TheLoop21.com

By: Brooklyne Gipson (Add to your loop)
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 00:00

After the Prop. 8 mess died down, LGBT issues have disappeared.

Earlier this year, gay rights issues made waves in the black community, when blacks in California were blamed for the passage of Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage. Issues of religion, homophobia and racism, tied in with the LGBT issues, were raised in an argument that seemed to do nothing more than use the black community as a scapegoat.

As soon as that fracas died down, the black community went back to ignoring LGBT issues.

CNN’s controversial Black in America special touched on problems plaguing blacks, from high teen pregnancy rates to poor education systems, yet made no mention of homophobia; Black AIDS Day (Feb. 7) came and went without much fanfare; and there hasn’t been much coverage of recent developments in the gay marriage rights saga from the minority perspective.

“It's hard to believe, given the explosion of HIV/AIDS in the black community, that the 10th annual State of the Black Union (SOTBU) symposium ... had not a single guest on to discuss that topic — or the controversy over Proposition 8 and homophobia,” wrote Pamela Spaulding of the Pam’s House Blend blog.  

It’s doubly surprising since this year’s 10th anniversary symposium broke away from the tradition of focusing on one topic and examine how to make America better as a whole. The panels featured everyone from spiritual leader Iyanla Vanzant to environmentalist Van Jones, yet somehow there was not one leader from the black LGBT community.

With the California Supreme Court considering challenges to Prop. 8 and the ongoing cries of racism that the black community continues to suffer, it seems that these issues are important enough to get some recognition.

So why aren’t they on black America’s agenda?

Jasmyne Cannick, a black and lesbian journalist, wrote a controversial opinion piece in late 2008 where she admitted that gay marriage wasn’t even at the top of her own priorities.

“I don't see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people,” she wrote. “Gay marriage? Please. At a time when blacks are still more likely than whites to be pulled over for no reason, more likely to be unemployed than whites, more likely to live at or below the poverty line, I was too busy trying to get black people registered to vote, period; I wasn't about to focus my attention on what couldn't help but feel like a secondary issue.”

And while Cannick may feel this way, others on the opposite end are pointing fingers at leaders like her.

"Where is lesbian-identified publicist and writer Jasmine Cannick?," wrote Cleo Manago in Dallas Voice, a community newspaper for gays and lesbians in Dallas.