Editor’s note: Earlier in the month, students at Wayne State University in Detroit organized a showcase on black gay historical figures in the student center. The display caused a stir on that campus, and this column is a response examining the issue.
Langston Hughes, Benjamin Banneker, George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman — gay? The LGBT Student Union, and the LGBT Student Union of Color’s “Historically Black, Historically Gay” showcase in the student union has been getting quite a bit of attention.
I’m the secretary of the LGBT Student Union of Color, and the co-designer of the showcase. As I was walking through the Student Center today, I noticed a small crowd around our display, so I stopped to see what was going on. I was there for a half hour answering questions.
People just couldn’t believe that so many of their historic black heroes were gay. I think that it is important that people know that throughout history, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have made huge contributions to the world.
Angela Davis, activist; Howard Rollins, actor in the film “Ragtime” and TV show “In the Heat of the Night”; Alice Walker, novelist; Billy Strayhorn, wrote “Take the ‘A’ Train” with Duke Ellington; Max Robinson, first Black anchor on a national news program; Barbara Jordan, congresswoman; Benjamin Banneker, designer of Washington, D.C. — all are among the many who have made contributions to Black History Month.
It’s the part of black history that tends to get lost in the celebration. Martin Luther King Jr. cemented his place in history with the “I Have A Dream” speech, but if not for the handling of the logistics and pulling together of the million details it required to conduct the March on Washington by his colleague, Bayard Rustin, it never would have happened. Rustin was a gay man and his homosexuality was hardly a secret.
For black lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender, Black History Month must be somewhat bittersweet. They’re invited to join in the celebration of black achievement and accomplishment, but only if they keep a discreet silence of their role in it.
Strange, isn’t it, how this is a month where every library pushes its authors of color to the front window exhibits, but works by James Baldwin or Audre Lorde go missing. It’s a good month to read Terry McMillan and Toni Morrison, but not so for Sapphire, E. Lynn Harris or Essex Hemphill.
Black History Month is kind of funny in the way it seems to self-censor what parts of our history should be told and what should be glossed over. There are gay black people in this so-called “community” and the longer it takes those of us who know it and refuse to face the truth, the harder it becomes for us to truly know ourselves and accept ourselves for the diverse group of individuals that make up our race.
Are the awesome oratorical powers of Barbara Jordan diminished by discovering she was a lesbian? Do the sweet melodies of “Take the ‘A’ Train” suddenly become harsh and displeasing to the ear knowing that Duke Ellington’s collaborator was a gay man?
If we start with merely being more tolerant of the differences between others and ourselves, then later we can move on to bigger issues like acceptance. Maybe then, Black History Month can truly become a celebration where all the voices of its participants ring equally loud and clear.