From The Washington Blade
August 28, 2005

Farrakhan Invites Largest Black Gay Group to Rally
By Lou Chibbaro, Jr.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has invited the nation’s largest African-American gay civil rights organization to become one of about 100 co-conveners of the Millions More Movement rally, which is expected draw thousands of blacks to Washington, D.C. on Oct. 15.

In a letter dated Aug. 15, Farrakhan invited the National Black Justice Coalition to take on the duties of a co-convener, which includes recruiting participants for the rally and helping organize the event on the local and national levels. The group said it received the letter Aug. 23.

H. Alexander Robinson, executive director of the NBJC, said he sent Farrakhan an immediate letter of response accepting the invitation. Robinson said his letter called on Farrakhan to arrange for a lesbian and gay man to speak at a rally on the National Mall, which will commemorate the 10th anniversary of Farrakhan’s 1995 Million Man March.

Robinson and other black gay leaders said Farrakhan’s action will not change their plans to hold their own rally in D.C.’s Freedom Plaza at 8 a.m. on Oct. 15, on the morning of the Millions More Movement rally. Some black gay leaders and their supporters attending the Freedom Plaza rally expect to march to the main rally on the National Mall following their own event.

Other black gay events are scheduled for the weekend of the Millions More Movement rally, including a reception and a worship service.

Most of the nation’s black civil rights organizations have endorsed the Millions More Movement events, saying Farrakhan has embraced a far broader coalition of participants than the 1995 event. Farrakhan has said the event is aimed at rallying blacks to seek self-improvement and justice as a means of overcoming widespread poverty, crime and other problems that affect African Americans.

A symbolic gesture?
Black gay leaders had mixed views over the significance of Farrakhan’s invitation to the NBJC, with some calling it historic and others expressing caution, saying it appeared to be little more than symbolism.

The Millions More Movement “is for all of us” and is aimed at creating “a tent big enough for all of us to come together,” Farrakhan said in his letter.

Farrakhan did not mention the word “gay” or “lesbian” in his letter and did not agree to longstanding requests by the NBJC that the Millions More Movement address the issue of homophobia and arrange for a gay man and a lesbian speaker to address the Oct. 15 rally.

“While I would not count this as a victory, it is not a defeat,” Robinson said in an e-mail message to black gay activists informing them of Farrakhan’s invitation.

Since the beginning of the year, Robinson has been lobbying the Millions More Movement leaders to include his group and other black gay leaders in the event’s planning process. Up until this week, Robinson said, Farrakhan and his top aides have ignored Robinson’s overtures.

Black gays in D.C., led by activist Phil Pannell, have waged a simultaneous effort to persuade Millions More Movement officials to recognize an ad hoc group of local black gay activists as one of the official organizing committees for the event.

Response to Wilson sermon?
Farrakhan’s invitation this week follows a controversial, July 3 sermon by the Rev. Willie Wilson, who Farrakhan appointed as executive director of the Millions More Movement events. Speaking from the pulpit of Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast D.C., where he serves as pastor, Wilson accused lesbians of attempting to “take over” the black family and made disparaging remarks about sexual acts among gays.

Union Temple is considered one of the city’s most prominent Baptist congregations and Wilson is considered one of the city’s most politically influential ministers.

His sermon attacking lesbians and gays drew expressions of outrage by black gay activists and has been credited with boosting the meeting attendance and membership of the D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbians & Gays.

The refusal — until this week — by the Millions More Movement to recognize black gay participation and Wilson’s sermon also triggered a large turnout on Sunday, Aug. 21, of the monthly meeting of an ad hoc committee of black gay activists who have been pushing for gay inclusion in the Millions More events.

More than 180 people turned out at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church for the ad hoc group meeting, according to Pannell. D.C. Councilmembers Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4) and Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) and mayoral candidate Michael Brown spoke to the crowd, pledging to support efforts to gain official recognition of the concerns of black gays by the Millions More Movement.

Straight allies lobby Farrakhan
Carlene Cheatam, co-chair of the D.C. Coalition, said efforts by black gay activists in D.C. and the NBJC to persuade nationally known black civil rights leaders to rally to their support played a key role in Farrakhan’s decision to invite the NBJC to become a co-convener.

Among those who have telephoned or sent letters to Farrakhan urging him to include black gays in the planning process for the Millions More Movement, Cheatam said, were veteran civil rights leader Julian Bond, D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, and D.C. mayoral candidate Brown.

“This is an historic act,” she said, in describing Farrakhan’s decision to invite a black gay group to take part in the Millions More Movement events.

“It’s another step toward gaining inclusion,” Cheatam said.

Pannell called Farrakhan’s action a “minor victory,” saying that while Farrakhan granted the NBJC co-convener status, he did not appoint the group to be a member of the more influential Millions More Movement steering committee, which makes policy decisions for the Millions More Movement events.

“Being a co-convener is almost like being on a laundry list,” Pannell said. “It’s easy for them to say this is important, but it doesn’t get us into the inner sanctum.”

Pannell noted that Rev. Wilson, who runs the day-to-day organizing of the Millions More Movement events, appears to be unchanged. Wilson issued an apology for his sermon following widespread criticism by local black leaders, but later reiterated his claims that “lesbianism” remains a serious threat to African-American teenage girls.

Wilson did not return a call this week seeking comment on Farrakhan’s decision to invite the NBJC to become a convener of the Millions More Movement events. Wilson’s church was scheduled to host a planning meeting on the Millions More events Saturday, Aug. 27.

A spokesperson for Farrakhan could not be reached by press time.

Sterling Washington, the other co-chair of the D.C. Coalition, said he and other Coalition members plan to attend the meeting and raise questions about black gay participation in the events.