Badpuppy Gay Today

Monday, 14 April 1997

The presence, on April 12, of Massachusetts' Ken Reeves, at a Chicago BlackLesBigayTrans Unity Conference, underscores the growing visibility of black activism. Reeves has served two terms as the Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts (being the first African-American mayor in Massachusetts) and is currently a fourth-term member of the Cambridge City Council. He is known as a passionate advocate. Reeves knows that a strong effort is needed, emphasizing the importance of improving black family unity through the nationwide black, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered movements.

He has called for immediate attention to the continuing lack of visibility of openly gay black men. "It is remarkable," he told his audience, "that in 1997, we are still in the shadows. We are a people who must stand up and say who we are. We have to grow. You have to come out and tell this story. You cannot tell it in darkness!"

His voice, forthright and clear, had well- measured effects on his 150 listeners. In a conference recently held at Harvard University where the course of the gay movement was being discussed, he told, he'd noticed the speakers program had no African-Americans, no Latinos.

AIDS, declining for other segments of the population, Reeves explained, is rising alarmingly among African-American males. As a politician who has traveled and as a regular observer of gay movement groupings, Reeves has had occasion to look in upon what he feels is still a liberation movement in need of greater minority participation.

Several books have been published in recent times examining strict masculine role-conditioning among black males. Machismo, a strict stance, allows little room for flamboyant behaviors such as are presently flaunted by basketball star, Dennis Rodman. Rodman's flamboyance, even if he proves a Kinsey-6 heterosexual, is generally considered, in many African-American neighborhoods, as one of only two choices for black gay males, namely, to remain closeted or, with radical style, to adopt female attire. In present-day African-American culture, those already facing the prejudice and studied indifference of the majority, find the addition of a second, less-than-honored minority group within their own minority, no cause for rejoicing. There are a great number of gay black men who self-identify first as black. Many African American church leaders, unfortunately, continue to ignore the presence of gay men and lesbians in their outreach programs, The Rev. Jesse Jackson being an exception. An understanding of the urgency of African American gay and lesbian activism long is overdue. The courage and dedication of this newly developing movement's membership is clear.

Chicago Black Lesbians and Gays, sponsors of the Conference, were represented by co-chair, Renae Ogletree, who explained that the group had formed three years ago after members realized that their needs weren't being met by the city's other gay and lesbian groups.

Chicago Black Lesbians and Gays have ambitious projects underway, including dialogue between the organization's members and the city's African-American churches, centering around such topics as the spread of AIDS in the black community and the rise of homophobic outbreaks.

Becoming visible is the organization's driving force, according to members. The group also works to raise money for black AIDS organizations, and for gay and lesbian scholarship funds.