Confronting discrimination on two fronts is daunting
THE OLYMPIAN | • Published February 19, 2010
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/1143624.htmlThis column is dedicated to black and African-American lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and allied leaders past and present, who have made an extraordinary difference in our world.
Like most mainstream narratives, the ordinary stories and lives of LGBT Americans are more often than not told and depicted through the lens of racism. February is Black History Month, celebrated annually since 1926.
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In 2003, at just 15, Sakia Gunn was murdered in Newark, New Jersey. She was killed after denouncing sexual advances and telling the perpetrators that she and her friends were lesbians. She was African-American, and a girl who dressed like a boy. While over 2,500 people attended her funeral, the larger public response to this hate crime did not compare with the public outcry and subsequent actions following the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998. Shepard was murdered in rural Wyoming because of his sexual orientation. I'm left to conclude that race — Matthew being white and Sakia being black — had everything to do with the differences in public response to these two hate crimes.
