Why does the LGBT movement uses black...?

Question

civil rights movements and say it's the same? I do believe gay or being black is NOT a choice but when was a gay person forced to work, and being whipped because he was gay? When was gays stripped of their culture and forced to lighten their skin? Come on, I think the Jews have more in common with blacks.

Answer 1

Let the words of Coretta Scott King be heard so that your question will have an answer from not just the wife of MLK, but also a civil rights worker in her own right.God rest her soul.


"I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice, but I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'" "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people" -Coretta Scott King
March 31, 1998.

"Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group."-Coretta Scott King
Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998, front page

"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be," she said, quoting her husband. "I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy."-Coretta Scott King
Chicago Sun Times, April 1, 1998, p.18.


"We have a lot more work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say “common struggle” because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry and discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination." - Coretta Scott King

Answer 2

People who equate the two things as exactly the same are definitely mistaken. That said, there are definite similarities between the types of oppression, and even more definite similarities between the methods used by the two movements. I have a teacher who obsesses over the idea of the Borning Struggle: the Black civil rights movement led the way, showing others how to get SOMETHING done (and in no way am I implying that racism is "over"; racism is the new racism, but there were significant improvements made).

If I ever make the comparison, I try to be very specific about what is similar. Black oppression has slavery, and rape, and cultural limbo; the queers have issues of the closet, and sodomy laws, and witch-hunts. They are very different, but both groups were oppressed by the majority. Often it's the same people making problems for both; the same enemies using the same logical-flaws.

Answer 3

Discrimination is discrimination, to whatever degree.

I don't feel it is constructive to discuss this as if it were a competition, as many others have already stated.

However, as a specific response to your question: there is a difference between the history of a community/race/religion, and a movement. Yes, Jews and Blacks share a history of prolific grief and torture. The LGBT community also has a painful past. But we are talking about movements, and the Civil Rights movement and LGBT 'movement' share the same goal - equality. Both 'movements' are about protesting treatment as second class citizens.

For the LGBT 'movement' a good example of this is marriage - heterosexuality is not superior to homosexuality, just as white is not superior to black. Why then do heterosexuals have superior rights? There were (and are) many racial equivalents to such supremacy.
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Answer 4

Well we have a lot in common with the Jews, too. Instead of yellow stars of David, lesbians were forced to wear black triangles, gay men pink triangles. And they were sent to the gas chambers right along with the gypsys and everyone else who didn't conform to Hitler's views of human behavior.

Gay people may have never had to lighten their skin to fit in, but they sure did have to act straight if they wanted to fit in. They still do in most places.

Up until recently gay people weren't even allowed to have a culture. Up until Stonewall what little places there were for gay people to congregate were systematically raided. Any openly gay person walking the streets at night was running the risk of being thrown into the East River, and the police definitely didn't do too much searching for the bodies. It is still very unsafe for a person to be Out in many parts of the country. They run the risk of getting beat or killed. Matthew Shephard wasn't all that long ago.

When AIDS first came on the scene there was no attempt on the part of the country to save those afflicted. The government may not have injected gay men with the disease, but they sure didn't do anything to ease the suffering until it was straight people who were afflicted.

Any gains that the queer community has were won through the use of protests, community organizing, and civil disobedience. In addition, gay people had to create their own methods of providing food, shelter, and healthcare to the community. (Much in the way Black people ended up having to develop their own community networks to survive because the government was ignoring them.)

Are they exactly the same? Of course not. There's a lot of differences. But I felt the need to point out some of the similarities. :)

Answer 5

Maybe you shouldn't nit pick. I don't really think anyone's in competition to be the most picked on minority. Bigotry is just shameful and nauseating all around, don't you think.
Since you're female, do you think that women have less relevance to the civil rights movement than Black people? Maybe you should look information on female circumcision in Africa, or men getting killed very recently in this country for talking with a lisp. They're all hate crimes.
The civil right's movement is still happening -- the 60s were just the beginning of it! Just look at all the immigration reforms. You can't deny that the number of people that tured up at those marches for illegals indicates that there is a large portion of the population in favor of major societal changes.

Answer 6

Your question is when were gays forced to work and when were they flogged. The answer to that is during World War II. The Jews were not the only people that were persecuted and forced into concentration camps by Hitler. But I do agree with you, being Gay is different that being black. But being gay is no reason for being discriminated against. And I think that being discriminated against because you are Jewish, Black, or Gay is wrong. Why try to measure how wrong it is?

Answer 7

Lesbians and gays have actually been tortured, stoned, killed, burned as witches in many cultures throughout the years. And gay people are forced to pass all the time. We take strength from the civil rights movement - from strong, everyday people who said We are not going to be treated this way. We should all support one another in struggles for equal rights

Answer 8

When were they forced to work and whipped? Try the Holocaust; I know its not something pleasurable to think about or discuss, but gays were mass murdered alongside the Jews and gypsies during it. It may not have happened in America, as most of the black slavery was, but it's still a horrible point in history affecting homosexuals. We compare our civil rights movement to yours because we are seeking equal job opportunities, reversal of discriminatory policies, and removal of hatred from the minds of children towards gays, just as blacks did for themselves.

Answer 9

Ignorant much? Maybe gays weren't made to ride in the back of the bus, but you may recall a little something called police brutality? that is something that members of the LGBT community have had to face. They were terrorized and harassed (officially). Regardless of wether you belive homosexuality is right or wrong, you have no right to persecute people who aren't endangering the well being of others. On a more modern end, is it fair that we let hundreds of people stay in this country who come in illegally and then to avoid being deported get married to whoever will help them out, but then a legitmate couple who have known each other for years, have fallen in love and now want to be together can't get citizen ship rights for the partner in another country because they just so happen to both be men/women? Apparently you are unaware that in many states 'sodomy' is illegal. Oh, and as for the religious aspect. I doubt that God would choose to use yahoo answers to directly talk us, so you must not be him and therefore cannot presume to know the hearts of people. If same-sex relationships are not immoral you're just plain wrong. If they are immoral you're just showing that you are stupid. YES STUPID, because that would be like saying, "oh, you lie so you obviously don't believe in God. Don't you dare associate yourself with him". FYI (per the Christian and Judaism? >O faiths) God sees all sin as sin plain and simple. NOT to mention that faith in God can exist without 'religion' as you mean the word.

Answer 10

First of all, I highly doubt you or any one in your family still alive have been whipped or forced to lighten your skin.

How do u feel when someone calls you a niiiger? Doesnt feel to good does it? Feels about the same to be called a ****** or a rugmuncher. We are ridiculed because of what we are, who we fall in love with. Something we cant change. You are discriminated against because of the color of your skin. Something you cant change. Its all about discrimination, and the gays, jews and blacks all feel the same when they are called names. We should all stick together and fight the white supremecy, because they hate us all for the same reasons.That is why its the same.