Hate Crime Victim Duanna Johnson Shot to Death

On the night of Sunday, November 9, Duanna Johnson was shot to death in North Memphis, Tenn.  Her body was found lying in the street. After a witness reportedly heard gunshots, three people were seen fleeing the crime scene. Investigators have yet to identify any suspects.

This tragic news comes after Johnson, a transgender woman, was verbally assaulted and brutally beaten by two Memphis police officers in June.  A video of the attack was leaked and both police officers were fired from the department.  According to Memphis' ABC24-CW30, Johnson was trying to leave Memphis and move back to her hometown of Chicago.  She had filed suit against the city for a violation of civil rights.  GLAAD coverage link is here.

NBJC had issued a statement denouncing her beating earlier this year, available here.

Wanda Sykes Comes Out as Gay and Married
By Sarah Warn , Editor in Chief

Comedian and actress Wanda Sykes officially came out this weekend,
announcing to the estimated crowd of 1,000 gathered in Las Vegas at one of
the many rallies for gay rights taking place around the country on Saturday
that she's gay, and that she legally married her wife in California on Oct.
25.

Sykes (who divorced her husband of seven years in 1998), has spoken out
about gay rights issues many times in the past, recently participated in a
campaign to fight anti-gay slurs, and has openly referred to her wife in
some of her stand-up routines.

But she has always declined to specifically discuss her sexual orientation
publicly - until now.

"I don't really talk about my sexual orientation," she told the crowd at the
Las Vegas GLBT Community Center. "I didn't feel like I had to. I was just
living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life."

"Everybody that knows me personally, they know I'm gay. But that's the way
people should be able to live their lives."

But the passage of Proposition 8, she told them, spurred her decision to
officially come out. " We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12
feet back. I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked - our
community was attacked."

"Now, I gotta get in their face," she continued. "I'm proud to be a woman.
I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay."

Sykes joins WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes as one of the few high-profile black
women in America who have publicly come out as a lesbian or bisexual woman.

Just before the Nov. 4 election, Sykes talked about homophobia within the
black community on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, acknowledging there are
differences between the black civil rights movement and the gay civil rights
movement, but saying, "discrimination is discrimination, and of all people,
black people should know about discrimination."

Currently co-starring with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the CBS comedy The New
Adventures of Old Christine, Sykes - along with Jasika Nicole on the Fox
sci-fi drama Fringe, and Kristen Vangsness on the CBS crime drama Criminal
Minds - is one of the few out actresses currently playing a leading or
supporting role on primetime broadcast television.

She and her wife are among the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who married
during the four months same-sex marriage was legal in California, including
many lesbian couples in the entertainment industry.

Sykes said in her speech that she believes passing Proposition 8 will
ultimately backfire for those who are against gay marriage.

"They pissed off the wrong group of people," she told the crowd. "They have
galvanized a community. We are so together now and we all want the same
thing and we shouldn't have to settle for less. Instead of having gay
marriage in California, no, we're gonna have gay marriage across the
country."

AfterEllen.com
November 15, 2008
http://www.afterellen.com/people/2008/11/wanda-sykes-comes-out

Alexander Robinson CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition and activist and author Jewelle Gomez, Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou author of the forthcoming book Gods, Gays, and Guns: Religion and the Future of Democracy discuss the role of the black church in organizing around prop 8 and why activists were unable to defeat the measure.

GRITtv with Laura Flanders airs Mon-Thurs, at 8pm & 1 am ET, on Free Speech TV (DISH Network ch. 9415), on public stations and online at www.grittv.org and www.firedoglake.com/lauraflanders

Prop 8 segment is at :  http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/2008/11/11/why-prop-8-won/

The full hour is at : http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/2008/11/10/obamas-cabinet-why-prop-8-won-and-a-tribute-to-miriam-makeba/

Samuel L. Jackson has joined the fight to keep gay marriage legal in California.

I just got word that the Soul Men actor recorded a radio spot earlier today to urge voters to oppose Prop. 8, the ballot initiative seeking to overturn California's legalization of same-sex unions.

Jackson joins other stars who have taken a stand against Prop. 8, including Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Barbra Streisand, Molly Ringwald and Fran Drescher, as well as Pete Wentz and his Fall Out Boy bandmates.

A Black Transgender's Perspective from the

2008 Democratic Convention

By Marisa Richmond, Ph.D.

Recently, I had the honor and privilege of serving as a Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention from my home state of Tennessee. There is nothing unusual about that until you consider the fact that I not only was the first openly transgender delegate ever elected from Tennessee, but I was also the first African American transgender delegate from any state, ever.

This convention was not my first. I was a campaign staffer at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York, but it was my first convention as a delegate. The experience was quite different since, this year I was part of the focus of the activities. 

Every day I attended meals, receptions, and caucuses with other party leaders and activists. I used many of these occasions to talk with other delegates about the necessity of standing up for equal rights for all LGBT people on various issues including ENDA and Hate Crimes.  Of course, in each instance, I was always a caucus of one since there were no other African American, openly transgender delegates at the convention.

    
Pictures from the 2008 Democratic Convention

While the platform, which was passed by voice vote early in the Monday session before I even got to the Pepsi Center, has gender identity in the language, I was very frustrated that the word "transgender" was not mentioned one single time from the podium. In 2004, transgender was mentioned three times. In 2008, that number was zero. 

We are not invisible in the Democratic Party.  We should not be treated as pariahs when we are out there working hard and raising money for pro-equality candidates. And in our work on the platform before the convention, many of us were active around the country pushing for support of a "fully inclusive" ENDA, for which the United ENDA Coalition (which includes NBJC) has worked.  Instead, it states support for a "comprehensive" ENDA, which is not the same thing.

The Democratic Party cannot expect voters to overcome homophobia or transphobia if its own leaders cannot do the same.

Overall, it was a very positive experience and I hope in 2012, the African American Transgender Caucus will have more than one member.

About Marisa Richmond, Ph.D.

Marisa is President of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Equality Project & Board of Advisors of NCTE. She is a former Board Member of AEGIS, IFGE, NTAC, & Nashville's Rainbow Community Center. She served as Co-Chair of Southern Comfort in 2001, chaired the host committee of the 2002 IFGE Convention in Nashville, & served on the Planning Committee for Nashville Black Pride in 2004. She won the Trinity Award in 2002 & the HRC Equality Award in 2007.

A Black Gay Man's Perspective

from the 2008 Democratic Convention
 

There are times in one's life that can be defined by a moment or an historical event.  My attendance at the 2008 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver was one of those times.  I was joined by Michael Hinson, board chair of both the International Federation of Black Prides, Inc (IFBP) which is our 501 (c)(3) and  the IFBP Fund for Leadership, our 501 (c)(4).  We were both privileged to have Special Guest credentials to the Pepsi Center Monday through Wednesday as well as Invesco Field for Senator Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday.

The convention experience was much more than the speeches at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.  There were affinity caucus meetings, receptions and of course parties.  I attended the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and Matthew Shephard cocktail receptions on Sunday, and the DNC Convention LGBT Caucus meeting before Michael joined me on Monday afternoon.  Over the next few days, we attended the Stonewall Democrats Tea Party, Gill Action Fund reception, GLBT People of Color reception which the IFBP cosponsored with HRC, NBJC and others, the Gill/Miller State Heroes Reception and the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Celebration.

While these events provided many networking opportunities, the high points were during the evening sessions at the DNC.  Michelle Obama's speech on Monday night allowed America to see a poised and intelligent woman who will be a great First Lady.  Hillary was just fantastic on Tuesday night and her quoting of Harriett Tubman – "Keep on Going" bought the house down.  Wednesday night saw President Clinton set the table perfectly for Senator Obama with a stirring endorsement speech.  The most exciting moment of the week was Senator Obama's acceptance speech in front of 85,000 people and a record 38,000,000 million on television.  He electrified the America that night and I was there to witness history.

Earl Fowlkes
President/CEO
International Federation of Black Pride, Inc.
IFBP Fund for Leadership

 "Your Silence will not Protect You"

H. Alexander Robinson, NBJC CEO

October 6th is the first state deadline to register for the November elections. With over 600,000 jobs lost this year, Wall Street in a tailspin and an AIDS epidemic gathering steam there is a great deal at stake for our communities.

Estimates are that 8 million African Americans are not registered to vote and that 1.5 million of those are under the age of 25. Although I have been disappointed in the results of some elections in the past, I subscribe to the view that we get the government that we deserve.

By this, I mean that we get to decide who holds office and that we the people are the ones who must hold our elected officials accountable.

There are very clear choices being offered by the two major party Presidential candidates. They each have very different views of how to move our nation forward. On one point they seem to agree—the status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable. From the environment to the economy we must change how we do business. From healthcare to homeland security we are headed in the wrong direction and a course correction is imperative.

In your state you know all too well the challenges which you face. It is your responsibility to know what the candidates for your city hall, the statehouse and the White House are saying about how they intend to right our course. Then you must vote.

 But first, you must be registered. If you have registered in the past I encourage you to verify your registration and be sure you know where your polling place will be in November.

If you are not registered to vote, please register before the deadline—it only takes a few minutes and you will be happy that you did. If you know you are registered call a friend, a neighbor and your family members to make sure they are register as well. We are poised to make history in 2008; don't sit on the sidelines and allow others to decide if we will end discrimination against LGBT people, ensure equal pay for women, get

healthcare for all or turn the corner on AIDS.

You choose!

Obama, The March on Washington, and Bayard Rustin

Read more here