This week the U. S. Supreme Court announced that in the fall it will hear the case “Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.” The case – which will have many of us LGBTQ Americans on pins and needles – will argue the parameters of one’s right to practice their religion and their right to…
June is Pride Month for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities across the country — and parades abound. While we all rev up each June for pride so, too, do the fault lines of race and class in our larger white LGBTQ community. With advances such as hate crime laws, legalization of same-sex…
When June approaches, I always like to reflect on the pantheon in our LGBTQ community. However, when it comes to Caitlyn Jenner it is difficult to fathom how she went from icon to outcast. Is it transphobia? Is it because she was once part of the over exposed Kardashian clan on their forever running TV…
https://youtu.be/dA5Yq1DLSmQ Pepsi ads aim to emphasize its youthful brand by championing it as “the choice of a new generation.” Not a bad marketing tool to turn its second-class status to Coca-Cola, its arch-rival, into an advantage. However, Pepsi’s recent commercial starring Kendall Jenner (of the Kardashian clan) was a fiasco. And, the backlash was fast and…
When artist Dana Schutz presented “Open Casket,” an abstract painting of Emmett Till’s open casket-the Chicagoan 14 year old African American male teen lynched in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955- she could not have fathomed the conflagration that erupted. The painting hangs at the Whitney Museum in New York City but under the daily watchful eye of protestors blocking its view they termed the “black…
There are differences within diversity. This issue scratches below the superficial veneer of diversity and is an eerie reminder of how minority groups are often pitted against one another. This year’s Oscars were the most diverse in history. With six nominations for six African American themed films and at least 10 black actors and filmmakers,…
Receiving the award is a historic moment not only for True Colors, but also for the White House in recognizing and honoring the artistic talents of America’s LGBTQ youth, especially youth of color. The next night following “Moonlight’s” win for Best Picture at the Oscars, a first for a black LGBTQ film, True Colors Out…
When news hit the airwaves that Bishop Eddie Long died from an unnamed aggressive cancer resulting in dramatic weight lost, many now throughout the Black Church community wonder if his death was due to HIVAIDS, and he was too embarrassed to admit it or seek medical care until it was too late. “If he had…
Gospel music undeniably has a queerness at its roots that has not only shaped the genre but it has continued to give gospel music its enduring vibrancy. One of black gospel’s darlings and Pentecostal preacher Kim Burrell was ousted from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, sending shock waves throughout the African American community. Burrell along with…
To the shock of many of us LGBTQ people of faith is the Vatican’s recent decision in the document “The Gift of Priestly Vocation,” to ban gays to the priesthood; thus, reaffirming its 2005 stance. Those of us who have “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” or who “support the so-called ‘gay culture’” are categorically denied to serve one of the church’s…
