Hop Against Homophobia, Bi and Transphobia 2015

Hello everyone! As you can see by the beautiful badge here and on the side bar, I'm participating in the 2015 Hop Against Homophobia Bi - and Transphobia. As you can also see, my post is late. I went back and forth on what I wanted to write about. In the end, I decided to go with the topic that most often comes to mind when I think of the fight for Gay Rights.

I'm an African American woman. And to me, the fight for Gay Rights and against homophobia is very similar to the African American Civil Rights movement and beyond. I honestly cannot understand how anyone who has the skin of a people that have been discriminated against for the entirety of this country's history can't feel sympathetic to the Gay Rights cause. Our family members endured water hoses and police dogs during marches. They suffered milkshakes poured on their heads during dinner sit-ins. They were spit on when going to vote or integrating schools. But in the end, the sacrifice and abuse were worth it. African Americans can go to school where we want, we can shop where we want, and we can marry who we want.* So how can anyone who has that history in their blood turn around and want to deny the same rights to the Gay Community?

Whenever I see someone of African American descent saying that gays shouldn't have the right to marry or adopt children, it makes me disappointed and sad.  Slave owners twisted passages from the Bible to justify ownership of Black men and women as slaves. They prevented slaves from marrying, because they were property, not humans. After slavery's end, laws were created that prevented African Americans from marrying who they chose.  It wasn't until 1967 with the Loving vs Virginia case that the Supreme Court overturned any remaining laws against interracial marriage. How distasteful it is to me that some members of the Black community now have the same mindset when it comes to the Gay community. (Some may disagree by saying that people don't choose to be Black while they do choose to be gay. That belief always confuses me. Why in the world would anyone choose to live a life that brings with it discrimination and the danger of violence committed against them?)

It is my sincere hope that sometime in the very near future, people of other marginalized groups: minorities, women, persons with disabilities, etc. will realize that as humans we all deserve the basic right to legally be with the one we love.

Thank you for reading this post. For my contribution to the Hop, I am offering a prize: A $10 gift card to Amazon and a donation in your name (or alias of your choosing) to The Montrose Center.
Enter by commenting below. Leave your email in case you are the winner. If you prefer not to leave your email, be prepared to check back on May 25th when I announce the winner.

You can view the list of others participating in the Hop Against Homophobia and Bi Transphobia here: http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com/ You can also visit the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1641992786037710/

*I'm not naive enough to think things are perfect for Blacks in America. The recent civil unrest in cities like Baltimore are Ferguson is glaring proof that it is not.