Author E. Lynn Harris, 54, Dies Today

We here are mourning the death of E. Lynn Harris, one of the most significant cultural figures in the black LGBT community and modern movement. This mourning period, while sad, has served the important educational purpose of spreading Harris' powerful literary influence.

Our own Donna Payne has writes today:

Today I learned that someone very dear to the African American LGBT Community died. E. Lynn Harris was a well known author in our community and on a book tour when he had a heart attack. He blew everyone away in the early 1990’s with his first book “Invisible Life”. It chronicled the life of an African American male living a double life- one as a so-called straight man following the traditions of our black culture (going to church, attending college and family life). The other part of his double life was seeing a man on the side and keeping a cover of beautiful women around to appear straight.

E. Lynn Harris released us all from the “cultural secret” called the “down low” life. He left us over 12 books on the NY Best Seller list for over 15 years! His latest book out this week is “Basketball Jones”.

From CNN.com:

Though Harris wrote primarily about black gay men, some of his biggest fans were black women. His books became staples in black beauty salons, bookstores and book clubs.

"It was hard to go on a subway in places in New York or D.C. and not see some black woman reading an E. Lynn Harris novel," Boykin said.

Harris was an unlikely literary pioneer. He was a former IBM executive who decided to write about his life. He started off in 1991 selling books from the trunk of his car to African-American beauty salons and bookstores.

He eventually became one of the nation's most popular writers with an estimated 4 million of his books in print.

Read the full obituary on this extremely culturally important figure after the jump

Rainey Cheeks, an Affirming Bishop

Today the Washington Post did a biographic snapshot of one of the HRC's allies who works within black, faith-based communities to promote LGBT awareness and affirmation. Bishop Rainey Cheeks, who is often interviewed and placed in debate on both radio and television as a progressive voice, is truly a valued member of our community.

From the Post:

In the middle of a sermon, Bishop Rainey Cheeks felt his medicine bottle bulging in his pocket and realized he hadn't taken his pills. He paused in the pulpit and faced the congregation in his tiny storefront church.

"Excuse me," Cheeks remembers telling his parishioners last year as he poured three pills into his hand. "This is my HIV medicine. I'm going to take it now."

As he washed down the pills with water, Cheeks saw some members staring with wide eyes. Everybody knew that their pastor, an imposing man with flowing dreadlocks who once competed in taekwondo championships, is gay. But not everyone knew that he is HIV-positive.

"Go ahead, Rev," a few congregants urged. But most shrugged and waited for the bishop to swallow and get on with delivering the good word.

Inner Light Ministries in the District's H Street corridor might seem like a traditional black church, with fiery sermons, electric gospel music, a soulful choir and a congregation that sways and claps in rhythm. But it is hardly that.

For 16 years, it has served as a sanctuary for a small community of black gays and lesbians who say they feel shunned from all directions -- by black men and women who give them cutting looks of disapproval, by mainstream black ministers who condemn homosexuality, and by white gays who make them feel unwelcome in subtle ways, such as switching from hip-hop to country music in a club when too many black men hit the dance floor.

Read the rest of the mini-bio after the jump

Anthony Woods for Congress!

Today, the HRC released their official endorsement for Anthony Woods as congressman of California's 10th District






From HRC Backstory:

Today the Human Rights Campaign PAC along with the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund announced their endorsement of Anthony Woods for U.S. Congress. Woods, who is running in the September 1, Special Election for California’s 10th Congressional District, earned the Bronze Star after serving two tours in Iraq in the U.S. Army. He was honorably discharged after challenging the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.

Said HRC President Joe Solmonese: “The Human Rights Campaign is proud to endorse Anthony Woods, a veteran of the Iraq war and steadfast advocate for our community, to become the next U.S. Congressman from California’s 10th district. Anthony hasn’t just shown his support on issues of LGBT equality, he’s lived them — especially the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Anthony’s support of marriage equality will also be important as we work to repeal Proposition 8, which stripped marriage rights away for California’s same-sex couples. There is no doubt that Anthony will be a role model for LGBT youth, and we applaud his continuing service to our country.”

"Gay is not the New Black"

Picture Property of ESPN


Commentator and public personality, LZ Granderson, Recently wrote a piece for CNN on why the gay rights movement is distinct from the civil rights movement, and where there might be confusion and conflict within the two (according to him) separate sequences of events. We'd definitely like you to weigh in and share your own thoughts and experiences with the two conflicting identities of race and sexuality.


From CNN.com:

When Proposition 8 passed in California, white gays were quick to blame the black community despite blacks making up less than 10 percent of total voters and whites being close to 60 percent. At protest rallies that followed, some gay blacks reported they were even hit with racial epithets by angry white participants. Not to split hairs, but for most blacks, the n-word trumps the f-word.

So while the white mouthpiece of the gay community shakes an angry finger at intolerance and bigotry in their blogs and on television, blacks and other minorities see the dirty laundry. They see the hypocrisy of publicly rallying in the name of unity but then privately living in segregated pockets. And then there is the history.

The 40th anniversary of Stonewall dominated Gay Pride celebrations around the country, and while that is certainly a significant moment that should be recognized, 40 years is nothing compared with the 400 blood-soaked years black people have been through in this country. There are stories some blacks lived through, stories others were told by their parents and stories that never had a chance to be told.

While those who were at Stonewall talk about the fear of being arrested by police, 40 years ago, blacks talked about the fear of dying at the hands of police and not having their bodies found or murder investigated. The 13th Amendment was signed in 1865, and it wasn't until 1948 that President Harry S Truman desegregated the military. That's more than an 80-year gap.

Check out the full opinion after the jump and don't forget to weigh in here!

NAACP Conference

Recently, the NAACP held national meetings and conferences in DC to celebrate its 100th anniversary as the nation's oldest civil rights organization. The center of the event, NAACP president, Benjamin Todd Jealous, who touched on a number of pertinent civil rights issues, was also interviewed later to talk about other, less mentioned issues such as LGBT Rights and Marriage equality.

According to Pam's House Blend:

Ben Jealous has has a strong background on social justice issues; his efforts have been forward-thinking in many respects, including outreach to the blogosphere. I met Mr. Jealous last year as he was starting on the job at the NAACP, and I asked him specifically about the organization and its public stance on marriage and LGBT rights. At the time he was quite firm in saying that there is strong support for marriage equality in some individual chapters (they are autonomous) and in leadership in the NAACP(board member Julian Bond is also a strong ally as well).

But it's clear, based on this interview with T.J. Holmes of CNN the other day, that he's getting the message loud and clear from membership that this it's a third rail issue they don't want to touch. Jealous says now that "We don't take a position on that nationally."

Read the entire story after the jump


Also, you can read the full commentary on the event by HRC's own Donna Payne who attended the conference on HRC Backstory

Ya Es Hora

Ya Es Hora, Spanish for "It is Time" is the name of a new HRC collaborative initiative to register Legal Permanent Residents (LPR's) in the United States for citizenship. This past Saturday was the very beginning of Ya Es Hora, with South Florida, Los Angeles, and Phoenix being the first cities to hold the event.

On HRC Backstory:

This past weekend, Human Rights Campaign volunteers participated in Ya Es Hora events — the largest and most comprehensive effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process. Its multi-layered integrated campaign provides a comprehensive approach that links naturalization to voter participation and Census enumeration under a single message: “it’s time.”

Ya Es Hora is led by four national organizations and dozens of regional and local organizations including: Univision, the largest Spanish-language media network in the U.S.; Mi Familia Vota Education Fund; National Council of La Raza; National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund; and the Service Employees International Union. Together, the Ya Es Hora partners have a goal to move over 1 million Latino eligible legal permanent residents (LPRs) on the path to U.S. citizenship during 2009 and 2010. Since 2007, this campaign has helped process U.S. citizenship applications for more than 1.4 million Latinos.

Read the whole story, including commentary and reflection from our volunteers, after the jump

If you'd like to find out more about Ya Es Hora, or find out where the nearest Ya Es Hora will be happening near you, please contact me or Hyacinth Alvaran

President Obama on Gay Rights

Earlier this month, President Obama declared June to be National LGBT History Month. Following through with this declaration, last week, President Obama made the landmark decision to grant all federal employees equal benefits for themselves and their partners, regardless of the marital status or sexual orientation of the employee and his or her partner. For the signing of this article, Obama invited numerous civil rights and political leaders to the oval office where he delivered some remarks on the topic.

The Daily Voice reports:

Forty years after the Stonewall riots sparked the gay rights movement, President Barack Obama hosts an historic reception for LGBT activists and their families to honor LGBT Pride and the 40th Stonewall anniversary. The speech, carried live on CNN and other networks, marks the first time a sitting president has given a live televised speech on LGBT issues.

The President, who has been criticized by many LGBT rights advocates for inaction on his many campaign promises, says his Administration has made some progress on behalf of gay Americans and will do more.

Read the whole story, including all of President Obama's Remarks, after the jump