Martin luther king jr on gays

First posted in LGBTQ Nation, January 16, 2017

Martin Luther King Jr. Time 2017 will mark its 31st anniversary since it was first observed on January 20, 1986.

If he were alive today, King would be 88, and he would have seen that a lot has changed in the U.S. since that dark morning he was gunned down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968.

Since King’s death, every struggling civil-rights group has affixed themselves to his passionate cause for justice.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, gender diverse, and queer (LGBTQ) communities, in particular, have been reviled for not only naming our struggle as a civil-rights issue, but also for naming MLK as one of the civil-rights icons that would speak on our behalf.

But would King have spoken on our behalf?

As we celebrate MLK Day 2017, we no longer possess to hold King up to a God-like common. All the hagiographies written about King immediately tracking his assassination in the previous century have show up under scrutiny as we come to understand all of King – his greatness as well as his flaws and human foibles.

As I comb through numerous books and essays learning more about King’s philand

Citing this Excerpt

Oral History Interview with Quinton E. Baker, February 23, 2002. Interview K-0838. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Full Text of the Excerpt

QUINTON E. BAKER:

Yes.

CHRIS McGINNIS:

Did he ever verbalize or, I guess you could assume acknowledge the role of queer people within the black civil rights movement? Because really, I guess when you ran into him, it may have just been strategy sessions and general meetings and that kind of thing.

QUINTON E. BAKER:

Yeah, you know.

CHRIS McGINNIS:

Obviously, one of his people organized the March on Washington.

QUINTON E. BAKER:

Yeah, I know more of his, of the people around him, more so than Doctor King and no I didn't get a feeling. No, I reflect that the instinct that I got was that Medic King was not very comfortable with the gay people in the movement, and I understand he wasn't very comfortable with Bayard Rustin, and so that is to some

MLK agreed with Catholics on homosexuality

In 1958, Martin Luther King, Jr. was writing an advice column for Ebony Magazine called, "Advice for Living." I create excerpts of his column in "The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Volume IV: Symbols of the Movement January 1957-December 1958" released by the "Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr." Sounds appreciate a credible source.

MLK received the monitoring question from a young man and here's how he replied:

Question: My challenge is different from the ones most people have. I am a young man, but I perceive about boys the way I ought to feel about girls. I don't want my parents to know about me. What can I do? Is there any place where I can go for help?

MLK Answer: Your challenge is not at all an uncommon one. However, it does require attentive attention. The type of feeling that you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired. Your reasons for adopting this habit own now been consciously suppressed or unconsciously repressed. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with this problem by getting back to some of the experiences and circumstances that lead to the habit. In arrange to do this I would

Martin Luther King Jr., Homosexuality, and the Early Gay Rights Movement

Martin Luther King, Jr., was not an advocate of lesbian rights, nor was he an enemy; however both sides of the debate have used his words in their arguments, including his widow, in support of gay rights, and his daughter, in rejection. This fascinating situation poses the problem that Michael G. Long seeks to talk to and resolve.

Detaljer

Forlag: Palgrave Macmillan
Innbinding: Paperback
Språk: Engelsk
Sider: 191
ISBN: 9781349446247
Utgivelsesår: 2012
Format: 22 x 14 cm

Om forfatteren

Author Michael G. Long: Michael G. Long is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies, Elizabethtown College, USA
Afterword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a retired Anglican bishop, Cape Town, South Africa