365 Gay.com article: Pastor Slams American Gay & Lesbian Organization For Racism.
Withers: Pastor accuses GLBT organizations of racism
Rev. Eric Lee takes LGBT organizations to task for “unconscious racism”; he thinks this is a major stumbling block to the gay rights movement.
“I believe that the cause of justice and equality also suffers when the unconscious racism of the white male-dominated LGBT community goes unchecked. I’m sad to see it appears they have not learned the lessons from the mistakes of the California Proposition 8 campaign for marriage equality.”
Lee, a straight ally, argues that while GLBT political organizations, specifically those working on marriage, talk good about outreach, they never really engage blacks and other people of color. His point is worth paying attention to.
In all of the heat produced after the Prop 8 fallout, few examined the sad work marriage activists did to round up allies of color. Don’t take my word for it. Read this interview of Latrice Johnson of the United Lesbians of African Heritage.
“We weren’t approached, however I did make attempts, as did many of our staff and volunteers made attempts to reach out and let them know we were certainly willing to come to the table and help out,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately we were not approached. It was almost a dismissive response.”
Unlike Lee, I don’t think the reason is just racism, unconscious or conscious. As gays and lesbians we see our experience as GLBT people through our individual races and cultures. When we use the term gay community, what we really mean are those who either look like us or come from similar social backgrounds. Nothing wrong with this, but it is disastrous of you are trying to build a diverse movement to support marriage equality. Or any other gay rights agenda.
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