Of the St. Louis American
Hundreds of participants from across the country ventured to the Gateway City last weekend for the St. Louis Black Pride Festival which provides information and inspiration for the African American GLBT (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender) community.
The 6th annual event kicked off with an awards reception Friday where Roberta Black, Charisse Jackson and Project ARK were honored for their contributions to the local GLBT community.
“I hope that people leave with a sense of empowerment and a sense of pride,” St. Louis Black Pride President Anthony Galloway said. He said he hopes local GLBT African Americans realize that there is a community for them in the midst of what he feels is negative publicity about the African American GLBT community. Galloway said that negative perception from some heterosexual African Americans is a major sore spot within the GLBT communuity.
“I think the biggest thing that we face is homophobia within the greater African American community,” he said. “Not having the support from people we’ve loved all of our lives, people that are a part of our families, people that are part of our churches, I think that has a lot to do with some of the distresses going on in our community.”
Galloway said homophobia within the African American community is the result of fear and that the only way to eradicate it is to foster tolerance through proper education.
“I think that people are really afraid and fearful and scared. I would never ask anyone to go against their beliefs, but I would ask people to be tolerant and to be able to love people and to respect people,” he said.
“I really would like people to become more tolerant, not necessarily agreeing, but reading about (the GLBT community), asking questions, being respectful and making sure that they are being fully educated about who people are.
“We are no different from anybody else other than that some of us are same gender loving individuals so there’s nothing different. I go to work everyday. I clean my house everyday. There’s nothing different about me.”
Other activities of the festival included a conference and a barbeque in Forest Park. Topics of the conference included GLBT rights awareness, which many African Americans in the community felt was important because they feel their civil rights to worship are under attack.
Devon Cook, a former St. Louis Black Pride board member, says that because spirituality is such a large part of African American culture it can be disheartening when members of the GLBT community no longer feel welcome in their houses of worship.
“The church really comes down on homosexuality, but, and I hate to say this, there are many of them in the church,” Cook said. “African Americans can’t get away from spirituality so it’s tough when the pastor in the church is condeming something when all you want to do is worship and be who you are. We’re here to say just let us be. You don’t have to agree with what we do, but just accept us for who we are.”
Galloway echoed Cook’s sentiments and suggested that excluding GLBT people from religious worship is just one of the injustices the African American GLBT community faces. He said that since African Americans have historically been discriminated against, they should be more understanding of the current plight of the African American GLBT community.
“An injustice to someone is an injustice to everyone,” he said. “(African Americans) have always been the least liked people in this society and now we’re doing it to someone else (GLBT community members). I think that’s awful. Anytime that we fail to defend the injustices of anybody else, we are creating an injustice to everyone. Your justice is at risk if you are denying someone else their right to justice.”
For those who may have the wrong impression about the intent of events such as the Black Pride festival and the GLBT community, Cook said the event was an opportunity to dispell myths about the GLBT lifestyle and give others a chance to see its members for what they really are.
“We’re people and we want to be recognized as human beings first and to break the stereotypes down about homosexuality, he said. “No, we are not trying to take your children and we’re not trying to turn everybody out.
“We’re are human beings and we have feelings too. People need to recognize and embrace that it’s more about the character of the person than what the person’s orientation, race or gender is. If they judge us by our character and not by what we do, the world would be a much better place.”
For more information about St. Louis Black Pride write to P.O. Box 4854 St. Louis, MO 63108 or visit www.stlouisblackpride.org.
