Did Black LGBTQ History Month Matter At All? | Queer News Tonight
As we mentioned at the top of the show, the LGBTQ+ community often ignores people of color when it comes to events and history. Tonight, we want to change that. First, we want to talk about some of our important events here in South Florida. On February 23rd, The Pride Center presents a Black History Month Celebration- Black Excellence-It’s All About The Rhythm. The Ujima Men’s Collective in collaboration with The pride Center is planning a Black History Program to highlight significant contributions from the Black LGBTQ+ community. On the 24th, Empower U and Unity Coalition present MELANATED, MOTIVATED & MOVING FORWARD. a Panel Discussion & Fashion Segment, in honor of Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Thursday, Feb 24, 1-4pm @ the historic Hampton House.
We also would like to discuss some of our LGBTQ+ Black icons, in honor of Black History Month. To begin, we would like to honor Bayard Rustin. A contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, he made huge strides during the Civil Rights Movement, having worked on The Freedom Rides in the 40’s and 50s, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, and testified on behalf of the New York Gay Rights Bill. In a speech in 1986 he said, “Today, blacks are no longer the litmus paper or the barometer of social change. Blacks are in every segment of society and there are laws that help to protect them from racial discrimination. The new “niggers” are gays… It is in this sense that gay people are the new barometer for social change… The question of social change should be framed with the most vulnerable group in mind: gay people.”
Next, before Lady Gaga, we celebrated being “Born This Way” with Archbishop Carl Bean. He was an American singer and activist who was the founding prelate of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, a liberal protestant denomination that is particularly welcoming of lesbians, gay and bisexual African Americans. Before founding the first church of the denomination, the Unity Fellowship Church, Los Angeles, in 1975, Bean was a Motown and disco singer and released his disco hit “I Was Born This Way” in 1975. In 1982, Bean became an activist, working on behalf of people with AIDS
Another entertainment icon we have to mention is Gladys Bentley. She was a blues singer, pianist, and entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance. Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House in New York in the 1920s, as a black, lesbian, cross-dressing performer. She headlined in the early 1930s at Harlem’s Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She dressed in men’s clothes (including a signature tailcoat and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting with women in the audience.
One of the most well-known faces of the LGBTQ+ rights movement is Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson. After the Stonewall Uprising, Marsha continued to lead the LGBTQ+ community as part of the Gay Liberation Front.
Finally, we want to end tonight’s discussion with a local LGBTQ+ leader who is making history in our lifetimes. Lorenzo Robertson is an author, poet and actor. He is the co-founder and facilitator of BrothasSpeak, a discussion group for Black men in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He is the Executive Director for the Ujima Men’s Collective, an agency for Black Gay Men. Lorenzo is constantly working around the state and country conducting workshops, seminars, and lectures on a variety of topics and interventions; Stigma, Sex and Sexuality, Many men Many Voices, D-Up!, Voices/Voces, Holistic Health and Recovery Program and other workshops that address issues surrounding gay and lesbian issues.
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