Lesbian tells of anti-gay taunts by young men on DC Metro system
”It makes me very frightened because homophobia — like racism, like sexism — it’s grounded in irrationalism. To think that we are in the 21st Century and these crimes are committed by young people who, yes, we do presume are very progressive thinkers. It is quite scary…. Just recently, I was on the subway here in Washington, DC, and a group of young, African-American men, they were yelling derogatory statements toward me. I am an African-American woman and, in appearance, I have very short hair, but I think it’s still quite easy to tell I am female. And these young men, they apparently made the assumption that I was lesbian and the company I had was my partner, and they took great offense to that. They looked at me and judged me to be lesbian and decided to schpeel very negative, hurtful statements toward me….
”I think I would like for many of us to do away with the misconceived notion that because people of color have a history of oppression, we should naturally be relievers or curers of other people’s pain…. [Because] young people of this generation, my generation, are progressive thinkers that naturally we will act when needed to. I think it’s just not enough to be a progressive thinker, but it also takes courage. I know when I experienced, what I shared earlier on the subway, not to many people said anything at all. And it was something that was ignored, even though, I’m sure, that in Washington, DC, most people would object to such statements that I heard….”
Jenelle Forde, an elementary school teacher in DC who is gay, relating her recent experience on the Washington subway system, during a conversation about anti-gay hate crimes on NPR’s ”Tell Me More.” (NPR / Tell Me More)
”Certainly, the incident in Richmond, CA was the most egregious form of homophobia…. Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in California is homophobia. When the ministers get up in churches — and I’m specifically speaking about black churches — and give sermons and talk about how “we hate the sin but love the sinner” when they’re talking about gays and lesbians. They’re all forms of homophobia and gay bashing…. What strikes me and has been the hardest to deal with is why African-Americans specifically and, generally, people of color still, in the main, do not see the struggle for gay rights is a civil rights struggle…. And it is a paradox that people who have been subjected to the most bigotry and hatred in this country are not in the forefront of the fight for gays and lesbians….
”Homophobia is bolstered by religion. And I really would like to see sermons preached about homophobia, about how it is wrong. I would like to see that happen because we are the most disappeared when we’re sitting in churches, where people are giving sermons and talking about how sinful gays and lesbians are and basing it on what they believe and I believe what is a misguided interpretation of the scriptures. So, I would like to see the conversation be generated from the pulpit about this issue.
LaDoris Cordell an African-American lesbian and retired family court judge speaking with NPR’s Michel Martin about the roots of anti-gay violence. (NPR / Tell Me More)
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