Tag: king

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Obama will not attend Sochi games

Barack Obama is sending Russia a clear message about its treatment of gays and lesbians with his choices to represent the United States as delegates at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The tennis great Billie Jean King will be one of two openly gay athletes in the US delegation for the opening and closing ceremonies. For the first time since 2000 the US will not send a president, former president, first lady or vice-president to the games, reports LA Times.

“Russia has come under fierce criticism for passing national laws banning “gay propaganda”. Though the White House did not specifically address the Russian laws in making its announcement on Tuesday, spokesman Shin Inouye said the delegation “represents the diversity that is the United States” and that Obama “knows they will showcase to the world the best of America diversity, determination and teamwork”. The White House said Obama’s schedule would not permit him to attend the games.

“It’s a positive sign to see openly gay representatives in the delegation,” said Michael Cole-Schwartz, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group that recently sent a letter urging Obama to include gays and lesbians in the delegation. “Hopefully it sends a message to the Russian people and the rest of the world that the United States values the civil and human rights of LGBT people.” King said she was “deeply honoured” to be named to the delegation. Continue reading “Obama will not attend Sochi games”

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Julian Bond on “I Have Dream”

The below letter was released today by NAACP chair emeritus Julian Bond, noting the role of Bayard Rustin in the famous “I Have a Dream” speech and event.

“Thousands are in Washington, D.C. today to re-create something so powerful and so vivid that it still plays on loop in my mind. They’re here for the 50th anniversary of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington.

“We are returning amidst a newly reinvigorated fight for civil rights that has grown rapidly to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.

“After all, LGBT rights are civil rights.Julian Bond Then and Now

“No parallel between movements is exact. But like race, our sexuality and gender identity aren’t preferences. They are immutable, unchangeable – and the constitution protects us all against discrimination based on immutable differences.

“Today, we are fighting for jobs, for economic opportunity, for a level playing field free of inequality and of discrimination. It’s the same fight our LGBT brothers and sisters are waging – and together we have formed a national constituency for civil rights.

‘And while we haven’t fully secured Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most remarkable dream, we are getting closer every single day.

Julian Bond with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and more recently at an HRC event.

“In August 1963, I was the Communications Director for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led at the time by John Lewis, the march’s youngest speaker that day.

“A gay black man by the name of Bayard Rustin was one of the chief organizers – an early embodiment of the unity and commonality that bonded the movement for LGBT equality with the fight for equal treatment of African-Americans.

“In his honor, HRC will help lead a commemoration of Bayard’s incredible contributions to the civil rights movement on Monday. And it was recently announced that President Obama will posthumously award Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian award in the United States. Continue reading “Julian Bond on “I Have Dream””

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Civil rights and wrongs

“By 1968, President Lyndon Johnson — a man brought into office by an assassin’s bullet — had already convinced Congress to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act the following year,” states a Huffington Post editorial today.

“The bills put the full force of federal law behind the rights of black and other disenfranchised Americans to vote and use a wide variety of public facilities. But one other measure that Johnson and many civil rights activists saw as essential

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— The Fair Housing Act — had languished in Congress for three years. In April of that year, Congress finally passed the bill. It was just days after another assassin’s bullet sliced through Martin Luther King Jr.’s neck and jaw, killing the civil rights leader in Memphis.

“Nearly 45 years later, the desire to memorialize King and his nonviolent struggle for a broad range of civil, labor and economic rights, has changed. Continue reading “Civil rights and wrongs”