Since the 1700s, my family, both European and African, free and slave, has worked to build this great nation we treasure. As tradesmen and servants in the towns and fields of South Carolina and Georgia, as farmers and merchants in the hills of Alabama, and as laborers, teachers, nurses, and protectors of our safety in Florida, New York and across this country, they have left us a loving inheritance of opportunity and purpose. And like my great-grandfather, Ocie Baker, a century ago during World War I, they have served this nation in wars before and after. The great moment that we observe on your inauguration has been bought by their great faith and sacrifice even at times of despair by many of my ancestors for their own freedom.
The experience of my family and that of LGBT people, is what gives me great hope of the progress that lies ahead for the United States. Despite what has been often a brutal history for racial and sexual minorities, the magnificent achievements of the 20th century to end legal segregation, enact voting rights for all people, and to advance the civil rights of Americans regardless of gender, race, creed or sexual orientation in courts, legislatures and society remind us that the winding arc of America bends toward justice.
As you are sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, hundreds of us will be in Dallas for the 2017 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and other Health Disparities. The men and women gathered to organize our efforts to end the HIV epidemic and improve the health of black gay men, know too well the horrible deaths and sickness that has resulted from this epidemic during the past four decades — and the
indifference of our government in its beginning. They also know the accomplishments in defeating HIV that the creative leadership of our communities have willed into being around the globe. On Inauguration Day, like all others, people around the world are at work honoring the 35 million dead from AIDS and to make prevention, care and treatment available to anyone in need. In its response to HIV, the LGBT community has left a lasting legacy of courage, determination and generosity.
Through all our suffering and times of oppression, Black people and Gay people have given more than they have received and made America stronger in so doing. In standing against the tyranny of oppression, they have given this country its moral voice in the world — along with so much of its art and music and culture.
In this time when division threatens the very future of the country we have inherited, my prayer is that you will come to know well the grace, strength and resilience of our people and hear the words of Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes as America sings for justice, dignity and equality.
The opinions expressed in these letters are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations and this magazine, its staff and contributors.
Kyle Griffin’s first foray into the world of news was serving as the anchor for his high school’s morning announcements program. But the then-teenager quickly realized that being an on-air personality was not for him.
“I saw at my local NBC affiliate that while the anchors and reporters were great, they were reading someone else’s words, and I wanted to be the person who wrote those words,” says Griffin. “I wanted to write the news.”
Griffin got his wish. A veteran of Seven Network Limited, NBC News Yahoo!, and the Albany, New York-based NBC affiliate WNYT, he’s currently the executive producer of MSNBC’s The Weekend, the network’s Saturday and Sunday morning news show, which launched earlier this year.
Former First Lady Melania Trump will host a fundraiser for the gay conservative political group Log Cabin Republicans. It will be her first major political event of the year.
The fundraiser is set for April 20 at Mar-a-Lago, the resort where the Trumps reside. It will launch the Trump organization's "Road to Victory" program, which seeks to target swing-state voters.
Melania Trump has maintained a longstanding relationship with the Log Cabin Republicans, which endorsed her husband's 2020 bid and whose leaders have been among the former president's most stalwart defenders.
Pride flags are officially banned from flying above U.S. embassies.
The provision, part of a larger $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending bill to keep the government funded through September 30, was signed into law by President Biden on March 23.
Under the provision, no government funds may be used to fly or display any flag over any State Department facilities, unless that flag is the United States flag, a state or tribal government flag, an official agency flag, the POW/MIA flag, the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee flag, or -- as in the case of embassies -- the sovereign flag of other countries, reports NBC News.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!