NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
April 5, 2005

Contact: Meredith Moise, Field Organizer, Equality Maryland
Office: 301-587-7500
Cell: 443-668-2361

Contact: H. Alexander Robinson, Strategic Director,
National Black Justice Coalition
Office: 202-547-1995
Cell: 202-262-2651

"THE TONGUE IN CHEEK OF BLACK HOMOPHOBIA: GAY MARRIAGE, RELIGION AND THE CLOSET"

Town Hall Meeting at Morgan State University Explores Homophobia in the African American Community

Baltimore, MD-Equality Maryland, Maryland's largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, announced today a town hall meeting on homophobia in the Black community at Morgan State University's William Donald Schaeffer Engineering Building on Monday, April 18 from 7:00 - 9:30pm. The goal of the meeting, which will feature panelists in a moderated, open forum, is to address an often-taboo subject within the African-American community: homophobia, gay marriage and the role of gays and lesbians in the traditional Black church. The town hall is sponsored by Equality Maryland's Marylander's of Color Collective (MOCC) in partnership with the National Black Justice Coalition, an ad hoc coalition of black LGBT leaders who have come together to fight against discrimination in our communities, and Morgan State's Rainbow Soul, an LGBT student group.

"This important conversation needs to take place in the Black community because there are a lot of misconceptions about what it means to be gay and a person of color," said Meredith Moise, field organizer for Equality Maryland. "As a historically Black university, Morgan State is the ideal place for this discussion."

"The Tongue in Cheek of Black Homophobia" is co-sponsored by The Portal, Baltimore's Black LGBT Community Center; Baltimore Black Gay Pride; the Human Rights Campaign; and Morgan State's Sociology Club. Speakers will be both proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage and will include:

• H. Alexander Robinson, Executive Director/CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition
• Larry Thompson, Jr., minister at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Baltimore City and an opponent of same gender unions
• The three African-American couples who are suing the state of Maryland for the right to marry
• Rickie Green, Executive Director of The Portal
• Khadijah Tribble, Equality Maryland Board Member and Chair of Marylander's of Color Collective
• Meredith Moise, Equality Maryland Field Organizer
• Katrina Scott, Rainbow Soul Member and Morgan State University student

Anthony McCarthy, host of "Daybreak" on WEAA-88.9 FM, Morgan State University Radio, will moderate the event.

"African American gays and lesbians have a long history of contributions to the Black Church," said H. Alexander Robinson, National Black Justice Coalition Executive Director. "We are looking forward to having a healthy, honest and spirited discussion about the need for civil rights advancements for gay Americans and why we must end the denial of the right to marry."