October 28,2005 volume 26, Number 22 ^^^-^-^Serving the Carolinas For Over 25 Years! Black Gays, Lesbians on Rollercoaster of Inclusion Gays Embraced, Then Excluded From Millions More Event By Bob Roehr Contributing Writer Leaders of the black GLUT commit nity were shocked and dismayed at the rollercoaster of reconciliation and inclusion, then the last minute rejection of their participation in the Millions More Movement (MMM) event on die Mall nv Washington, DC, on October 15. The event served to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March and reinvigorate commu nity empowerment. This time the Rev. Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of : Islam had the support of many other leaders of the African munity who had shunned the eanfcr gathering. In February, Farrakhan publicly wel comed the participation of gays and lesbians inactivities but a series of com munications between the MMM and GLBT leaders resulted in little progress toward that end. There was a further setback in July when Rev. Willie 7116 National Blapk Justice Coalition hole* a ralty, ,#*.p Unity Weekend in Washington, DC on Qclober *5. Wilson, executive director of the event,' made what many considered tobe inflammatory remarks about the com munity while preaching at his church in DC The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) took Farrakhan to task for con timing to exclude them from the event, . at ¥ news conference on October 11. That resulted an October 12 meeting with Farrakhan and Wilson. "There were times when the discus sion was very heated," said NBJC exec utive director H. Alexander Robinson. NBJC Members gather in Washington (left) and NBJC President Keith Boykin addresses the crowd. Much of it focused on Wilson's feeling that he had been attacked by die gay community in Washington, and "he still did not understand the hurtfulness of what he had said about us." "Rev. Wilson was a huge obstacle. He refused to shake our hands when we walked in, he yelled and screamed the whole time," said- NBJC president Keith Boykin. "Minister Farrakhan was very understanding, polite and respect ful." According to Boykin, "Wilson said the gay community attacked him and he feels die same way about the gay community as he feels about white people—a few of diem are alright but die rest of them, I don't wantt^jmv^ anything to do with ther^P*11®^^^^ He 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 3&mrthe thong, and suck off me candy. "And we were just kicking at him, stunned." - Kooinson continued, 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 Rev. 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 [on Saturday] and the potential for future conversations." Saturday Disappoints "We showed up at 8:00 am [on Saturday] to get VEP 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, "Rev. Wilson came over and said to me, you will not be speak ing. He had a smirk on his face." Wilson claimed the group had not responded in time and he walked off. continued page 2

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