factor as it wasn't. I was called a nigger at the early age of six, and though I knew it was wrong, it didn't stop me from being friends with people from every culture. People in my generation, for the most part, don't view race as starkly as people in my mother's generation do. In our world, discrimination is not about black versus white, it's about oppression versus anti-oppression. Yes, there are cultural disparages, even in the gay movement, but at the end of the day, what separates us is pro-LGBT and Anti-LGBT ideals.
That premise blends the color line drastically. In regards to the DC equality movement, you have people of all cultures advocating for equal rights and people of one predominate culture advocating against it: the African American religious fringe. This is particularly ironic, given that a majority of black congregations have a sizable LGBT population. And besides the obvious Stockholm syndrome of LGBT members of anti-gay churches, the history of Christianity and oppression in the black community should be argument enough for the opposition to take a look at what their argument is really saying.
African Americans didn't come here preaching Christianity. We were brought in chains, we were ripped from our language, our families, our culture, and our spiritual beliefs. Christianity was forced upon us by slave owners as a means to dissipate any potential unity. Fast forward three hundred years or so, Blacks were made to believe they had to straighten their hair, get rid of their slang, and assimilate fully into mainstream culture to be regarded as human. They could not marry someone of a different race, hell up until the 19th century, blacks were only 3/5 of a person. All of these institutions, anti-miscegenation, slavery, and voting rights were supported and prolonged by religious ideologies. Those same ideologies that said in essence, "you are the other; in order to be tolerated, you must be invisible". This is where the civil rights movement and the equal rights movement bear close resemblance.
By refusing to acknowledge LGBT people and relationships, we send a message that LGBT people are somehow the other. Black LGBT people, suffer the impact of marginalization two-fold, dealing with bigotry not only from racial discrimination, but from religious persecution. The same people who withstood fire hoses and beatings, who see what hate crimes and intolerance do to a people, have the audacity to seek to marginalize another group of people in the name of a "lord" that wasn't theirs to begin with. We as a people need to wake up and start acknowledging that the hatred for our gay brothers and sisters is doing nothing but perpetuating the denigration of our culture, killing our women, and holding us back from reaching Martin Luther King Jr's "promise land."
For more information on homophobia in Black churches, please join Metropolitan Network Against Homophobia for a panel discussion. 6:30 PM on Tuesday, November 10th at The Sumner School 1201 17th Street NW Washington, DC Inside Lecture Hall 102. More information can be found here: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/eve/1446274447.html
Showing posts with label equal rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label equal rights. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sprinting to the Colorblind Finish Line
The National Equality March weekend begins in a few days and buzz is building throughout the community. Despite the criticism for the leadership's lack of organization, it is pivotal that we pull out big numbers for the march. For once, we can learn a lesson from republicans: stick together, be "homo", homogeneous that is.
More importantly, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Act of DC was introduced to the council this Tuesday, October 6th; announced by openly-gay DC council member David Catania at the 1st Annual LGBT Convocation for Marriage Equality last Wednesday.
It appears someone was listening when bloggers suggested moving forward with outreach and grassroots efforts. DC is a many-fibered diaspora of histories, cultures and struggles; it took an outside voice to make us realize we should be taking advantage of that.
Rev. Eric E. Lee of the Southern Christian Leadership laid out several points about diversity and solidarity in the movement in his speech at the convocation. "There are five tenets in organizing [all carrying over into one another]," said Lee. "Education, organization, mobilization, agitation and transformation." In CA, he mentioned, equality activists fell short of what they needed to do to frame the movement as a civil rights issue. While this can be a touchy subject, especially for African Americans, I feel we need to tackle the issue head on. DC could be the poster child for the world in regards to the equality movement. The LGBT community pays taxes like our straight counterparts, but not only do we not have a vote, we are at the mercy of congress to decide what rights we should have. We are a community without a voice and we must address that.
Our mobilization must include outreach and education to the people; per Rev. Lee's advice, we should also address the discrimination that exists within our community. "Justice must be universal," and not only will it strengthen us as a group, it will provide the rest of the world with an example of how to do diversity correctly. While simultaneously addressing our own prejudices, we must contact the moderate voters. We know now, from several preceding social movements, that targeting and trying to change minds of the extremists is a futile operation. We are not going to convince someone, who is fiercely against equal rights, to come all the way over to our side; however, the ones sitting on the fence may just need a little push.
Rev. Lee thoroughly explained agitation in the community, an area I think we're making improvements in. Instead of trying to change extremists minds, we need to call them on their discrimination with articulate and well formed arguments. According to Lee, "[We must be] an irritant in a society where the blemish of discrimination must be washed out. Do not bear the burden of oppression; it is not your responsibility. Make the oppressors defend their discrimination!" Powerful words with a more significant meaning. We must be out, we must practice solidarity by enlisting our allies to speak on our behalf. In order to transform the movement into an unstoppable force, we need people to join together and actively practice anti-oppression. That means speaking up when you hear the word "fag", or stopping your buddies from bullying a kid with anti-gay slurs. We need to stop being spectators and get on the field. We need our congressional representatives on the line and our sneakers on the street. We are sprinting to the finish line, standing shoulder to shoulder, with every color of our rainbow pride flag.
Information about the National Equality March can be found here:
http://www.hrc.org/13519.htm
More importantly, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Act of DC was introduced to the council this Tuesday, October 6th; announced by openly-gay DC council member David Catania at the 1st Annual LGBT Convocation for Marriage Equality last Wednesday.
It appears someone was listening when bloggers suggested moving forward with outreach and grassroots efforts. DC is a many-fibered diaspora of histories, cultures and struggles; it took an outside voice to make us realize we should be taking advantage of that.
Rev. Eric E. Lee of the Southern Christian Leadership laid out several points about diversity and solidarity in the movement in his speech at the convocation. "There are five tenets in organizing [all carrying over into one another]," said Lee. "Education, organization, mobilization, agitation and transformation." In CA, he mentioned, equality activists fell short of what they needed to do to frame the movement as a civil rights issue. While this can be a touchy subject, especially for African Americans, I feel we need to tackle the issue head on. DC could be the poster child for the world in regards to the equality movement. The LGBT community pays taxes like our straight counterparts, but not only do we not have a vote, we are at the mercy of congress to decide what rights we should have. We are a community without a voice and we must address that.
Our mobilization must include outreach and education to the people; per Rev. Lee's advice, we should also address the discrimination that exists within our community. "Justice must be universal," and not only will it strengthen us as a group, it will provide the rest of the world with an example of how to do diversity correctly. While simultaneously addressing our own prejudices, we must contact the moderate voters. We know now, from several preceding social movements, that targeting and trying to change minds of the extremists is a futile operation. We are not going to convince someone, who is fiercely against equal rights, to come all the way over to our side; however, the ones sitting on the fence may just need a little push.
Rev. Lee thoroughly explained agitation in the community, an area I think we're making improvements in. Instead of trying to change extremists minds, we need to call them on their discrimination with articulate and well formed arguments. According to Lee, "[We must be] an irritant in a society where the blemish of discrimination must be washed out. Do not bear the burden of oppression; it is not your responsibility. Make the oppressors defend their discrimination!" Powerful words with a more significant meaning. We must be out, we must practice solidarity by enlisting our allies to speak on our behalf. In order to transform the movement into an unstoppable force, we need people to join together and actively practice anti-oppression. That means speaking up when you hear the word "fag", or stopping your buddies from bullying a kid with anti-gay slurs. We need to stop being spectators and get on the field. We need our congressional representatives on the line and our sneakers on the street. We are sprinting to the finish line, standing shoulder to shoulder, with every color of our rainbow pride flag.
Information about the National Equality March can be found here:
http://www.hrc.org/13519.htm
Friday, July 24, 2009
Being Out in the Closet
What does it mean to be out? Does it mean holding hands with your partner? Or is it placing a picture of your and your significant other on your desk in and HRC frame? What constitutes your out-ness?
This topic is particularly intriguing because it involves several different points of view. On one hand, the organizations advocating gay rights, LGBT places of entertainment, and community events are both enjoyable and essential to the prosperity of the movement. On the other hand, the question that's raised discusses the dependency of the LGBT community on these assets. Do they limit us from being as "out" as possible?
I look to the civil rights movement for suggestions. When segregation and Jim crow were prevalent in the south, blacks orchestrated sit-ins. Now, I'm not saying we should borough through town just sitting places, the framing of that movement will not be our own, but I think we should commit ourselves to more exposure. Social or political canvassing is a good way of being visible but I also think the act of attending an otherwise "Straight" event, can go a long way toward equality.
We need to practice being out, in our jobs, among our family, in our communities; we need to be in support of each other outside of the gay-bor-hood, that means practicing solidarity in places that may not be as receiving. This is not a chastisement of LGBT establishments or their patrons - I'm pretty sure I'll be at Fab lounge at some point this weekend - it's simply a different way of forwarding the movement.
LGBT people are no more or less perfect than their straight counterparts, however, as advocates for equal rights, we must use the vastness and diversity of the movement to reach our opponents. Think of it this way, Bishop Jackson and I may not agree on equal rights, but we may agree on eliminating poverty. I'm fairly certain there are LGBT people in his congregation, out or not. Although I may not be able to change his mind, by being a fervent supporter of gay rights and working with him on a cause we both agree on, I may change a few minds in his congregation. My visibility may expose people to the gay rights movement, and possibly sow a seed of doubt that their anti-gay stance is on the wrong side of history.
It's not necessary to "make everything about us", the gay rights movement will speak for itself. By just being out and actively pursuing community awareness, we make our mark. As Professor Richard Flacks says, "Historical action is not necessarily noted or recorded. A historical act may appear as exceedingly mundane behavior. A telephone call, a scribble on a memo pad, a push of a button can initiate a chain of actions and events that fundamentally reshape the live of millions."
We can't tell each other how to be out, we can only tell each other to Be Out; our personal relationships and connections can change minds. Don't wait for October, make your coming out day today. And to all the people who are actively practicing being out, reach out to someone who is on the threshold, support their journey, bravery will prevail most expeditiously when there is a glimmer of hope.
This topic is particularly intriguing because it involves several different points of view. On one hand, the organizations advocating gay rights, LGBT places of entertainment, and community events are both enjoyable and essential to the prosperity of the movement. On the other hand, the question that's raised discusses the dependency of the LGBT community on these assets. Do they limit us from being as "out" as possible?
I look to the civil rights movement for suggestions. When segregation and Jim crow were prevalent in the south, blacks orchestrated sit-ins. Now, I'm not saying we should borough through town just sitting places, the framing of that movement will not be our own, but I think we should commit ourselves to more exposure. Social or political canvassing is a good way of being visible but I also think the act of attending an otherwise "Straight" event, can go a long way toward equality.
We need to practice being out, in our jobs, among our family, in our communities; we need to be in support of each other outside of the gay-bor-hood, that means practicing solidarity in places that may not be as receiving. This is not a chastisement of LGBT establishments or their patrons - I'm pretty sure I'll be at Fab lounge at some point this weekend - it's simply a different way of forwarding the movement.
LGBT people are no more or less perfect than their straight counterparts, however, as advocates for equal rights, we must use the vastness and diversity of the movement to reach our opponents. Think of it this way, Bishop Jackson and I may not agree on equal rights, but we may agree on eliminating poverty. I'm fairly certain there are LGBT people in his congregation, out or not. Although I may not be able to change his mind, by being a fervent supporter of gay rights and working with him on a cause we both agree on, I may change a few minds in his congregation. My visibility may expose people to the gay rights movement, and possibly sow a seed of doubt that their anti-gay stance is on the wrong side of history.
It's not necessary to "make everything about us", the gay rights movement will speak for itself. By just being out and actively pursuing community awareness, we make our mark. As Professor Richard Flacks says, "Historical action is not necessarily noted or recorded. A historical act may appear as exceedingly mundane behavior. A telephone call, a scribble on a memo pad, a push of a button can initiate a chain of actions and events that fundamentally reshape the live of millions."
We can't tell each other how to be out, we can only tell each other to Be Out; our personal relationships and connections can change minds. Don't wait for October, make your coming out day today. And to all the people who are actively practicing being out, reach out to someone who is on the threshold, support their journey, bravery will prevail most expeditiously when there is a glimmer of hope.
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