If Dr. Martin Luther King were standing up for LGBTQ rights today, the Black community would drop him too.
As most of us (not me, sadly) have today off in recognition and celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday, it's easy to get lost in what might have been. Like most Americans, I honor King's memory as a man of peace who work for justice and civil rights. With that in mind, though, I find myself wondering how Dr. King would have handled our era's civil rights struggle- those Americans who happen to be lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and/or queer? I'd hazard a guess that he'd have a very difficult time carrying his message over the hue and cry emanating from his own African-American community, a majority of whom vehemently oppose equal rights for those who might fall under the LGBTQ umbrella. Isn't it interesting that African-Americans, who suffered so egregiously for so long are now among those most willing to discriminate those who live and love differently? And isn't it sad that they by and large refuse to recognize their own hypocrisy?
Remember, it's only discrimination when someone is doing it to us....
Can't we all just get along? Eh, apparently not....
No, I'm not about to rain on anyone's parade today. Celebrate Dr. King's life and accomplishments...because they truly are worthy of celebration. Just don't do so thinking that the fight for equality is over. As long as one class of people is treated and legally regarded as second-class citizens, then none of us are truly equal. The struggle continues, and the dream must not be allowed to die. Even if the once-oppressed are now among the oppressors.
What would MLK have done?
