FEBRUARY 17. 2006
"In a way,
we have this wonderful
unexpected consequence
of the white right trying
to mess with our people,
forcing us to have this
very honest and very open
conversation about
homophobia in the
black community."
JUStjOUt 15
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modern and antique
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—Mandy Carter
rhe track, it was about that equality. It is rhe philo­
sophical underpinning of why we do what we do,
what we believe in, and so when I graduated in ’66,
1 got involved with the anti-Vietnam War move­
ment. And it went from there to feminism, nuclear
disarmament, every movement that came along
that had an underpinning of equality and justice,
and as an out black lesbian progressive, 1 wanted to
work not only on gay stuff. As a black woman I
have race issues, as a woman 1 have women’s issues.
The first conversations about this whole mar­
riage thing happened at a time when no one
thought it was going to be a major issue for our
movement.
Of course in 1992 what was an anti-gay ballot
initiative has turned into all these anti-same-sex
marriage initiatives, but it’s all the same thing. The
radical right rising up with all this stuff.
What I think this time—1’11 just be blunt. In
2004, to my knowledge, there was not one person
of color, gay or lesbian or straight, that ran the fight
against of these statewide ballot measures. That
wasn’t good because it looked like the only people
who cared about same-sex marriage were white
gays, and it just perpetuated an image. There are
people of color all across this country who believe
that marriage equality is important, and they are
going to he on the front lines of this.
Here’s another reality check. There are a lot of
people in the communities of color who don’t
think this is a priority issue. There also people in
the gay community who think that this marriage
equality issue is taking away from more pressing
issues—AIDS, whatever.
That is why the {National] Black Justice
Coalition is fighting to make sure that this issue is
front and center of the black queer agenda. 1 don’t
want to sound like I’m stepping out of turn or
being disrespectful, but a lot of it comes from the
black gay male community. They think this is
somehow taking away from the importance of the
AIDS issue, and it’s not. It shouldn’t take away
from it; if anything, it should show how it has
some relevance or some connection. On the other
hand, 1 know a lot of blade lesbians who have
families. I think more black lesbians have children
than white lesbians do.
People don’t want to talk about the gay thing,
they don’t want to talk about in relation to AIDS,
and they don’t want to talk about it in relation to
marriage equality. Once again, it’s that homo-
phobic reality that is mixed in there and just adds
that uniqueness of the whole black perspective.
When you talk about the white right, they are
anti-gay, but they are also anti-people of color. If
people from our community want to get in bed
with white right, they have to understand that
these people are anti-affirmative action, pro-schixil
vouchers, they are against school lunch programs.
These are kids who wouldn’t have food otherwise;
these are poor kids of color who are not only black.
We have a big job to do—doing multiracial
marriage equality work all across the country—
with organizations like Basic Rights Oregon but
also with our black community.
In a way, we have this wonderful unexpected
consequence of the white right trying to mess with
our people, forcing us to have this very honest and
very open conversation about homophobia in the
black community.
You might have heard of the recent Black
Church Summit. That was a direct response to us
getting beat up on for the last 10 or 15 years.
SD: What do you perceive was the outcome
of that conference?
MC: Unbelievable. Historically, it was the first
time in an organized way .that you had the buy-in
of some of your really respectable, viable black
ministers, especially in Atlanta, who said we need
to have this conversation. Not only was it Rev. Al
Sharpton, but probably more importantly, it was
the church where it took place in Atlanta, the
First Iconium Baptist Church. The man who
opened up his doors, the Rev. Tim McDonald—
you can’t get any better than him to be the
church. It’s groundbreaking.
You know, Coretta Scott King has been a
heroine in terms of being consistent for the last
number of years saying to the white press: “You
need to understand that if you discriminate on
color, you have got to cover it. If you discriminate
based on orientation, you have to cover it.” But we
didn’t hear any major stories about Coretta Scott
King supporting pro-gay positions. They barely
ever talked about it.
That should have been front-page news.
Because they kept on burying it and trying to not
talk about it, while they were asleep at the wheel,
the people who needed to hear it heard it from
Coretta, and with her moral authority.... We
wouldn’t have been able to have that black church
summit with Al Sharpton if it hadn’t been for
Coretta Scott King having laid down that moral
authority layer first. ©
A full transcript of this interview—including Carter’s
thoughts on homophobia in the black community and
the role of black churches in fighting for marriage
equality—is available at www.justout.com.
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