Reverend Says Gay Rights Movement Is the Black Movement

Reverend Says Gay Rights Movement Is the Black Movement
A new report from Reverend Dennis Wiley says that the African-American civil rights movement is inextricably linked to the LGBT movement.

By Cord Jefferson
Posted: 08/25/2011 04:51 PM EDT
Filed Under Civil Rights



Earlier this year, after coming out as gay in his memoir, Transparent, African-American CNN anchor Don Lemon told the New York Times that being gay is “about the worst thing you can be in Black culture.” You're taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine,” he continued. “In the black community they think you can pray the gay away.”

I’m not sure how accurate Lemon’s assessment is—no one group in America is especially welcoming of homosexuals, and it remains to be seen whether being gay is some sort of cardinal sin in the Black community. That said, data from the Pew Research Center says African-Americans do disapprove of homosexuality more than other groups, perhaps because religion is such a major part of the typical Black experience.

Ever since Prop. 8 blocked legal same-sex marriage in California and the media falsely reported that African-Americans were the main force behind its passage, the debate about how gays fit into the Black community has raged on. Now, a new project from the liberal think tank The Center for American Progress hopes to change that.

Called the “Gays Are Us” series, the project is being written by Reverend Dennis W. Wiley, an African-American pastor and doctor from Washington D.C. Using his deep understanding of the civil rights movement, Reverend Wiley makes the case that gay rights are not a white issue and that, in fact, the LGBT movement is inextricably linked to the Black community's struggle for civil rights. In fact Wiley asserts that, were Martin Luther King Jr. alive today, he’d be one of the LGBT movement’s biggest proponents. Indeed, Dr. King was known for his dedication to ending all forms of oppression, not just those that impacted Blacks.

“In his famous ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail,’” writes Wiley, “he responded by first informing his critics that what was happening in Birmingham was directly connected to what was happening in his hometown of Atlanta. ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ he wrote.”

Beyond that, Wiley says it’s time for all African-Americans to accept that we do have dominion over the quest for civil rights, and that it’s time to embrace those who face our same struggles: “[I]t would seem to me that those of us who have been the victims of oppression and discrimination would be the last ones to facilitate the oppression and discrimination of others,” he writes. “As civil rights advocate Julian Bond once stated, ‘people of color ought to be flattered that our movement has provided so much inspiration for others.’”

The fact that there are still people out there trying to pervert the concept of civil rights and gay rights being championed by the church, saying that African-Americans shouldn’t embrace the LGBT movement and condemning those who do as sinners, is a shame. The consensus amongst Black leaders who really did march with Dr. King is that gays and lesbians are deserving of Black support. Even Dr. King’s widow, Corretta, said as much. Though they may not have been open about it, you can guarantee the fact that there were gays and lesbians marching for Black rights from the very beginnings of the civil rights movement. Decades ago they stood by African-Americans. Now it’s time for African-Americans to stand by them. As Wiley says, “LGBT equality is not a ‘white’ issue but an issue that affects each and every one of us. Or, to put it another way, ‘Gays are us.’”

Nystyle709 wrote:You can say they parallel each other, but to put this on par with the Civil Rights movement, like this article is implying, is ludicrous.

Opa Shale wrote:
I know what you mean.

It's not like gay ppl are being murdered like the blacks were in the civil rights struggles.

Nystyle709 wrote:

. I actually don't think you do. Seeing as how you aren't and will never be a black American. Some shit you just won't get, no matter how 'tolerable' you claim you are. So leave it alone.

Opa Shale wrote:
And I still stand that prejudice against any group is the same as any other. I'm sure Matthew Sheppard had the same terror that any number of lynched black men felt as they were being killed by unconscionable sociopaths.

Opa Shale wrote:
You're right, I don't know viscerally what it means to be black-American. All I know is what was imparted to me by my black-American wife and extended family.

What I do know is what it is to be part of a interracial relationship in a still intolerant nation. I know the fear of being targeted by good-ol-boys who were threatening us on I-95 going thru South Carolina. It is the most threatened I have ever been anywhere (yeah, shaking with fear playing tag on the highway in a VW bug with a bunch of rednecks in a pickup truck - you feel kinda helpless). This is the same South Carolina where a bunch of 'necks followed an interracial couple to their house and killed them in their driveway.

Before telling me about what I have experienced, maybe you should know me better. And I still stand that prejudice against any group is the same as any other. I'm sure Matthew Sheppard had the same terror that any number of lynched black men felt as they were being killed by unconscionable sociopaths.

wants2laugh wrote:When are people going to realize that we are all PEOPLE and deserve the same rights???? I get that the religious are against homosexuality--- but from what I have read in the bible in leviticus, it is the ACT that is hated, not the person. So saying that "homosexuals are not welcome" is not actually the truth. "homosexuality" may not be welcomed, but the people themselves may be.

I also understand what they are saying about black men being "men". I hate the fact that on all the VIBE, JET, etc covers, the men are always in poses with nasty looks--- hands extended as if they are holding guns, and looking threatening. Why not make them smile? Hate that so much

Nystyle709 wrote:
First of all, I didn't say anything about your experiences. I just said you weren't black, and you aren't.

Nystyle709 wrote:
'Prejudice against any group is the same as any other' is a very 'lalala' statement for you make.

Nystyle709 wrote:
Like I said before, there are some things you just won't get. It seems as if the gay rights movement wants to ride to utopia on the backs of Civil rights movement as if their struggle for equality is/was as hard as ours. It parallels, but it's still not quite the same. And it shouldn't be thought of as being on par. But whatever.

Nystyle709 wrote: ... You being terrorized because you were riding around with your black wife doesn't qualify. YOU are not black. You were being chased because of who she was, not because of who you were.

Opa Shale wrote:

First of all, being black or being white entails that you gain experience from those two perspectives. If I were a cat, I would gain experience of what it is to be a cat - and you would not.



It is basically a true statement that only someone with a racially exclusive attitude would discount. And were you singling me out specifically for making this "lalala" statement or does that apply to any whitey.

"Ride to utopia on the backs of civil right movement?" "as if their struggle for eaquality is/was as hard as ours?" Is something wrong with you? You want to quantify suffering and get a medal because "your ppl" suffered more than some "other" ppl?

We can start with the Jews, who I think hold the record so far for suffering. But there were a few thousand homosexuals gassed with those millions of Jews - but we should never say they suffered as much.



No, YOU are the one who doesn't get it.

There are a lot of black ppl who live in South Carolina and don't get harrassed by the rednecks. I was not being chased. Had my wife been by herself, she would not have been chased.

WE were being chased because WE violated the norm by being an interracial couple.

Unless you go with white guys in Dixie, YOU will not understand this because going with someone of your own race is unnoticed.

Nystyle709 wrote:

IYSS. I'm not going to argue about this with you any longer. I have a very different viewpoint from yours and it comes from my experiences, as well as my loved ones who've experience a lot worse than being chased down the street in a car. My family is FROM South Carolina, the good ol American south, and you trying to tell me what goes on there with this 'rednecks don't bother you if you're just a nigger by yourself' shtick quite frankly, is starting to piss me off. Think what you want. The beauty of being an individual. Later.