NOTE FROM PAM: I share a couple of thoughts — and a statement from Rev. Eric Lee, below the fold.

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

bernice king After I heard the news about Bernice King, I felt that as a black gay man, I had to add my two cents

Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., has been chosen to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that her father help to found.

Personally I am reticent about the entire matter; that is to say I am undecided on whether this is a good thing .

Bernice King has been very vocal against marriage equality. She has led marches against it and her opinion of marriage equality is best typified by the following statement:

“I know in my sanctified soul that he (Dr. King) did not take a bullet for same-sex marriage.”

It not so much the statement that angered me but what it represented.

An unfortunate consequence of the cultural battle over marriage equality is how it allowed some black leaders to shirk their responsibilites to lgbts of color.

Evoking the implication that the fight for marriage equality was a bastardized attempt by “wealthy white gays” to piggyback on the so-called untouchable legacy of the 1950s/60s civil rights movement allowed black leaders to neglect the needs of their own.

Never mind addressing the HIV rate amongst African-American MSMs and never mind addressing issues of isolation and lack of self esteem that plague lgbts of color. As long as the focus was on fighting marriage equality and labeling it as a plot of “the white man,” black leaders like Bernice King were able to willfully and intentionally hide the mess of the outright dehumanization of lgbts of color by their own people behind the curtain.

Now that King has a bigger spotlight,  I can't help but to wonder will she continue those shenanigans?

Or will she step up and be a true leader?

Will she take the easy road and publicly demonize lgbts (and by extension lgbts of color) in front of eager crowds via religious condemnations?

Or will she note the irony that in some circles, the same religious condemnations will be thrown at her for being a woman who dares to take a leadership position in the black community?

Will she get the poignancy of President Obama signing hate crimes legislation named after both a heterosexual African-American victim of a hate crime and a gay victim of a hate crime?

Or will the poignancy conveniently slip her mind? Or worse yet, will she try to push away the poignancy via talking points surreptitiously provided by religious right groups?

Will King address the fact that lgbts of color have a place in the black community and deserve as much respect as their heterosexual counterparts?

Or will she try to placate us via silly patronizing comments about “not having a problem with anyone's sexual preference” –  comments that are not the words of a thoughtful conscientious leader of but a Machiavellian leader trying to play both sides of the issue.

Will Bernice King break the chains of ignorance and hypocrisy that shackle not only the lgbt of color community but the black community at large?

Or will she add another link to that chain?

I'm waiting to see what Ms. King will do.

And I am not the only one.

Will Bernice King be a leader to ALL African-Americans?

Or will she continue to run game on me and mine?

NOTE FROM PAM: Alvin did a kick-*ss job here; I couldn't add much more to the sentiments he expressed so well. I think that the words of Rev. Eric Lee say a lot as well:
The Reverend Eric P. Lee, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the SCLC and an outspoken advocate of social justice, was targeted last year by the organization for his advocacy in favor of LGBT marriage equality during California's Proposition 8 controversy.

With next week's anniversary of Proposition 8, and the upcoming marriage equality votes in Maine and Washington, Reverend Lee says, “my hope is that Reverend King will follow in the spirit of her father and her mother. We know that her mother, Coretta Scott King, was supportive of LGBT equality, and we believe that Dr. King would have been as well.” Reverend Lee adds, “it's going to be a tough role for her because, of course, sexism still plagues our society.

My hope is that her election is a sign that the SCLC is returning to its sprit of equality for all people. The need for the SCLC is more critical than ever at this time. Our society is facing the challenges of healthcare reform, immigration reform and education reform. Reverend King and the SCLC have the opportunity, and the obligation, to once again ensure justice is provided to all people.”

Reverend Lee is the author of the book, “Marriage Equality: Proposition 8, The California Divide”, and the co-producer of a 90 minute documentary film on the failure of public education for African American and Latino children entitled, “Who Is Accountable?”

In 2004, when she marched in Atlanta with homophobe Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in support of a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples, it was clear she was going to divide black LGBTs from the rest of the black community — cast us aside like refuse. It's the same narrow, ignorant thinking — that civil rights must be some non-renewable resource that surely cannot be wasted on the hellbound homos. Of course the hypocrisy of sex, sexuality and the black church are never discussed on a serious level — she could redeem herself in the spirit of Coretta Scott King's vision that equality is equality…period.

I support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 because I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” On another occasion he said, “I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible.” Like Martin, I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.

So I see this bill as a step forward for freedom and human rights in our country and a logical extension of the Bill of Rights and the civil rights reforms of the 1950s and '60's.

The great promise of American democracy is that no group of people will be forced to suffer discrimination and injustice. I believe that this legislation will provide protection to a large group of working people, who have suffered persecution and discrimination for many years. To this endeavor, I pledge my wholehearted support.
– Press Conference on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994, Washington D.C. (23 June 1994)

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