National Black Justice Coalition responds to NOM's Race Baiting Documents

NBJC responds to NOM's race baiting tactics, which has become national news.

From their website:

“These documents expose NOM for what it really is—a hate group determined to use African American faith leaders as pawns to push their damaging agenda and as mouthpieces to amplify that hatred,” says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Despite NOM’s appalling efforts to endanger committed couples and families by elevating equality opponents of color, a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll confirmed growth in support for the freedom to marry since October 2009, with strong growth in support among African Americans by 56 percent.

And support from our community doesn’t stop there. Numerous African American civil rights leaders, such as John Lewis, Julian Bond, and Coretta Scott King, have stood up for the freedom to marry and equality for all Americans, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color.  

“NOM is fighting a losing battle,” adds Lettman-Hicks. “With these memos made public, the black faith community must refuse to be exploited and refuse to deny their fellow brothers and sisters equal protections under the law.”

That's real talk from Sharon.

Interesting Quote: Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition

It is with this same sense of urgency that King would summon the LGBT community to act if he were alive today. He would question whether HBCUs are equipped to serve LGBT students who are victims of anti-gay harassment or domestic violence. He would rally young people and administrators to take action before we lose another black life.


Noting that we are inextricably linked through our common humanity and our fight for equality, King stated, "Eventually the civil rights movement will have contributed infinitely more to the nation than the eradication of racial injustice. It will have enlarged the concept of brotherhood to a vision of total interrelatedness."


NBJC is calling on both the civil rights and LGBT communities because King's words continue to ring true as we propel this movement forward. We must remind ourselves, like King did, why we cannot wait, why the time to have these conversations and the time to act is now.

Sharon is talking about the death of Robert Champion Jr., a gay drum major at Florida A&M.

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National Black Justice Coalition Ask Organizations to Keep Fighting to Repeal DADT

They are on it.

NBJC released a statement about the DADT vote:

National Black Justice Coalition Encourages
Ally Organizations to Keep Fighting
to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

For Immediate Release

On September 21, the Senate failed to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT),” a law that calls for all gay and lesbian people who serve in the armed forces to be discharged without benefits if their sexual orientation is revealed. Supporters voted 56-43 in favor of starting debate on the 2011 Defense authorization bill, short of the 60 needed. A Republican-led filibuster blocked efforts to reverse DADT, shelving an Obama administration priority until after the November election.

In response to the delayed repeal, National Black Justice Coalition Executive Director Sharon Lettman-Hicks stated,

“The battle to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has been stalled temporarily, but the fight is not over. We thank our ally organizations and informed leadership for staying the course to reverse an unjust and outdated law that compromises the moral integrity of our armed services by forcing gay and lesbian servicemembers to lie about who they are and who they love. More than thirteen-thousand servicemembers have been discharged due to DADT, including a disproportionate number of Black women. Those women have been left without health benefits and pensions and with a stained professional record simply for being lesbians. We look forward to the day when, even in our short-term memory, this will seem absurd--the fact that people debated whether servicemembers who sacrifice their lives every day to keep our country safe also have the right to be honest about who they are without becoming victims of government-sanctioned identity suppression.”

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The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. NBJC's mission is to end racism and homophobia.

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Interesting Quote: Sharon Lettman-Hicks

Sharon Lettman-Hicks is the Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition. She was speaking at the 2010 State of Black Gay America Summit last week.

Black AIDS Institute and the National Black Justice Coalition responds to The View's misconception of HIV and Gay Black Men

Y'all may remember Sherri Shepard and D.L. Hugley talking mess about the spread of HIV/AIDS from Gay Black men, if not, here's a refresher:

Well GLADD, Black AIDS Institute and the National Black Justice Coalition has released a press release to correct this mess
This is GLAAD's 2nd attempt to take action on this.

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Interesting Quote: Sharon J. Lettman

"We must bring our families together. Gay and transgender people are our children, our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, parents, co-workers and friends. They are a vital part of the black community, and it is time for everyone to recognize the real issues we all face when our brothers and sisters are denied full participation in the life of our community.

What has always drawn me to this work, and to the people I've been proud to stand alongside, is the knowledge that we must work together to create the better future we seek. In my new role at NBJC, that means lifting the voices of our community, building bridges so that all who experience discrimination can understand the common ground we share, and walking across those bridges together in greater and greater numbers toward equal rights for all."

She is the new Executive Director of The National Black Justice Coalition.

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National Black Justice Coalition's Jason W. Bartlett speaks on Obama's intentions towards the LGBT community

Here's an interesting essay from Jason W. Bartlett, NBJC Deputy Director, as well as a Connecticut State Representative.

Obama’s Reality on Civil Rights, Gay Rights

President Obama made powerful, significant statements at the June 29th LGBT Stonewall reception, but I fear that the most telling words have been lost by the mass media.

Obama’s words relate to the intersection of sexuality and race, and they foretell the difficulty in moving the agenda forward—a mission the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) was founded upon and been advocating ever since our inception five years ago.


Many gay and lesbian people wonder how it can be that a Black President has not moved more quickly on LGBT rights. They ask out loud how it can be that President Obama does not see gay rights as the next frontier in our nation’s civil rights struggle. What many of my white gay brothers and sisters need to realize is that Obama absolutely understands the intellectual argument that equates advancing gay rights to America’s civil rights struggles.

He said as much in his speech. But he is a President whose constituency—and I do not mean white, Middle America, but his constituency of Black Americans—does not stand with him or follow his argument on civil rights encompassing LGBT rights.

Obama’s enlightened perspective on the gay rights struggle is seen in his admonishment to himself: “It’s not for me to tell you to be patient anymore than it was for others to counsel African Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half century ago.” This understanding of the LGBT disinclination towards patience—just as Black civil rights heroes could wait for justice no longer—was neither welcomed nor accepted by many in the Black community.

The initial reaction to this argument was demonstrated by the popular radio personality Tom Joyner, who immediately took offense to the comparison the morning after Obama’s speech. During the debate on marriage equality on the Connecticut House floor, I personally heard murmurs and invective from an African American colleague who bemoaned the mention of civil rights heroes and struggles as the case was made for marriage equality.

Some people take offense personally that white gays and lesbians would take inspiration from civil rights icons, as many have a feeling of ownership and personal attachment to the civil rights struggle and its philosophy.

Are these feeling legitimate? Or do they point to a wider incidence of homophobia in our Black community? President Obama noted in his remarks that that we need to open the hearts and minds of those that don’t fully embrace their “gay brothers and sisters.” He goes on to say that he has “...spoken about these issues not only in front of you, but in front of unlikely audiences—in front of African American church members...”

This statement is telling and provocative. It demonstrates that President Obama is clearly aware that a disproportionate number of African Americans are not ready to embrace gay rights. Who is willing to bridge this divide to make the demographic shifts necessary for politicians, the media and the country to move progressively on LGBT rights? NBJC believes that President Obama is ready to do the hard lifting and we are prepared to assist him in this effort.

We are also willing to challenge the homophobia that exists in our community. For example, we will be working with the NAACP at their centennial convention and encouraging their members to recognize that one of their own, Bayard Rustin—a leader and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington—was a gay Black man. This is something the NAACP has yet to do. In addition, we call on our white gay brothers and sisters—just as President Obama did—to recognize that they have work of their own to do in communicating with communities of color.

All too often, Black LGBT people extend our hand to work with our white colleagues, as we did in California on Proposition Eight, and all too often our white brothers and sisters stay frozen in a black/white construct that is still too separate and unwelcoming.

Many don’t recognize that this is the next battle. We believe President Obama will move the agenda forward, and NBJC will be just as diligent as other LGBT leaders in prompting our President towards action. We also look to Michelle Obama. She was at the reception as well, and many of us noted her presence and facial expressions that told it all; Michelle may be our fiercest ally. It is the responsibility of all of us—Obama, Black leaders and White LGBT leaders working together—to persuade the President’s closest and most loyal constituency, communities of color, towards real progress.

I attended, Knocking Down the Door: Black LGBT Images in Media

Last night, I attended, “Knocking Down the Door: Black LGBT Images in Media,” hosted by GLAAD and the National Black Justice Coalition. The event discussed the images of Black LGBT people in movies and television. The conversation moved through issues of out and closeted actors, lack of support from the LGBT community, and the messages the characters send.

The panel was consisted of
Willis Edwards, National Board of Directors, NAACP; Vice Chair of the NAACP Image Awards
Deondray Gossett, Writer/Producer/Director, "The DL Chronicles"
Maurice Jamal, Writer/Producer/Director, "Dirty Laundry," "The Ski Trip"
Quincy LeNear, Writer/Producer/Director, "The DL Chronicles"
Marcellas Reynolds, TV Host/Correspondent, E! Networks
Sonja Sohn, Actor, "The Wire"
J. Karen Thomas, Actor; Founding Member SAG LGBT Actors Committee

Each of them provided their opinions on the reasons why Black LGBT are not visible, as well as the struggles to present non-stereotypical characters.

I was happy that the discussion moved to the importance of the visibility of Black LGBT characters. It was mentioned that the lack of LGBT characters of color makes it hard for Black communities to accept or to understand gay culture. I totally agree with that, in some ways we don't exist to many in the Black community or it's not talked about. Still to this day, I will hear that being gay is a 'White' thing. By increasing our visibility, we can make this a 'People' thing regardless of race.

It is definitely important to reflect the real faces of the LGBT community. I can't help but to think if there were more LGBT characters of color on TV, Prop 8 may not have passed. This may be wishful thinking on my part, but it's something I truly believe.

So here are some of the points I was feeling last night:

• More visibility of LGBT characters of color
• More execs should be open and willing to put more diverse LGBT characters on TV and film
• More diverse types of LGBT characters of color
  
• More lead roles for LGBT characters of color
  

In all, it was a great discussion. We needed more time, but we got into some good stuff. We should have more discussions about the diversity of our LGBT community. It's time for a change.