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to Meet Community Needs Weekend: Washington, D.C. is Part of 10 U.S. Celebrations Documents Policy Priorities, Demographics & Privations |
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Compiled By GayToday
"D.C. Black Pride 2000" will be the third of 10 Black GLBT celebrations around the country to distribute "Black Pride Survey 2000" to participants. Thus far, the survey has been conducted at Philadelphia Black Pride and at Houston Splash. In the next few months, the survey will be conducted at Oakland Black Pride (6/16-6/18); Chicago Black Pride (6/29-7/3); At the Beach in Los Angeles (6/30-7/4); Hotter than July in Detroit (7/18-7/25); New York Black Pride (8/2-8/6); New York Caribbean Pride; and In the Life in Atlanta (9/3-9/7). "Black Pride Survey 2000" was launched by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Policy Institute in collaboration with several leading gay and lesbian African American scholars, 10 Black Pride celebrations, and the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum. This survey will provide invaluable information about family structure, age, occupation, income, political affiliation, policy concerns, experiences of discrimination, access to health care, and a host of other subjects. Because sexual orientation and gender identity are rarely included in surveys, there is a dearth of solid, statistical information specifically about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States. "Black Pride Survey 2000" is a step toward closing this wide demographic gulf for Black GLBT people. "Legacies of invisibility, bias, and inattention have created huge gaps in knowledge about the basic demographic realities, unmet needs, and concerns of African American same-gender-loving and GLBT people," said Dr. Cathy Cohen, Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Yale University and lead researcher for the project. "This survey is a step toward gathering such critical information."
"The goal of the survey and the Racial and Economic Justice Initiative is a cultural shift within the GLBT movement to a new paradigm that identifies racism and poverty as intrinsic threats to the dignity and well-being of all GLBT people," said Urvashi Vaid, NGLTF Policy Institute Director. "We seek to engender a stronger, more determined, and self-confident GLBT movement that explicitly links with other movements to challenge America to understand the critical need to eradicate the social pathologies of homophobia, racism, and poverty from our culture." "Black Pride Survey 2000" was designed and is being administered by several prominent gay and lesbian African American scholars: Dr. Cathy Cohen, Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Yale University; Dr. Vickie Mays, Professor of Pyschology at the University of California at Los Angeles; Dr. Juan Battle, Professor of Sociology at Hunter College of the City University of New York and The Graduate Center; Dr. Gerard Fergerson, Professor at New York University's Wagner School of Public Policy; and Dorian Warren, doctoral student in Political Science at Yale University. This team is joined by NGLTF staff: Urvashi Vaid, Policy Institute Director; Sean Cahill, Research Director; and Micah Carvalho, Research Fellow. In 2001, NGLTF's Policy Institute will publish a report co-authored by the community organizers and researchers who are responsible for developing "Black Pride Survey 2000." This document will include policy recommendations based on the key issues identified by the participants surveyed at the 10 Black Prides. |
