[Farrakhan's invitation comes even as other African American leaders, from Reverend Al Sharpton to hip-hop superstar Kanye West, call for greater acceptance of gay people.] This could signal a turning point in our community, ... We are seeing an unprecedented discussion about sexuality in the black community. I'm confident that 20 to 30 years from now we will look at homophobia in the same light that we now look at racism. |
[Responding to a Washington Post report on Saturday that Farrakhan had agreed to include] gay speakers ... very pleased that eight months of discussions with Minister Louis Farrakhan and March organizers have begun to pay off. |
[The president of the National Black Justice Coalition, a gay civil rights group that met with Farrakhan on Wednesday, said he was barred from the stage even though he had been invited to speak.] I'm disappointed, ... They reneged on their agreement. |
A man can have protected sex with a different partner every day for the rest of his life and never contract HIV, while another man could have unprotected sex once in his life and become infected the same day. |
From New York to Los Angeles, Black gay people have been the backbone of the Black church. Through this network, we've discovered that many homophobic black pastors lead secret lives outside the church. We're not naming any names, yet, but by doing this, we hope to confirm information from our sources and empower the Black lesbian and gay community to speak out. |
He was unusually committed to exposing the truth about AIDS in the black community, and he was unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom. |
I am very pleased that eight months of discussions with Minister Louis Farrakhan and march organizers have begun to pay off, |
I guess it depends on how widely this letter is circulated. I'm hoping it will help black gay men to take care of themselves. |
I'm disappointed. They reneged on their agreement. |
I've done the activism thing for a long time now, and this is a much better opportunity for me to get my message across, make an impact. Being a part of the media, you get a chance to be part of shaping a dialogue, creating a dialogue. You have much more of an opportunity to create change. |
If Claude Allen committed the crime, he should pay the penalty. But it does strike me as odd that Allen would go to jail for stealing from budget department stores while George Bush and Dick Cheney go free after years of fraud, deceit and deception to the American people. |
It just happened to be woven into the dialogue. I think that's great. It's revolutionary in many ways, not to make a big deal of it. The difference between being out and coming out and being out just means being open and honest about who you are. I'm not on a show with a pink triangle or [rainbow] flag. I'm just me on the show and being me, which means that being gay is just a part of who I am. |
It's a colorful cast of hosts. We're all black professional New Yorkers, but we come from completely different perspectives. |
It's a tragedy that one person stuck in the past can prevent our community from moving forward. |
It's pretty clear that if they had been two black men it would have been a different reaction. It would have been an evil, nefarious story about deception and disease. These are guys who blatantly cheat on their wives with other men. There's no way it would have been called a love story if they were black. |