Living Out Loud with Darian

The editorial hits on the LGBT community by the Washington Post has become quite frequent as of late and don't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Over the last couple of months Washington Post writers have written glowing editorials almost praising the work of NOM's Brian Brown and anti-gay bully Bishop Harry Jackson. Over the weekend Post writer Taylor Harris penned
an arrogant piece attacking Dr. Julian Bond's support of marriage equality and his idea that blacks should be the last group opposing civil rights for gays and lesbians.


From The Washington Post:


"Black people, of all people, should not oppose equality," Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP, declared at the National Equality March in Washington.


To be clear, Bond has used this line several times, and when he says "equality," he isn't talking about the right to vote, the right to eat at a public restaurant, the right to attend an integrated school or the right to a fair trial. He is talking about the right to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.


With all due respect, which Bond certainly deserves, this black person doesn't agree. And neither do two-thirds of black Protestants, according to an Oct. 9 Pew Research Center poll. Echoing President Lyndon Johnson's words at the signing of the Voting Rights Act, Bond said, gay marriage "must come; it is right that it should come. And when it has, you will find that a burden has been lifted from your shoulders."


Perhaps Bond fails to realize that he is unfairly requiring another form of "two-ness" among African Americans. Already, being both an American and black is difficult, as W.E.B. DuBois wrote. But so is being an African American and a Christian.


Oh really? Try being African-American, gay and Christian Mr. Harris. This oppression olympics that some of our people insist on playing in an effort to keep other minorities from achieving equality under the law because we think we've "overcome" is so tired. When will those who oppose equality realize that inevitably it will come and history will not be kind to them in the end?


Ironically, the D.C. City Council is set to cast the first of two votes on pending legislation that would grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples in the district on December 1. The legislation is expected to easily pass.