Content provided in partnership with
Sharpton's new sermon: the Reverend Al Sharpton has a plan to combat homophobia among African-Americans and a personal stake in its success: his sister is a lesbian
Advocate, The, Oct 11, 2005 by Frankie Edozien
In June thousands of surprised revelers caught sight of the Reverend Al Sharpton marching in the nation's largest gay pride celebration, and they exploded in cheers as he stopped to shake hands, wave, and pose for pictures.
Celebrating all that is gay so publicly was a first for the preacher and civil rights activist, who sought the presidency of the United States in 2004. Under a merciless sun, Sharpton barreled down New York City's Fifth Avenue to historic Greenwich Village, looking every bit like a man on a mission. But the one thing he wasn't seeking that humid afternoon was votes. Sharpton, 51, a father of two, was starting his new campaign against homophobia, particularly among African-Americans. "I wanted to go last year, but I didn't want people to say I was going because I was running for president," he says of the parade.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
The seeds of this effort were sown in the heat of that campaign. His staff had handed him statistics on HIV infection rates among African-Americans, who make up 47% of Americans with HIV. From 2000 to 2003 the infection rate for black women was 19 times that of white women and five times that of Hispanic women.
"I was outraged when the data was brought to me," Sharpton tells The Advocate. "I said, 'why aren't we saying more about it?' And the unsaid thing was homophobia," he says over breakfast at New York City's Regency Hotel, where power and money dine every morning. Homophobia is the reason that many black religious and political leaders aren't aggressively tackling HIV, he says between sips of coffee and handshakes with genuflecting political heavyweights. "In my interfacing and dialogue with them, I know how many of them feel," he says.
While on the campaign trail, at a time when civil rights for gays and lesbians were constantly under assault, the dapper preacher was outspoken in his support for full marriage equality for gays. That hurt him, he says now. During the contentious Democratic primary in South Carolina, one minister was caustic: "You were my leader until you said that. How can you say that?" Sharpton's response was, "How can we fight for civil rights and support constitutional bias at the same time?"
Sharpton then decided that to shed light on the HIV pandemic raging among blacks, he'd have to deal with the widely accepted antigay bias in the country's black churches. Marjorie Fields-Harris, a Sharpton associate, says, "We cannot address the problems of how it is affecting children, particularly those in foster care, until we get around to this discussion." So the staff at Sharpton's National Action Network, where Fields-Harris is executive director, began brainstorming, and an initiative was born this summer. The only solution, they concluded, was to do it "directly from the pulpit." "Having grown up in the church, I have known gays and lesbians in the church," Fields-Harris says, adding that the response from some blacks to President Bush's hard-line stance on marriage equality for gays is worrisome. "Now, all of a sudden, people want to step away and act like they've never known any of these gay members, rather than deal with the fact that we've always had gays and lesbians in the black church."
Sharpton agrees: "It's absurd to act like it's all right for us to be homophobic." He says he has known gays in the church for as long as he can remember, and one in particular is family: "My sister is gay. I understood the pain of having to lead a double life in the system [since] we grew up in church. She is gay, and she fought that perception in church while she embraced it in her private life."
The initiative's main component will be to have frank discussions and forums in black churches nationwide, coupled with public service announcements for black radio, all beginning this fall.
And Sharpton will publicly support gay leaders. To kick off his plan he accepted an invitation to join the contingent of an out gay candidate for public office in New York City during the pride march. Sharpton walked alongside Brian Ellner, a lawyer seeking to become the next president of the borough of Manhattan. On Sharpton's left was the current borough president, C. Virginia Fields, an African-American woman who is campaigning to make history as New York City's first female mayor. Soon afterward the city's politicos and public health officials gathered at the home of a longtime gay activist for a reception in honor of the initiative. The next stop was church.
As a youngster Sharpton got his start following in the civil rights footsteps of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. After King's death he worked on setting up the National Youth Movement and got instant support from King's gay aide and confidant Bayard Rustin. Sharpton says that Rustin wrote the first check and had told him how the FBI, under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, attempted to blackmail King for having Rustin in his ranks. King wouldn't distance himself from Rustin, however. Like many others, Sharpton maintains that Rustin didn't get the historic credit and stature he deserved.
