more on the day of action

Pam Spaulding, who is an African-American LGBT blogger (seriously, one of the best), wrote a much more detailed view on Equality NC's Day of Action, which I wrote about here. I'm thinking about adding her to my "Who I Aspire to Be Better Than," but I really don't know if I'm ever going to be able to top her. Kanye West, no problem. Pam, no way. Pam has an incredibly valuable perspective on the Day of Action, as an African-American and part of a group that day who met with members of the NC Legislature's Black Caucas. That word makes me giggle. The head of that caucus is Rep. Alma Adams - my Representative. I chose to focus on the positives of that day in my original blog, (because I have a ray of idealistic optimistic, positivity-infused sunshine continually bursting out of my ass) but my meeting with Rep. Adams wasn't as positive. Pam was at that meeting and writes about it, and I followed up with a comment. Please read that important post here.

Generally speaking, the LGBT movement has not done nearly enough outreach to people of color and it's incredibly frustrating. I'm not one of the people who thinks that Prop 8 passed because of African-Americans (originally, they said 70% of African-Americans supported Prop 8, when in reality it was 58%, which is right about the same as other ethnicities). I am, however, involved in a non-profit that advocates for gay rights, and I'm not blind. I don't see African-Americans at most of our events. Luckily, there were a few at the Day of Action. I'm not hating on my employer - don't get me wrong and don't get me fired - and we're currently contemplating ways to do that outreach, but it's tricky. Riding in on a big, gay, white horse (or unicorn, I guess), isn't the way to solve problems with people of color, and it shouldn't be. However, as a media/PR nerd, having visible advocates like Wanda Sykes come out and be vocally supportive (and funny - a trait all too undervalued in it's power to transform) is a great step.



Black people generally aren't at our events, or town-hall meetings. Yet, when I go to bars, or social scenes, I see people of color everywhere. I see a vast array of people. I see young people. Unfortunately, I see old people. And I see dead people.

Keep in mind that I'm not talking about educating here. I'm not talking about cultural imperialism - lord knows the black community has seen enough of that. I'm talking about reaching out. Meeting with people of color, and listening to what they have to say, how they want to be helped, if at all, and figuring out how we can effectively engage them in our movement because I guarantee you it will be stronger, no doubt, as a result. And it's not just African-Americans, as I said in my previous blog, but it's young people, too. I truly don't believe that it's due to ignorance - I think gay people, in general, are aware of most of their inequities, I just think that we're not doing enough to engage them in ways that they'll respond to. It's no easy task, but it's not impossible, and I want to be a part of that.

Hell, even the NAACP's Chairman, Julian Bond, is a strong supporter of LGBT rights. Below is a wonderful interview with him from the Washington Post.



What called you to action? It doesn't have to be gay rights specific, but what was it that made things click for you to actually get off your ass, turn off "Real Housewives of New York City," and like sign a petition or something? Hopefully it was more than signing a petition, but I'll take what I can get? For me, I think it was discovering that there were people out there working for me. When I found Equality NC, and actually took 5 minutes to look into it, the rest, as they say, was history for me. So, faithful readers, what gets you going?