Black gay pride

The Black Gay & Lesbian Leadership Forum at the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation

The Black Gay Pride movement is a movement within the United States for African American members of the LGBT community. Started in the 1990s, Black Gay Pride movements began as a way to provide black LGBT people an alternative to the largely white mainstream LGBT movement. The movement serves as a way for black LGBT people to discuss the specific issues that are unique to the black LGBT community. While the mainstream gay pride movement, often perceived as overwhelmingly white,[1] has focused [2] much of its energy on marriage equality, the Black Gay Pride movement has focused on issues like medicine, homophobia in their communities and housing.[3]

Today, there 25 Black Gay Pride events all over the United States. The largest of these events have historically been D.C. Black Pride, At the Beach Los Angeles and Atlanta Black Pride.[4] While black pride events started as early as 1988, D.C. Black Pride, which began in 1991, has been cited as one of the earliest celebrations.[5] The D.C. Black Pride celebration started out of a tradition called the Children's Hour 15 years prior.[5]

History

The Black Gay pride was born out of a small number of friends in Los Angeles in 1988, later known as ATB ("at the beach"). They understood, as gay men, the strong rejection from the larger black community, due to tight family structure, cultural and religious factors. Though the greater black community refused to include them, these gay men yearned to celebrate and enjoy their identity as black gay men. They hosted a small gathering in Malibu Point Dune beach, several miles away from the LA metropolis, in a place almost hidden from the public. This gathering was a huge success and thus began a movement for the black gay pride.

The Black Gay prides today have metamorphosed into well-organized events that unite and bring together black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to celebrate both their African heritage and sexual orientation. Most major cities in the U.S. host an annual Black Gay pride event.

Center for Black Equity

Formerly known as the International Federation of Black Prides until 2012, the Center for Black Equity (CBE), is an international organization dedicated to equality and social justice for black LGBT people. On October 13, 2013, CBE president Earl Fowles, along with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, announced a name change from IFBP to the Center for Black Equity. Though the organization began as a way to support the network of Black Gay Pride celebrations worldwide, CBE now also focuses on social justice issues as well.[3]

The International Federation of Black Prides started during DC Black Pride of May 1999 by a coalition of Black Pride organizers representing Chicago, North Carolina, New York City, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Washington, DC. The coalition saw a need to organize the twenty plus Black Prides in the United States and abroad for the purpose of developing sponsorship strategies, providing technical assistance, networking, mentoring, and supporting one another. IFBP acquired its IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit status in November 2004.

Largest events

Attendee at the 2017 D.C. Black Pride event.

Atlanta Black Pride

Created in 1996, Atlanta Black Pride weekend (ABPW) is the only official event for the black LGBT community in Atlanta. The event started after a few friends decided to have a Labor Day picnic together. It is the largest black gay pride events which could do with the large black LGBT presence in Atlanta.[6]

At the Beach, Los Angeles

At the Beach, Los Angeles is an organization that organizes the At the Beach event every year in LA. It is the most well-known black pride event on the west coast. Each Independence Day weekend the celebration occurs and provides black LGBT with is one of the most exciting events of LA's black gay community. The event grew out of the belief that the black gay community needed a social setting to gather. What once started as friends collecting together on Malibu Beach turned into the event that occurs today.[7]

D.C. Black Pride

D.C. Black Pride is one of the earliest black LGBT pride events.[5] The event first took place on Saturday, May 25, 1991 at Banneker Field. Like other black LGBT celebrates it started because the community did not see themselves represented during the annual Capital Pride event in D.C. Event sponsors include Capital Pride and CBE.[8]

See also

General:

References

  1. ↑ Levin, Sam (2016-06-25). "Too straight, white and corporate: why some queer people are skipping SF Pride". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  2. ↑ ""Not a white LGBTQ organization": Atlanta Pride strives to be more inclusive". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  3. 1 2 "Black gay pride events grow, reaffirm identity". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  4. ↑ "Celebrating Black Gay Pride". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  5. 1 2 3 "Why Black Pride Matters". 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  6. ↑ "The essential guide to Atlanta Black Pride weekend 2017". accessatlanta. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  7. ↑ "Racism Leads to Cancellation of Black Gay Pride Annual Beach Party in Malibu - Los Angeles Sentinel". Los Angeles Sentinel. 2008-07-03. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  8. ↑ "Do we still need D.C. Black Pride?". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2018-04-22.

Further reading

  • Padva, Gilad (2014). Black Nostalgia: Poetry, Ethnicity, and Homoeroticism in Looking for Langston and Brother to Brother. In Padva, Gilad, Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture, pp. 199–226. Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-137-26633-0.
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