Black LGBT Leaders to Gather With Congressional Black Caucus
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This week, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation’s largest organization for African-American leaders, announced its first annual OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit to be held in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference (CBCF-ALC).
In a release, NBJC said the event, to be held Sept. 15-18, is expected to draw 100 or more African-American LGBT leaders, including advocates, philanthropists and faith leaders, to Washington, D.C., for four days of leadership training, organizing and outreach.
“NBJC is calling upon all Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) voices to let the powers that be know that Black LGBT people and allies exist, that we are organized and informed, and that we have the ability to move the masses towards an America that is more inclusive of Black LGBT people,” Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC executive director, said in the release. “This historic convening is intended to bridge the gaps and clear up misunderstandings about gender identity and sexual orientation, including the intersectionality with racial equality that may exist with policy makers and key influencers.”
OUT on the Hill events include visits with key policymakers in Congress and at the White House and participation at CBCF-ALC sessions. Attendees are encouraged to attend specific workshops where voices of black LGBT leaders and activists might be especially useful or reticent.
Pam Spaulding, “blogmistress” of the Durham, N.C.-based PamsHouseBlend.com, says NBJC’s OUT on the Hill event breaks with past tradition.
“I think this shows a key difference between past summits they’ve had,” she says. “Most of the time, they are not covered well by the media. I think for them to actually have a bigger impact having this event in conjunction with the CBC event is a huge boost because it will be covered by the mainstream media.”
Spaulding, who often writes about issues faced by LGBT people of color, says it is especially important for black LGBT people to be more visible.
“There’s always this misperception driven home by white social conservative movement churches and organizations that bring in people like Bishop Harry Jackson who talk about how the LGBT movement is nothing but white, rich men,” she says. “That has to be dispelled; it is a meme repeated over and over.”
NBJC’s executive, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, is a straight ally. Spaulding says her presence at the organization and in activities such as OUT on the Hill and the CBCF-ALC push the entire LGBT movement forward.
“Her presence as an ally at the top of the organization really tilts it outward,” she says. “We need allies to get a lot of this done in CBC and other places. Her presence sends a powerful message that we haven’t seen before particularly in the black community.”
Spaulding expects NBJC leaders will be received well at the CBCF-ALC: “Despite sometimes how it plays out in the public, elected black leadership is, by and large, in support of LGBT equality.”
Matt Comer is a staff writer for Campus Progress.
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