------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the April 15, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
BLACK FORUM DISCUSSES SAME-SEX MARRRIAGE
By LeiLani Dowell Oakland, Calif.
A forum and panel discussion on same-sex marriage was held in the African American community here on April 3. The event showed the breadth of the debate around same-sex marriage in the Black and lesbian/gay/bi/trans communities, as well as the commitment to struggle.
The meeting was hosted by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and the Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County (SMAAC). NBJC was formed in December 2003 to respond to the lack of African American voices in the marriage equality movement. SMAAC is a full-service agency providing an array of services to LGBT and questioning youth, primarily youth of color, throughout the Bay Area.
Bobbie Wilson, a pro bono attorney representing the City and County of San Francisco and a board member of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, discussed the two lawsuits that have been filed against the state of California. One suit, filed in the state Supreme Court, is in opposition to the temporary restraining order placed on same-sex marriages in San Francisco. The other challenges the validity of California state statutes which discriminate against same-sex marriages.
Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Tracey Scott, a lesbian couple, described how they married in San Francisco for love, but also to take the opportunity to be counted in the movement. They described waiting in line for seven hours in the rain without anywhere to sit, in order to participate in what Scott described as "100 percent civil disobedience outside City Hall, and 100 percent love inside at the ceremony."
Calvin Gipson, managing director of Human Services at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco and the first Black man to produce the San Francisco Pride Parade--which he did for five years--described his commitment to same-sex struggles as trying to put a Black face on the gay community. In a frank discussion, he stated that because of other issues--such as AIDS, healthcare, police brutality, poverty and racism-- same-sex marriage becomes less central to the Black community, as well as the Black LGBT community. However, he also stressed that the issue of same-sex marriage can be used to force the LGBT community to deal with the issue of racism.
D. Mark Wilson of McGee Baptist Church in Berkeley reinforced the idea that the broader LGBT community must raise the fact that Black and Brown families are under attack. Other speakers included Kara Korbel Chinula of the East Bay Chapter of Marriage Equality and Tony Colvin of Black and Queer at Stan ford, who chaired the event along with a high school student.
A diverse open forum followed the panel discussion. The call for May 17 national solidarity actions for equal marriage rights and against all forms of discrimination, bigotry and racism was raised from the floor and received a welcome reception.
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