Civil Rights and Gay Rights March Together in the life of Bayard Rustin

"The only weapon we have is our bodies...and we need to put them in places so that wheels don't turn."...Bayard Rustin

There are some people in life who have helped me change how I think about being a gay person. Growing up as I did, in a home in which it was made crystal clear to me how wrong my parents, the church, and society as a whole looked at LGBT life as something sick and to be ashamed of. As a part of my journey to self acceptance, those messages had to be undone and one of the ways that was accomplished has been in the examples of great LGBT people who by their examples have rocked the way I thought about myself...and the world. One such person is Bayard Rustin.

I had known of Bayard...that he was an adviser to Martin Luther King Junior, an outspoken activist and organizer,...and gay. That alone was a revelation to me. Most people think of Martin Luther King Jr. as one of the great leaders of our time for his work in helping drive forward the civil rights movement. It had hit me like a bomb then, to discover that standing by his side was a gay man...one who not only worked along side him, but advised him. The questions I had were endless. How out was Rustin to MLK and the rest of the leaders of the movement? What was his life like? Did he have relationships or was his a life marked with solitude? and finally....why had I never heard this before?

Again, my ideas about who we are as gay men and women had been changed and I needed to know more. Fortunately, because it was recently the anniversary of Rustin's 100th birthday there has been some talk about him and his life which led me to a documentary about his life....Brother Outsider, The Life Of Bayard Rustin. What I have learned about him not only answered all those questions I had and made me feel a personal connection to events that happened before my birth...they showed me and a singular individual, who was amazing all in his own right

What The Light Reveals

There are some events, that when they occur, shine a light on our society and ourselves in such a manner that it can leave us shocked, outraged, and saddened that such things can still happen. The most recent example of this was the terrible beating of Crissy Lee Polis that was filmed by a McDonalds employee who did nothing to assist her as she was beaten to the point of seizures. The video footage sparked outrage and was seen(rightfully) as an example of the dangers that Transgendered men and women face in our society as they go about their everyday lives.

For the most part, the response to the video was positive. Even those who were outraged at what happened did so from a place of support. But something else began to emerge that was disturbing. Racism and Transphobia again reared there ugly heads...except this time it wasn't coming from outside the GLBT community...but from those who claim to be within a community that should know dam well what discrimination feels like and have sense enough not to do it to anyone else.

Gay In The Black Community

This ad was posted in response to Gospel singer and evangelist and ex-gay, Donnie McClurkin's recent spate of ridiculous remarks about gay youth and gay gospel singer Tonex. It was created by Pastor Joseph Tolton of Rehoboth Temple on behalf of the GLBTQ members of the Black religious community and posted at www.thebgmnetwork.com.

I posted this today because we as a community have been so divided and because I believe that "what effects one, affects us all". That said, it is nice to see this conversation taking place...however rancorous it is likely to get.