When will people understand that equating the Black Civil Rights Movement to the Gay Movement/Agenda is like comparing someone snatching a rainbow sticker off a car versus having water houses or dogs turned someone because of the color of their skin? The two paradigms don’t match. How could one be so entitled to compare the Black Civil Rights Movement to the Gay Movement/Agenda? As an African-American woman that is part of the LGBT community it is a slap in the face to think that one would feel so entitled to so. This is the type of eliticism that makes me want to holla and throw my hands in the air. This type of entitiliscm makes me want to say: Keep your White gay privilege off the backs and shoulders of my ancestors.
The only time we count as individuals or a collective of people is during the time of Pride when the ballots/agendas are passed around and signatures are needed. No other dialogue is brought into the forefront outside of those times. Have White gays taken the time out to find out if marriage is a pressing agenda for Blacks or other individuals of color? Or is it to be assumed that because we are same gender loving that we ALL have the same agenda? This faux pas is ignorance at its best.
When Proposition 8 passed it was the fault of the black people. Every last Black person in the state of California voted yes for Proposition 8. Anyone of decent intelligence would know that’s a lie. However, where were those people when it came time to knock on the doors of the black community to start a dialogue? How many of those who cast blamed sat with a Black person to have an honest heart felt conservation about gay rights and how this not only affects whites but it crosses color lines and socio-economic Diaspora; and why we needed ALL Black folk to cast down Prop 8 during the heartfelt “…it’s just like the Civil Rights Movement” conversation which is totally spoken out of the true unawareness of pain. Where black gays courted as much during this fight or were we quickly rounded up just as filler? How inclusive was this movement? Not just the movement for Prop 8 but the movement with the rainbow crest of so many colors, but my color not included.
This is in no means a preach of a pity party, but to be honest in what I feel. By no means should any individual wait to be invited or feel that they must be treated with a gentle hand because, “this movement may be something that you can’t grasp.” However, to be honestly included and welcomed is a moment I’m yearning to treasure instead of being the Black woman that is patted on the head or treated as another number. We have a lot of ground to cover in the Gay Movement. No one wants to talk about racism. Because in the Gay world where everyday is sunny and the rainbow is always out, for some racism doesn’t exist. Or maybe racism is just wedge under that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and as long as the rainbow is out we don’t have to discuss it.
The only time we count as individuals or a collective of people is during the time of Pride when the ballots/agendas are passed around and signatures are needed. No other dialogue is brought into the forefront outside of those times. Have White gays taken the time out to find out if marriage is a pressing agenda for Blacks or other individuals of color? Or is it to be assumed that because we are same gender loving that we ALL have the same agenda? This faux pas is ignorance at its best.
When Proposition 8 passed it was the fault of the black people. Every last Black person in the state of California voted yes for Proposition 8. Anyone of decent intelligence would know that’s a lie. However, where were those people when it came time to knock on the doors of the black community to start a dialogue? How many of those who cast blamed sat with a Black person to have an honest heart felt conservation about gay rights and how this not only affects whites but it crosses color lines and socio-economic Diaspora; and why we needed ALL Black folk to cast down Prop 8 during the heartfelt “…it’s just like the Civil Rights Movement” conversation which is totally spoken out of the true unawareness of pain. Where black gays courted as much during this fight or were we quickly rounded up just as filler? How inclusive was this movement? Not just the movement for Prop 8 but the movement with the rainbow crest of so many colors, but my color not included.
This is in no means a preach of a pity party, but to be honest in what I feel. By no means should any individual wait to be invited or feel that they must be treated with a gentle hand because, “this movement may be something that you can’t grasp.” However, to be honestly included and welcomed is a moment I’m yearning to treasure instead of being the Black woman that is patted on the head or treated as another number. We have a lot of ground to cover in the Gay Movement. No one wants to talk about racism. Because in the Gay world where everyday is sunny and the rainbow is always out, for some racism doesn’t exist. Or maybe racism is just wedge under that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and as long as the rainbow is out we don’t have to discuss it.
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