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After an 18-month fight, an LGBT+ activist who fled Jordan is finally “supported, seen and heard” in their new home in Australia.
AlShaima Omama AlZubi, 25, who identifies as a non-binary lesbian, has been a “victim of rape, sexual assaults, torture, forced marriage, forced conversion therapy, forced hospitalisation, and forced veiling abuse that dates back to their childhood”, according to Amnesty.
AlZubi, an LGBT+ and women’s rights defender, comes from a powerful family, with many members working for Jordan’s government, and whose “influence extends across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq”.
They first fled to Turkey from Jordan in July 2020, and later made it to Lebanon, planning to travel onwards to Australia on a humanitarian visa.
But in December, 2021, they were stripped of their passport and detained by Lebanese authorities for five days, who told them there was an Interpol Red Notice out of their arrest. During this time, Amnesty suspected that the Jordanian embassy in Lebanon was working on having them repatriated.
Finally, after tireless work by NGOs and Australian diplomats, AlZubi was able to board a flight to Australia on 30 December.
Speaking to SBS News, they said that since arriving, they have begun seeing a therapist and are finding their place within the local LGBT+ community.
They said: “Now I feel supported, seen, heard and treated like a human being regardless of my beliefs, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
“[I want to] move on in my life, continue my education, [and have] a great career and independence.
“Finally I have the chance to be myself without people shaming me and trying to kill me for it.”
In a message “to all of the women and the LGBTIQ+ community in the Middle East”, they added: “There’s always a way to be free. We just need the right people to help us.
“Never be ashamed of being yourself, never be sorry for who you are. Don’t let religion or anyone control your being. No one on Earth can be you.”
While homosexuality was decriminalised in Jordan in 1951, LGBT+ people face frequent harassment, discrimination and violence.
There are no laws to protect queer people from discrimination, no recognition of same-sex relationships, and one 2019 study found that 93 per cent of Jordanians believe that society should not accept homosexuality.
New Jersey is set to decriminalise HIV transmission, ending an historic law that “fuels stigma”.
Under current New Jersey law, a person who engages in sexual penetration by any body part without disclosing they are HIV-positive could face up to five years in prison.
For other sexually-transmitted infections, the sentence is limited to 18 months.
On Monday (10 January), state senators voted 26-11 to pass a bill, S-3707, that would put an end to this.
The bill would still criminalise the transmission of non-airborne infectious or communicable diseases, but will no longer target those living with HIV or STIs.
“This legislation is a step in the right direction [to] removing the stigmatisation that surrounds individuals living with HIV,” said Senate majority leader Teresa Ruiz, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
“The criminal code is meant to punish actions that harm others, not discriminate against people living with a chronic health condition.”
New Jersey state senator Teresa Ruiz speaks at the 25th Anniversary of Kid Witness News. (Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for Kid Witness News)
Co-sponsor senator Joe Vitale said the bill would bring New Jersey in line with “what we now know about the transmissions of certain diseases, especially in light of the advances in treatment”.
It’s a law that has been a “huge priority” for activists, he said.
“I am thankful to the advocates who brought this issue to our attention, not only for leading the way on solid public health policy,” Vitale added, “but also in serving those in need in New Jersey.”
‘Criminalisation does not prevent HIV transmission’
Even activists across the pond celebrated the news, who said that such laws are based on long-outdated conceptions of what HIV is and deepen animosity.
Matthew Hodson, a British HIV activist and executive director for NAM aidsmap, which monitors HIV criminalisation law, told PinkNews: “Criminalisation of HIV creates barriers to HIV testing and treatment, which only serves to increase opportunities for HIV to be transmitted.
“Criminalisation does not prevent HIV transmission.
“There is a shameful history of such laws being used against people in cases where not only has HIV not been passed on but there was no actual possibility of HIV being passed on.
“Criminalisation fuels stigma and is often used against those who are already marginalised or vulnerable, including against LGBT people in countries with state-sanctioned homophobia.
A history of the US criminalising the transmission of HIV
At least 35 US states, many in the Midwest and Deep South – still have laws on the books that criminalise “HIV exposure”, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A 2017 analysis of 393 HIV-related convictions in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri and Tennessee found the average sentence was nearly eight years in prison for having sex without first informing their partner of their status.
In Arkansas, ‘intentional HIV exposure’ carries a minimum of six years and a maximum of 30 years alongside thousands of dollars in fines.
People convicted of ‘intentional exposure’ in South Dakota and Louisiana are also required to register as sex offenders, the Center for HIV Law and Policy says.
Ohio and Tennessee enforce this requirement regardless of intentionality, while in Arkansas it is not a statutory requirement but a court may order it.
A man holding a PrEP tablet. (Daniel Born/The Times/Gallo Images/Getty)
At least six states even have laws that enhance sentences for sexual offences if the person convicted is living with HIV, the Movement Advancement Project found.
The Movement Advancement Project said nearly three in every 10 LGBT+ people live in a state with such outdated law in place. Such laws are often used to punish people who have done no harm, the American Academy of HIV Medicine has warned.
Michigan, for example, exempts those living with HIV who have sex without disclosing their status as long as they are on viral suppression medication.
Many states scrambled to roll out laws criminalising people living with HIV amid the paranoia of the early HIV epidemic, when acquiring the virus was considered a death sentence.
Science in no way supports laws that single out people living with HIV, and activists have argued that these laws are tinged with racism and transphobia.
People living with HIV are more likely to be trans, Black and Latinx, meaning that they are disproportionately targeted by the laws, Lambda Legal and Injustice Watch have found. Some prosecutors even weaponise hateful stereotypes of these demographics to justify the charges.
If New Jersey repeals its law, it would join Illinois and Texas in throwing out entirely their HIV-specific criminal laws.
Missouri, California, Iowa, North Carolina, Nevada, Virginia and Michigan, meanwhile, have all softened their anti-HIV laws since 2014, according to the CDC.
A gay rights advocate who was integral in legalizing same-sex marriage in Florida was found dead in a landfill in what is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said Wednesday.
Jorge Diaz-Johnston, 54, the brother of former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, had been last seen alive Jan. 3, Tallahassee police said. Shortly after a missing person alert was issued for him Saturday, his body was found in a trash pile at a landfill in Baker, Florida, about 60 miles west of the Alabama border, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Don Johnston and Jorge Diaz wait to speak to the media and supporters after a court hearing on same-sex marriage in Miami on July 2, 2014.J Pat Carter / AP file
Diaz, who served as mayor of Miami from 2001 to 2009, released a statement on Twitter confirming his brother’s death.
“I am profoundly appreciative of the outpouring of support shown to me, my brother-in-law Don, and my family after the loss of my brother, Jorge Diaz-Johnston,” he wrote. “My brother was such a special gift to this world whose heart and legacy will continue to live on for generations to come.”https://iframe.nbcnews.com/jv8Jwwr?_showcaption=true&app=1
While he had a high-profile brother, Diaz-Johnston made a name for himself. In 2014, he and his husband, Don Diaz-Johnston, and five other same-sex couples sued the Miami-Dade County clerk’s office after they were barred from getting married.
“For us, it’s not just only a question of love and wanting to express our love and have the benefits that everyone else has in the state, but it’s an issue of equality, and it’s a civil rights issue,” Jorge Diaz-Johnston told NBC Miami at the time.
Same-sex couples who had challenged the wedding ban celebrate after Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel lifted the stay, allowing gay couples to marry Jan. 5, 2015, in Miami.Walter Michot / Pool via Getty Images file
In January 2015, a Miami-Dade circuit court judge ruled in the couples’ favor, legalizing same-sex marriage in the South Florida county more than a year before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Elizabeth Schwartz, who represented the six couples in the case, called Diaz-Johnston’s death “heartbreaking.”
“They fought so hard for their love to be enshrined and to be able to enjoy the institution of marriage, and for the marriage to end in this way — in this gruesome, heartbreaking way — there are no words,” she told NBC Miami.
Shortly after winning their case, Jorge and Don Diaz-Johnston married in March 2015, according to public records. Coupled with an image of his husband grinning at the camera over dinner, Don Diaz-Johnston addressed his death on Facebook.
“There are just no words for the loss of my beloved husband Jorge Isaias Diaz-Johnston,” he wrote. “I can’t stop crying as I try and write this. But he meant so much to all of you as he did to me. So I am fighting through the tears to share with you our loss of him.”https://iframe.nbcnews.com/oZecGrV?_showcaption=true&app=1
The current mayor of Miami, Daniella Levine Cava, acknowledged Diaz-Johnston’s role in advancing LGBTQ rights in the city.
“In Jorge Diaz-Johnston, we lost a champion, a leader, and a fighter for our LGBTQ community,” she wrote on Twitter. “His tragic loss will be felt profoundly by all who loved him, as we honor his life and legacy.”
An Invitation to Join our Youth Leadership TeamUna invitación para unirse a nuestro equipo de liderazgo juvenil Click on the picture below and check out our Interview of past Youth Leaders and listen to what they have to say about their experience!!!
¡Haga clic en la imagen a continuación y vea nuestra entrevista de líderes juveniles anteriores y escuche lo que tienen que decir sobre su experiencia!
LGBTQ YOUTH LEADERSHIP TEAM
The YLT is a team of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) youth that create events and advocate for change in partnership with LGBTQ Connection.
El YLT es un equipo de jóvenes LGBTQ (lesbianas, gays, bisexuales, transgénero y queer) que crean eventos y abogan por el cambio en asociación con LGBTQ Connection.
Interested?¿Interesado?Youth who are interested can click on the link below and fill out the form.
Los jóvenes que estén interesados pueden hacer clic en el enlace a continuación y completar el formulario.
BenefitsBeneficiosLearn skills in advocacy and activism. Make friends you can rely on, earn community service hours, and explore scholarship opportunities!
Aprende habilidades en defensa y activismo. ¡Haga amigos en los que pueda confiar, gane horas de servicio comunitario y explore oportunidades de becas!
Upcoming eventsSonoma County Library is hosting a QUEER BOOK CLUB for ages 18+. If you’re interested in signing up call your local library or click on the link here:
La biblioteca del condado de Sonoma está organizando un QUEER BOOK CLUB para mayores de 18 años. Si está interesado en inscribirse, llame a su biblioteca local o haga clic en el enlace aquí:
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, announced its endorsement of Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, who is running for re-election in 2022, on Monday. Kounalakis made history in 2018, when she became the first woman to be elected to the position. She has been an outspoken champion for LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice during her time in office and created the nation’s first statewide transgender advisory council in September 2021.
“LGBTQ+ Californians are fortunate to have such a strong champion and ally in Lieutenant Governor Kounalakis,” said Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “She understands the unique challenges that LGBTQ+ people face in communities across our state, and she has been a forceful and effective advocate for progress. Her focus on protecting and empowering the trans community, in particular, has been incredibly valuable — especially as politicians across the country pursue anti-trans legislation.”
In addition to using her platform to amplify the voices of transgender Californians, Kounalakis has sponsored and supported critical legislation to ensure colleges and universities respect the gender identities of students and graduates; prevent discrimination against LGBTQ+ youth in the criminal justice system; and expand access to safe, legal abortion care on college campuses.
“I am deeply honored to have the endorsement of Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization,” said Kounalakis. “No organization has done more in our state to protect and expand the rights of our LGBtQ+ communities. I look forward to continuing to work with EQCA toward our shared goal of equality for all.”
Kounalakis also has been endorsed by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, NARAL Pro-Choice California, the California Professional Firefighters and SEIU California.
Prior to her election, Kounalakis served as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 2010 to 2013, where she used her role to support human rights and made history as the first U.S. Ambassador to march in the Budapest Pride Parade.
For a complete list of Equality California’s 2022 endorsements, visit eqca.org/elections.
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
Jim Obergefell, who was at the center of the 2015 Supreme Court case that legalized marriage equality in the United States, announced Tuesday that he is running for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives.
“We should all be able to participate fully in society and the economy, living in strong communities with great public schools, access to quality healthcare, and with well-paying jobs that allow us to stay in the community we love, with the family we care about,” Obergefell said in a statement.
Obergefell, 55, was not involved in politics before the Supreme Court case. In 2015, a Washington Post profile described him as “a soft-spoken real estate broker with little previous interest in political activism.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem released a national advertisement on Thursday promoting legislation that targets transgender youths.
Without saying the word “transgender” or “trans,” the ad promotes a bill that Noem, a Republican, introduced last month. The measure would prevent trans girls from playing on any female sports teams at school, including club teams.
Noem, the first woman to serve as South Dakota governor, said it would be “the strongest law in the nation protecting female sports.”
“In South Dakota, only girls play girls’ sports,” the ad begins. “Why? Because of Gov. Kristi Noem’s leadership. Noem has been protecting girls’ sports for years and never backed down.”https://iframe.nbcnews.com/Qt6aXee?_showcaption=true&app=1
Noem wrote on Twitter that the ad, which promotes her 2022 re-election campaign, will appear on prime-time national news shows Thursday evening.
But last month, she made an about-face, introducing the new bill, which mandates that students compete on sports teams that match the sex listed on their birth certificates “issued at or near the time of the athlete’s birth.”
“Common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition,” the governor said in a statement at the time.
“I am certain that Governor Noem would much rather talk about this issue than her pandemic response,” said Gillian Branstetter, a longtime trans advocate and the media manager for the National Women’s Law Center. “We have significantly larger problems, for example, problems that exist! Those would be good problems to solve as opposed to conjuring fictional ghosts of a changing society and attempting to exploit people’s ignorance.”
Major sports organizations, including the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee, allow transgender and nonbinary athletes to compete on teams that correspond to their gender identity under certain conditions. The IOC updated its guidelines on transgender athletes in November, removing policies that required competing trans athletes to undergo what it described as “medically unnecessary” procedures or treatment.
However, South Dakota and 29 other states introduced restrictions on trans athletes last year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group. Ten states have passed laws restricting trans athletes, with nine doing so last year.
Since the start of the new year, state lawmakers in at least seven states have proposed laws that would limit the rights of transgender and nonbinary youths. Several of those measures mirror Noem’s bill, blocking trans students from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Veterans’ health records can now include their gender identity, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday.
The department said it began including gender identifiers in its national medical record system last month “to help VA providers better understand and meet the health care needs of Veterans,” including transgender and gender-diverse veterans.
It added the categories “transgender male, transgender female, non-binary, other or does not wish to disclose” as options in its gender identity field. Nonbinary refers to an individual whose gender identity is neither exclusively male nor female.
Denis McDonough, the secretary of veterans affairs, said in a statement that the VA’s goal “is to align the department’s policies and procedures with the president’s vision for a more inclusive government.”
“All Veterans, all people, have a basic right to be identified as they define themselves,” McDonough said, according to the news release. “This is essential for their general well-being and overall health. Knowing the gender identity of transgender and gender diverse Veterans helps us better serve them.”
Trans veterans said though it might seem like a small change, it’s meaningful and will make it easier for them to get health care.
Landon Marchant, an Air Force veteran, said they are “completely and utterly blown away” that the VA added a gender identity field to medical records.Mackenzie Hunter
Landon Marchant, who uses gender-neutral pronouns and left the Air Force in 2011 on an honorable discharge, said they are “completely and utterly blown away” that the department made gender identifiers on medical forms a priority. “Changing health databases and medical records is not as easy as updating a form in Excel,” they said.
Marchant said without a field for gender identity on their medical forms, they often have to go through unnecessary details about their medical history every time they see a new provider, which they described as exhausting. They were assigned female at birth, transitioned in 2012 and updated all of their gender markers to male. But they identify as nonbinary and use gender-neutral pronouns, which can confuse providers who aren’t competent in trans care.
They said they saw a social worker recently who assumed they were “unstable” in their gender identity because they use gender-neutral pronouns.
“And then she proceeded to tell the rest of my psychiatric care team that, and I had to go sort that out,” Marchant said, adding that these types of misunderstandings are common. “People assume they know my pronouns, people assume things about me because they see me passing as male, and then I have to go explain, actually, I also need routine female reproductive care and all of these other aspects of medical care.”
Marchant said many of those miscommunications could be avoided if providers could look at their file and see gender identity, sex assigned at birth and pronouns, which they said would give providers a more “complete picture.” The new VA policy doesn’t mention the addition of a section for pronouns, but a VA spokesperson said it is developing a pronoun field to add to its health record system.
“In direct communication, VA policy requires staff to use a Veteran’s chosen pronoun,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Staff are also required to use a Veteran’s preferred name, and that information is incorporated into our health record systems.”
Avalisa Ellicott, communications director for advocacy group Transgender American Veterans Association, said including gender identity will make medical record systems more consistent. Previously, she said, some providers would only see a patient’s legal name instead of their chosen name, and they would accidentally use the wrong name, an action known as deadnaming. Trans people who are deadnamed or misgendered will be less likely to get care, Ellicott said.
“If you go to an appointment for your hormone therapy, and the person refers to you by your deadname and is using the wrong pronouns, how likely are you to continue going back to that place?” she said. “So people were going out within their own communities and finding other people and paying more money and not receiving the benefits that they worked hard for.”
She said the policy change is just one of many efforts by President Joe Biden’s administration to support trans service members and veterans and, in some cases, undo Trump administration policies. Just after he was inaugurated, Biden reversed Trump’s ban on trans people enlisting and openly serving in the military. In June, the VA announced it would start the yearslong process of creating a federal rule to offer gender-affirming surgeries for trans veterans.
Sheri Swokowski, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and served in the Wisconsin National Guard as a federal civil servant and on active duty, said adding gender identity to health records is a great step forward, but she’s worried about how long it will take for every part of the VA to enact the change.
Sheri Swokowski served in the Wisconsin National Guard for more than 30 years.Courtesy Sheri Swokowski
“It’s kind of a crapshoot,” she said. “All of the VA organizations that are out there are all led by different individuals and are all located in different parts of the country. Some parts of the country are less accepting of transgender people and older people.”
Swokowski said rather than creating more policies to foster a safe environment for trans veterans, she hopes the VA will enforce the military’s values of treating everyone with dignity and respect.
In addition to enforcing its current values and rules, Ellicott said the VA should institute mandatory training for all medical professionals.
“There are a lot of courses and classes that are optional,” Ellicott said of trans-specific medical training. “I think mandatory training on trans-related health care, and just how to interact with trans people, would do a lot for the VA and do a lot for our veterans.”
She said including gender identity on forms is an important change, even if it’s small, because then providers can’t ignore who someone is.
“It’s a way to highlight that this is important for veterans, and this is important for people to feel comfortable coming to the VA for care,” she said.
On Martin Luther King Jr Day, we revisit the legendary civil rights leader’s relationship with LGBT+ rights.
Dr King’s legacy is towering and complex. He devoted his life to – and was ultimately murdered for – advancing the rights of Black Americans, rallying against the “three major evils” – racism, poverty and war. But when looking back at his life and work, it is of course natural to wonder about the things that largely went unsaid. For many, queer Black folk in particular, his stance on LGBT+ rights is a topic of much conversation.
During his lifetime, Martin Luther King Jr was not a vocal advocate for gay rights (he was assassinated a year before Stonewall, in 1968), nor did he speak out against them. One of the rare (if not only) examples of him discussing sexuality publicly comes from an advice column written in 1958, in which an anonymous boy who felt “about boys the way I ought to feel about girls” asked Dr King what he could do, or where he could “go for help”.
“Your problem is not at all an uncommon one,” Dr King replied. “However, it does require careful attention. The type of feeling that you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired.
Martin Luther King Jr speaking before crowd of 25,000 on March 25, 1965. (Stephen F. Somerstein/Getty)
“Your reasons for adopting this habit have 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 order to do this I would suggest that you see a good psychiatrist who can assist you in bringing to the forefront of conscience all of those experiences and circumstances that lead to the habit. You are already on the right road toward a solution, since you honestly recognise the problem and have a desire to solve it.”
Were such words written in 2020, they would rightly be condemned. Do they indicate that Dr King saw homosexuality as something that could, in this boy’s case at the very least, be fixed? It seems so. Attitudes like this were hugely prevalent at the time, with the LGBT+ community under constant attack from the government and by society.
However, they were usually combined with an aggression and a hate that was entirely absent in Dr King’s response. It’s possible that he both believed this boy’s sexuality could be changed, and truly believed in equality for all, with no exception.
The opinions of those who knew and loved him, however, suggest he was no homophobe.
Bayard Rustin on Martin Luther King Jr: ‘He would not have had the prejudicial view’
Bayard Rustin, the legendary organiser of the 1963 March on Washington, became one of Dr King’s most trusted advisors while he was organising the Montgomery bus boycott and was influential in his adoption of non-violence tactics. He was also a gay man.
1964: Martin Luther King Jr (r), Bayard Rustin (l), and Bernard Lee (c). (Getty)
In 1987, almost 20 years after Dr King’s assassination, Rustin approached the subject of his attitudes towards gay people in an essay.
“It is difficult for me to know what Dr King felt about gayness except to say that I’m sure he would have been sympathetic and would not have had the prejudicial view,” he wrote.
“Otherwise he would not have hired me. He never felt it necessary to discuss that with me.”
Rustin said this his own gayness “was not problem for Dr King but a problem for the movement”, explaining that eventually some of the reverend’s inner circle eventually “came to the decision that my sex life was a burden” and “advised him that he should ask me to leave”.
“I told Dr King that if advisors closest to him felt I was a burden, then rather than put him in a position that he had to say leave, I would go,” he continued.
“He was just so harassed that I felt it was my obligation to relieve him of as much of that as I could.” After the split, Rustin said, King “continued to call on me, over and over”.
Dr King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, certainly believed his central mission was inclusive of LGBT+ rights, even if he remained quiet.
1964: Coretta Scott King and her husband Martin Luther King 09 December in Oslo where he received the Nobel Peace Prize. (Getty)
Coretta Scott King was a tireless gay rights campaigner
In 1998, addressing a Lamda Legal anniversary luncheon, Mrs King said: “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.”
Mrs King was a tireless LGBT+ rights campaigner, coming out in support of the groundbreaking Gay and Civil Rights Act that would have banned anti-gay discrimination in many public arenas in 1983.
Until her death in 2016 she continued to fight for LGBT+ equality: calling on then-president Bill Clinton to stop the gay military ban in 1993 and condemning George W Bush in 2004 for his anti-marriage equality stance.
Declaring marriage equality a civil rights issue at the time, she said: “With this faith and this commitment we will create the beloved community of Martin Luther King Jr’s dream, where all people can live together in a spirit of trust and understanding, harmony, love and peace.”
On the other hand, there are those who have positioned Dr King’s legacy as against LGBT+ rights. Most notable, his own daughter, Bernice King, said in 2004 her father “did not take a bullet for same-sex unions” while campaigning against marriage equality (though it appears she has since changed her own position, having welcomed the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on the matter).
Those who believe Dr King would have supported the community have dismissed Bernice King’s words, noting that she would have been approaching five-years-old when her father died and therefore, couldn’t possibly know his view on the matter.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to know what Dr King’s true position was. The fights for queer liberation and Black liberation have overlapped and diverged and various points in history – and continue to do so to this day. Neither community (not its intersection) is a monolith, and no person is all good or all bad.
It’s impossible to say exactly how Martin Luther King Jr felt about LGBT+ people and their rights simply because he isn’t around to tell us. On the evidence and testimonies available, it seems his thinking was flawed, but not malign, and he may well have considered himself empathetic to the community. Ultimately, the biggest crime is that he isn’t around to tell us today.
