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Black LGBT
Presidential Forum, January 23 in L.A.
Black LGBT
Presidential Forum, January 23 in L.A.
African-American LGBT voters have a chance to come together on Wednesday, January 23, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to hold a presidential election forum.
African-American LGBT voters have a chance to come together on Wednesday, January 23, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to hold a presidential election forum. "It's a Black Thang! The Black LGBT Vote '08" will be held in L.A.'s historic African-American community of Leimert Park at the Lucy Florence Coffee House and Cultural Center, located at 3353 West 43rd Place. Contenders from the Republican and Democratic parties have been invited to join the event.
Journalist and Advocate columnist Jasmyne Cannick will moderate along with Ray Cunningham, season 3 star of BET's College Hill reality series. At the conclusion of the forum, audience members will participate in a mock vote to determine which presidential candidate would have the black LGBT vote if the election were held that day.
Confirmed panelists include Alan-Michael Graves, board member of the National Black Justice Coalition; Christina Fontenot, graduate student at Dillard University; Doug Spearman, actor (Noah's Arc); Ivan Daniel, CEO of Ivan Daniel Productions; Jazzmun, actor (Punks, Heroes); Jeffrey King, founder of In the Meantime men's group; Jewel Thais-Williams, CEO of Catch One Night Club and Village Health Foundation; Paris Barclay, Emmy award-winning director; Patrik-Ian Polk, filmmaker; Rosalind Renfro, Soulful Touch Entertainment; and Treazure Lee, CEO of TreazureMag.com.
"While the thought may be that gays are only concerned about gay marriage," Cannick said in a statement, "when you're black and gay, marriage may not be the defining issue for you in comparison to putting food on the table and having a roof over your head. Hopefully, this forum will shed light on the issues that black gays see as being most important while letting our presidential candidates know that our voices and votes count too and that all gays aren't white and all blacks aren't homophobic or heterosexual and our vote is not to be taken for granted or our voices ignored."
A survey by the National Black Justice Coalition and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force shows that at least 85,000 black same-sex couples lived in the U.S. at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. (The Advocate)
