Leaders of the black LGBT community were shocked and dismayed at the rollercoaster of reconciliation and inclusion, then the last-minute rejection of their participation in Louis Farrakhan's Millions More Movement event on the Mall in Washington, D.C., on October 15.
Longtime gay activist Keith Boykin was denied the opportunity to speak at the march, despite an agreement reached last week that asked him to participate. Members of the black gay community blamed the fiasco on the Reverend Willie Wilson, who they said made the decision to rescind the agreement with Boykin.
The Millions More March attracted thousands of participants and served to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March and reinvigorate community empowerment. This time Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam had the support of many other leaders of the African American community who had shunned the earlier gathering in 1995.
In February, as planning for the event was under way, Farrakhan publicly welcomed the participation of gays and lesbians in activities but a series of communications between organizers and LGBT leaders resulted in little progress toward that end. There was a further setback in July when Wilson, executive director of the event, made what many considered to be inflammatory remarks about the community while preaching at his church in D.C.
The National Black Justice Coalition, of which Boykin is president, took Farrakhan to task for continuing to exclude it from the event at a news conference on October 11. That resulted in an October 12 meeting with Farrakhan and Wilson.
"There were times when the discussion was very heated," said NBJC Executive Director H. Alexander Robinson. Much of the discussion focused on Wilson's feeling that the gay community in Washington had attacked him, and "he still did not understand the hurtfulness of what he had said about us."
"Reverend Wilson was a huge obstacle. He refused to shake our hands when we walked in, he yelled and screamed the whole time," said Boykin. "Minister Farrakhan was very understanding, polite and respectful."
According to Boykin, "Wilson said the gay community attacked him and he feels the same way about the gay community as he feels about white people – a few of them are all right but the rest of them, I don't want to have anything to do with them."
Boykin said at one point Wilson pulled out some sleeping pills and a thong with candy on it and said that lesbians are making women take the pills and wear the thong, and suck off the candy.
"And we were just looking at him, stunned," said Boykin.
"We had a very good conversation with Minister Farrakhan on a wide range of issues that we share. At the end of the meeting it was Reverend Wilson that suggested that Keith be the speaker, and Minister Farrakhan agreed. I left the [Wednesday] meeting thinking that we had some agreement on what would happen [Saturday] and the potential for future conversations," said Robinson.
Rejected
"We showed up at 8 a.m. [Saturday] to get VIP credentials for me, Alexander, and Donna [Payne, NBJC vice president and a field organizer for the Human Rights Campaign], and they didn't have any for any of us. We were escorted to the stage area to talk with Sister Claudette Muhammad, who was our liaison to Farrakhan," Boykin said.
Payne said, "Reverend Wilson came over and said to me, 'you will not be speaking.' He had a smirk on his face."
Wilson claimed the group had not responded in time and he walked off.
Boykin disputed Wilson's allegation.
"We even tried to fax the organizers a copy of the speech I was going to give, so that he would not be surprised at all by what I was going to say," said Boykin.
"I was very disappointed," Boykin added. "I think Wilson is responsible for this. Minister Farrakhan has kept his word with us throughout the entire process, everything he has said he would do, he has done. But Reverend Wilson is a whole different character."
"It appears that Reverend Wilson is up to his same old games – he says one thing in a meeting and you leave the room and find that things have changed," said Robinson. "People are disappointed that they reneged on their promise, but frankly, they aren't that surprised, which is bad because it says that the rift between parts of the black family is so deep that people are not surprised by the dishonesty."
There did end up being an openly homosexual speaker at Millions More, but those on the Mall might not have realized it: Cleo Manago, who founded the Black Men's Xchange. He is a controversial figure within the LGBT community in part because of his rejection of the word gay as being white, and use of terms such as same-gender loving in its place.
Alternative rally
The NBJC and D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays had organized a rally as part of its "We Are Family Unity Weekend." They gathered on Saturday morning, a few blocks away at Freedom Plaza prior to marching to the Mall. Boykin spoke at that event.
"Reverend Willie Wilson is a snake in the grass, and he must learn that his ignorance, arrogance, and backstabbing will not be tolerated," Sterling Washington, co-chair of the D.C. Coalition, told the rally. "If he wants a fight, then a fight he will get."
"Homophobia and heterosexism remain major obstacles. ...The Millions More Movement needs us. They may not understand that, but they need the gay community," he added.
Bishop Zachary G. Jones, of Unity Fellowship Church in New York City, said, "In my family, I know that when those heterosexual couples have their little problems, and they need somebody within the family to kind of bridge the gap, and they need the gay uncle to participate with financial support, they know how to pick up the phone. That's the inside voice."
"My inside voice says, number one, we've got to stop being so dependent. Too many of our organizations are dependent economically on government. ... there are far too many of our organizations on welfare; 90, 80 percent of their financing comes from government. We must release the chains of dependence.
"As we move forward as a people, let us recognize what we must do to empower our people economically ... that's what talks in this country," Jones added.
Boykin was the last to speak. He said, "This has been a challenging week, and yet, we are still not defeated. We have seen the highs and the lows and we will not give up. We will continue to march. We will not let any one person stand in the way of our freedom or justice."
He said the point of his prepared speech was to get beyond the past. "Today, because of one person, we are unable to do that."Â Instead, he read the speech at Freedom Plaza.
Boykin profusely praised Farrakhan's recent acts and statements of inclusion.
"The diversity of speakers assembled here today is a powerful signal that we in the black community will not allow ourselves to be divided by differences of opinion, religion, gender, class, or sexual orientation ever again," Boykin said.
He raised the names of Bayard Rustin, Billy Strahorn, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Alvin Ailey as having added much to both the black and gay communities through their work. "That's why I am here today – to honor their legacy," he said.
"We share the same goals and aspirations of the rest of the black community, but none of us can accomplish those goals without unity and courage," said Boykin. "We all need courage in our lives. It took courage for you to come here today. It took courage for Minister Farrakhan to invite me to speak today. It will take courage to heal the wounds that have divided us for far too long."
The events prompted numerous postings on Boykin's Web site. Most were supportive and few expressed real surprise at the final outcome. But Sidney Brinkley, the founding editor of Blacklight, had a harsher reaction.
"You were being 'played' from day one – and you didn't even dig it," Brinkley wrote.
A person identified as Terrance, also posting on the Web site, wrote, "I've heard the saying 'you can't go home again.' Today's actions not only prove that true, but suggest that 'home' was never really home in the first place, and might not be worth fighting to return to it."