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| Donna Payne, left, and Keith Boykin, right, board vice president and president, respectively, of the National Black Justice Coalition, speak to reporters after being denied access to the stage area for the Millions More Movement march. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Black Men’s Xchange
cleomanago@aol.com
www.BMXNY.org/index.htm
National Black Justice Coalition
1725 I Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
202-349-3756
http://nbjcoalition.org
Millions More Movement
March and rally
Saturday, Oct. 15
National Mall, Washington, D.C.
www.millionsmoremovement.com
We Are Family Unity Weekend
National Black Justice Coalition rally
Saturday, Oct. 15, 8 a.m.
Freedom Plaza
Washington, D.C.
Interfaith Worship Service
Sunday, Oct. 16, 2:30 p.m.
First Congregational United Church of Christ
945 G St. NW
For information, contact archene@gmail.com
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG and EARTHA JANE MELZE COMMENTS
 
continued...
Farrakhan to remain true to what he said in February: “The makeup [of the march] will be our people, whoever we are. Male, female, gay, straight, light, dark.”
In a conference call with Farrakhan in early September, black gay leaders from New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago asked that two gays — one man and one woman — speak on the stage at the Millions More Movement march on Oct. 15. Farrakhan was non-committal but promised to have a face-to-face meeting with the call participants prior to the march, according to sources who participated in the call.
Manago told the Blade that BMX had asked the Nation of Islam to include a black lesbian speaker at the rally. The group has not heard back about its request, he said. The NBJC requested a lesbian speaker as well when it spoke with Farrakhan in September.
The National Organization for Women condemned the march's exclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people and voiced support for the National Black Justice Coalition events planned for Oct. 14-16. Ten years ago, NOW opposed the Million Man March for excluding women.
"The organizers of the Millions More Movement say this week's march is a call for 'unity amongst black peoples and organizations,'" said NOW Executive Vice President Olga Vives in a statement. "But based on their exclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists from participating, the tagline 'Millions Missing' seems more appropriate."
A few conservative black leaders were outraged that Farrakhan would agree to include any gay speaker.
“Louis Farrakhan has always presented himself as someone who is against homosexuality, viewing it as wrong, and by allowing them to speak at the rally, he is validating homosexuality,” said the conservative Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, according to a report in the Washington Times. Peterson was not available for comment.
Peterson, president of the California-based Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, has called for a boycott of the NAACP. He also began a “black list” of what he calls anti-American black celebrities, including Will Smith, P. Diddy, Spike Lee, Whoopi Goldberg and Russell Simmons, who endorsed the Millions More Movement.
The National Black Justice Coalition and the D.C. Coalition have planned the We Are Family Unity Weekend, which will include several independent events for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.
On Sunday, several houses of worship are sponsoring an inter-faith service at the First Congregational United Church of Christ. Members of the Christian, Muslim and Buddhist communities will lead different parts of Sunday’s service.
As for the Millions More Movement rally and march, many black gay men and lesbians said prior to the event that they had no interest in participating in an event where they didn't feel genuinely wanted and treated as equals.
"I'm not going to feed into my own oppression," Pannell said.
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