[UPDATED
Oct.
15,
10:58
PM]
Black
gay
activist
Keith
Boykin
was
stopped
from
addressing
the
Millions
More
Movement
rally
in
Washington,
D.C.,
Saturday
morning.
Boykin
said
that
Rev.
Barbara
Skinner,
the
event's
program
manager,
refused
to
admit
him
to
the
stage
area
and
said
he
was
not
listed
on
the
program.
Boykin
claimed
that
Skinner
walked
over
to
Rev.
Willie
Wilson,
the
executive
director
of
the
event,
to
ask
about
Boykin.
Wilson
smirked
as
he
told
Skinner
that
Boykin
would
not
be
speaking
at
the
rally,
according
to
Boykin
and
Donna
Payne,
NBJC
vice
president
and
a
Human
Rights
Campaign
organizer,
who
was
also
present.
Nation
of
Islam
Minister
Louis
Farrakhan,
the
founder
of
the
Millions
More
event,
asked
Boykin,
board
president
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition
(NBJC),
on
Wednesday
to
speak
at
the
rally.
The
invitation
was
extended
at
a
last-minute
meeting
with
Farrakhan’s
family,
Rev.
Willie
Wilson
and
other
NBJC
officials
present.
Wilson,
a
D.C.
minister
and
executive
director
of
the
Millions
More
Movement,
offended
many
with
his
anti-gay
sermon,
delivered
in
July,
which
accused
lesbians
of
taking
over.
H.
Alexander
Robinson,
NBJC
executive
director,
said
that
they
had
a
"frank
and
open
discussion"
on
Wednesday
about
the
sermon
but
were
not
able
to
go
into
depth
about
it
during
the
meeting.
In
prepared
remarks
that
Boykin
intended
to
deliver
at
the
rally,
he
said,
"We
cannot
separate
ourselves
from
the
larger
black
family
because
we
are
an
integral
part
of
the
black
family.
We
raise
our
families,
we
send
money
to
our
nephews,
and,
yes,
we
sing
in
the
choir
as
well."
He
called
for
unity
and
courage
to
heal
the
wounds
that
have
divided
the
black
community
and
noted
that
"when
black
people
were
forced
to
sit
in
the
back
of
the
bus,
black
gay
people
were
forced
to
ride
in
the
back
of
the
bus."
Cleo
Manago,
the
founder
of
the
Black
Men’s
Xchange,
known
as
BMX,
did
speak
to
the
rally.
BMX
claimed
earlier
in
the
week
that
it
had
been
invited
to
speak
at
the
rally
as
the
sole
representative
of
the
gay
community.
BMX
is
a
controversial,
all-male
organization
whose
members
don’t
identify
as
gay
but
rather
as
“same
gender
loving.”
BMX
views
the
term
“gay”
as
an
identification
created
by
and
for
white
gays.
Manago
told
the
crowd,
"I'm
here
to
bring
the
perspective
of
a
black
man
who
is
a
same
gender
loving
black
man."
He
called
for
"healing
opportunities
particular
to
the
black
experience
that
explicitly
acknowledge
our
diversity
which
would
include
same
gender
loving
brothers
and
sisters
…
"That
I'm
up
here
indicates
that
[Minister
Farrakhan]
was
very
serious
about
us
all
coming
together,"
said
Manago.
"I,
too,
am
often
called
a
black
nationalist,
particularly
by
the
white
gay
community
because
I
don't
identify
with
their
way
of
framing
us
in
this
world."
The
decision
to
ask
a
representative
from
BMX
to
speak
rankled
many
black
gay
and
lesbian
advocates.
For
Michael
Saint-Andrees,
a
D.C.-based
gay
rights
activist
and
retired
public
health
educator,
Farrakhan's
selection
of
BMX
showed
that
the
minister
does
not
want
gay
men
and
lesbians
at
the
table
as
equals.
"It
speaks
to
the
fact
that
he
isn't
interested
in
us
having
a
true
voice,"
he
said.
"Once
again
he's
using
his
celebrity
and
tremendous
influence
to
benefit
him."
Manago
told
the
Blade
earlier
this
week
that
his
organization
has
been
involved
with
the
Nation
of
Islam
since
the
1990s,
making
BMX
a
“natural
selection.”
“Other
organizations
have
done
everything
from
inside
a
gay
box,”
Manago
said.
“Our
work
is
out
of
a
black
community
box
while
affirming
and
raising
issues
relevant
to
same-gender
loving
people,”
he
said.
“So-called
homophobia
and
so-called
heterosexism
are
not
the
real
estate
of
just
one
group,”
he
said.
“It’s
in
the
culture.
There
are
lots
of
homosexuals
who
are
homophobic.”
Homophobia
and
heterosexism,
he
said,
are
“white
terms.”
The
decision
to
invite
an
openly
gay
speaker
comes
after
eight
months
of
lobbying
by
members
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition
and
the
D.C.
Coalition,
a
local
black
gay
group,
to
encourage
Farrakhan
to
include
black
gays
in
this
weekend’s
commemoration
of
the
Million
Man
March.
D.C.
gay
rights
activist
Phil
Pannell,
who
said
he
had
only
heard
that
BMX
would
be
represented,
was
disturbed
that
BMX
had
no
contact
with
the
gay
and
lesbian
organizers
who
have
been
lobbying
Farrakhan.
"It's
somewhat
disempowering,"
he
said.
"Minister
Farrakhan
chose
who
our
spokespersons
are
—
it's
paternalistic
and
patronizing."
Ten
years
ago,
at
the
original
march,
gays
were
marginalized.
This
time
around,
activists
demanded
a
visible
and
acknowledged
presence.
Gay
activists
wanted
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
...
