Gay leaders seek to bridge racial divide

[kweerwolf]

National gay and lesbian groups are responding with marketing campaigns and old-fashioned schmoozing to win over minority gays — who argue white activists want their votes on national issues, but rarely include poverty, racism and other minority concerns on their agendas.

<snip>

The numbers say minorities are just as prevalent as whites. So why then, do their faces number so few at national gay rights events?

In 2000, the Human Rights Campaign set out to answer that question. Officials surveyed leaders in several communities of color across the country. The results were sobering.

"Their perceptions of us were rich, white male elitist organization with low investment in issues facing the multicultural community," recalled Donna Payne, senior diversity organizer with the D.C. group, which claims to be the nation's largest gay rights advocacy organization.

http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=2079

[marmar]

1. I think sometimes there's a presumed alliance...

between all "minority" groups, whether it be gays with people of color, or different groups of people of color with other people of color, and so on and so on, even though there are divisions between the various "minorities." If these groups really do come together with a united political voice, they wouldn't be a "minority" anymore.