Although it appeared a few weeks ago, this important piece of LGBT history as reported by TransGriot’s Monica Roberts is endemic of a discriminatory system. As we argue for rights to marriage in California, we need to remember that many of our LGBT peers have weightier and more deeply institutionalized issues. This article is of note not just to the transgender or queer person of color community, but to everyone who is fight in the civil rights struggle. We risk splintering off even more if we do not give proper recognition to those who came before, so please read this article and contemplate the impact each of us make.

Just because February’s coming to end does not mean the learning can’t continue. Check out a few important figures in the Black LGBT Rights Movement in the videos below.

1) Angela Davis

This video gives us a little insight into who Angela Davis is and leaves us wanting to learn more. You can find out about more LGBT activists at the GLBT History Month website.

2) Bayard Rustin

This clip from the documentary “Brother Ousider” reveals a little about the man who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X but may not have received the same recognition because he was openly homosexual.

3) James Baldwin

The openly out author of the classic Giovanni’s Room and other queer literature discusses the assassination of the divisive Malcolm X.

4) Sylvester

And here’s a fun little clip of queer pop icon Sylvester performing in San Francisco’s Castro in 1979.

by Kevin Sparrow

LGBT History Month is one of the more recent celebrations of civil rights granted to American citizens. But a historical discrepancy has always stood between LGBT identity and black identity. The story “Months to Mark the Years” from the October 2nd edition of MetroWeekly, Washington D.C.’s LGBT newspaper, describes a phenomenon of a black voice that is stifled in discussion of LGBT rights. Writer Kevin Mumford describes how “[Black gay journalist Robert Grier] disparaged books that ‘communicate to the black straight community that black gays are not/no longer contributors and resultantly expendable.’” The role black members have played in the LGBT community’s struggle for rights has been consistently inspiring… and consistently neglected. The article mentions how no one addressed writer James Baldwin’s homosexuality at his 1987 funeral, even though he was surprisingly outspoken on the topic in an era that did not see enough openness.

Even had the mention been made, though, Baldwin’s plights would not have been rectified. As a black man, one of his most influential novels, Giovanni’s Room, concerns a white American man’s exploits in Paris with another man. In order to break through to the mainstream, Baldwin had to choose a compromise: drop blackness or drop queerness. In modern society, both should be able to coexist. They often still do not.

Unfortunately, a disturbing trend has been to blame African-American citizens for homophobia. The Los Angeles Times reports, “The Yes on 8 campaign is counting on them, arguing that some polls suggest African Americans are generally less open to same-sex unions than other groups. ‘They are our strongest supporters,” said Frank Schubert, who is managing the Yes on 8 campaign.’” A division of two groups who have historically fought for civil rights would be a great blow to the LGBT community, but it seems disingenuous to say that African-Americans are substantially more opposed to LGBT rights. Beyond this, the article mentions “[African-American Californians] are expected to vote in record numbers this election because of Barack Obama’s presence on the ballot,” disregarding that the black vote may actually be aimed directly at Proposition 8 or is separate from the racial politics of current campaigning. There is no reason to be naïve that race does not exist in our current political discourse, or that focusing on race will go away any time soon. However, racist attitudes that proliferate under the guise of honest sociology have no place in journalism. Black attitudes on LGBT issues may or may not be as skewed as the media make them appear, but it is clear that racism is still pervasive and a serious impediment to furthering civil rights for all people.