LGBT POV

(Editor’s note: In part one of this three part series in response to Rev Eric Lee’s charges in the Huffington Post, I discussed racism within the LGBT community. In part two, I took a deeper look at Rev. Lee’s allegations and the circumstances that lead to them. Here LGBT leaders respond both on and off the record and I note that In The Meantime Men is sponsoring a meeting with and for the Black LGBT community on Tuesday – to which community leaders are invited. – Karen Ocamb)

Reaction from LGBT Leaders

Some LGBT leaders were taken aback by Lee’s strong reaction to what they thought was an accidental screw up by the guy tasked with inviting him. EQCA’s Marc Solomon (pictured here), who was not specifically named but whose presence was referenced as one of the groups who “ran the failed Proposition 8 campaign,” was among those sent me their reactions, trying to set the record straight from their perspectives.

Additionally, I wrestle with Lee’s perception of the “white male-dominated LGBT community.”

(Editor’s note: In part one of this series responding to SCLC Rev. Eric Lee charging the “white male-dominated LGBT community” with “unconscious racism” – I looked at racism within the LGBT community as it surfaced during the post Prop 8 rallies. Here I look more deeply at Lee’s charge and what precipitated it. – Karen Ocamb)

Lee slams LGBT organizations

Given SCLC’s General Counsel Dexter M. Wimbish’s statement to me that “we all would be better off as a country, not just as an organization” if SCLC and NAACP rejected their stand of “neutrality” against the segregation of marriage equality, how is it that SCLC’s Rev. Eric Lee can say in the Huffington Post that LGBT organizations are “holding all of us back in our movement for justice and equality.”

I spent many hours on the phone and on email with a slew of different people since the Huffington Post piece appeared on Friday trying to piece together what had happened to prompt this diatribe from LGBT straight hero, Rev. Eric Lee. Most people were willing to talk only off the record since the issue of race and inter-organizational politics is so delicate.

Please click inside to read more about why Rev. Eric Lee felt so insulted.

Two days before the 47th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Rev. Eric Lee, President of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Los Angeles, posted an essay on the Huffington Post blasting the LGBT community for “unconscious racism.”

“There is a travesty of justice occurring within lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations that is holding all of us back in our movement for justice and equality.

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I believe that the cause of justice and equality also suffers when the unconscious racism of the white male-dominated LGBT community goes unchecked.”

My jaw dropped. I’ve known Rev. Eric Lee (pictured here at a post-Prop 8 rally) for two years – since he took his courageous stand in favor of marriage equality and against Prop 8. I know him to be a man deeply committed to justice and equality and very comfortable around gay people. So I was stunned that he delivered this painful broadside against the entire LGBT community – especially knowing how beloved and respected he is by that community – without explaining the specifics of what prompted the deeply troubling charge of racism – unconscious or not – or offering any solutions.

This is the first of a three-part series responding to Rev. Eric Lee’s charges. In the segment I look at racism within the LGBT community.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) will host a Southeast Los Angeles Job and Resource Fair this Saturday in Maywood. As Speaker, Pérez has continually worked to save and create jobs, authoring and voting for legislation and budget solutions to generate and maintain employment opportunities for Californians.

Participating partners will be on hand at the Job and Resource Fair to offer job counseling, discuss job openings, and perform on-site interviews in some cases. Partners include but are not limited to: AltaMed, Centro Latino for Literacy, El Super, Fiesta Taxi, Gas Company, Home Depot, Kaiser Permanente, UCLA, USC, Union Pacific, City of Maywood, Hub Cities, LAUSD Local District 6, and the Employment Development Department.

• The job fair is FREE and open to the community.
• Candidates of all ages, experience levels and industries are encouraged to attend.
• Companies will be looking to fill full-time, part-time and apprentice positions.
• Please come prepared with resumes and dress professionally.
• Come and learn about jobs legislation that may affect you and your community.

WHERE: Fishburn Ave. Elementary School, 5701 Fishburn Avenue, Maywood, CA 90270-2899

WHEN: Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

Website of Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker

California Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, the nation’s highest ranking openly gay state official, was honored by Equality California at their annual gala at the Ritz-Carlton hotel downtown on Saturday. EQCA executive director Geoff Kors said the lobbying group changed venues from the Century Plaza Hotel because that hotel is part of the Hyatt chain under boycott by the Unite Here! union. The gay conservative group GOProud recently crossed the picket line by holding a reception at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

Perez comes out of both the labor and Latino political movements and powerfully explained to the EQCA audience why the LGBT community needs to build coalitions with the two groups. Perez is also a prodigious fundraiser and like former state legislator Sheila James Kuehl and current state Senator Mark Leno, he judiciously contributes funds to political candidates who he deems will be good on LGBT and progressive issues.

Here’s an excerpt from his EQCA speech:

“We have to recognize that effectively fighting for our rights is not simply a matter of holding press conferences or sponsoring legislation, or even precinct walking and phone banking; although those are important. It’s a matter of connecting to people on an emotional, personal and visceral level. This is something the Labor Community understands clearly.

One worker cannot stand up to the Corporation alone.  But every worker, standing together, presents a united front that cannot be ignored. Building on that, by recruiting allies, that Union’s strength and value is only magnified.

That’s a lesson Harvey Milk learned early on. How fundamentally different would our world be if labor leaders in San Francisco never made the decision to approach Harvey Milk about the Coors boycott.
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We still see the results of that early partnership today.  In a majority of states in this country, most of us in the room could be fired for simply being gay, lesbian or bisexual. And in almost every state, a transgender person could be fired for being transgender. There is nothing in the laws of those states protecting LGBT people.

But in every one of those states a union contract guarantees that protection. Wherever you find a union contract, you find a de facto ENDA.  That is a living, breathing example of the need for us to rededicate ourselves to those early lessons of coalition building.”

If that whet your political whistle – please click inside for the transcript of the entire speech. Video to come.

President Obama flew into Los Angeles for a relatively brief Hollywood fundraiser Monday night at the home of “West Wing” executive producer John Wells. The event, which also featured short remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Chris Van Hollen, raised $1 million for the DCCC, which is trying to prevent the Republicans from taking back control of Congress. Entertainment industry couples paid $30,500 for a reception, a photo with the president and dinner – which Obama skipped.

Variety’s Ted Johnson reports at Wilshire and Washington that Obama was well-received during his 30-minute extemporaneous remarks focusing on the economy.

“One attendee, who did not want to be identified, described Obama relaxed, gracious and even a bit gregarious, more emotional and not as cerebral. The event did help change sentiments, whether they be cynicism over Democratic chances in the fall or frustration at the White House on various issues. “It gave people a boost,” the attendee said.”

LAObserved has the pool reports.  While Obama talked about rewarding Democrats for the “tough votes” they’ve taken on a number of difficult issues, it is interesting to note that he did not mention the entertainment industry nor net neutrality nor “climate change” – all big issues in Los Angeles. And on the day when the LGBT community and the legal worlds were obsessed with the 9^th Circuit’s stay of Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling on Prop 8 – there was nary a word uttered about the “tough votes” congressional Democrats have taken on LGBT issues.

What DOES have everyone talking in LA, however, is how the Obama visit tied up the already grueling rush hour traffic for hours on the Westside. Check out this report from TheWrap which is representative of other reports.

Please click inside for a transcript of Obama’s remarks to the Hollywood crowd.

California Assemblymember Mike Feuer, whose district includes West Hollywood, authored a resolution calling upon the IRS to grant tax equality for same sex couples that passed the state Legislature Monday with bi-partisan support. Recently out Republican Sen. Roy Ashburn presented and spoke in favor of the resolution on the Senate Floor. Additionally, Republican Assemblymember Chuck DeVore, the Tea Party candidate in the GOP Senate primary (won by Carly Fiorina), repeatedly spoke in favor and then voted for Assembly Joint Resolution 29 as an expression of states’ rights to establish their own tax policies, according to Feuer’s legislative aide, Arianna Z. Smith.

The resolution, which is not legally binding, does not require the signature of the governor. Copies of the resolution are now sent to President Obama, Vice-President Biden, the Treasury Secretary, the IRS and members of the California Congressional delegation for them to understand that it is the will of the California Legislature that same sex married couple should receive the same recognition as domestic partnerships when it comes to filing tax returns and community property.

Feuer, pictured here at this year’s LGBT Pride parade, said in a press release:

“I commend the IRS for affirming that domestic partners have the same community property rights as heterosexual spouses.  Now it needs to ensure that same-sex married couples can enjoy the same protections from unfairly high taxes.  I urge the IRS to respect California law and honor the rights of all of California’s same sex couples.”

Feuer  is a joint author with Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) of Assembly Joint Resolution 19, which calls upon President Obama and the California Congressional Delegation to repeal DOMA.

Please click inside to read the press release from Assemblymember Mike Feuer’s office.

After speaking at a press conference in San Francisco on Wednesday to discuss U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s historic decision declaring Prop. 8 unconstitutional, the plaintiffs and their legal team — headed by Ted Olson and David Boies — flew back to L.A. to appear as the sun was setting at a rally in West Hollywood Park. The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which initiated the lawsuit, also put on the rally that featured speakers including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman; Perry v. Schwarzenegger plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo; and attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies.

Photos by Mark Hefflinger

CLICK INSIDE FOR A PHOTO SLIDESHOW FROM THE RALLY—>>

KABC News Channel 7, the local ABC News affiliate, featured a story at the top of their newscast about the upcoming ruling from Chief US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker on the constitutionality of Prop 8. That ruling will be issued between 1:00p and 3:00p today.

KABC News interviewed LA Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean: ”Most of the experts believe that the case that the other side put on was so weak that they expect Judge Walker to issue a decision that says that the United States constitution protects gay people too, just like everybody else.”

Noting that the losing side will appeal the case for to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, then to the Supreme Court, Jean said: ”That is the scary part. This is the most conservative Supreme Court in 70 years in this country so it’s not a slam dunk.”

Possible GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger of Rights Equal Rights (formerly Californians Against Hate) told KGTV in San Diego that he is confident that Walker will overturn Prop 8.  ”I’m very optimistic,” Karger said. “It is an equal protection issue. Everyone should be treated equally.”

There has been some discussion about whether same sex couples should dash out and get married if Walker rules to overturn Prop 98, as expected. Protect Marriage has asked Walker to immediately stay his own ruling so as not to create more legal confusion. Walker is expected to order the stay.

Please note: San Diego-based veteran gay journalist Rex Wockner is keeping track of Day of Decision events at his blog. So far, he has information for 40 cities in 9 states.  There are two sites in Los Angeles: 6 pm at West Hollywood Park and at 8 pm Downtown Los Angeles at Olvera Street Plaza.

ADVISORY: I am also on deadline for Frontiers In LA and my news writer is on vacation. Posting may be light here as I write the other news for the magazine in order to be free to blog consistently once the decision is issued.  Don’t want to miss history!

The Wall Las Memorias – an inspirational art project dedicated as a Latino AIDS monument on World AIDS Day in 2004 – has been vandalized. Apparently a mother went to see the name of her son on the Wall in Lincoln Park in East LA and found a section of the mural splashed in yellow paint.

The Wall’s founder Richard Zaldivar told me:

“The vandalism was done to the section of the AIDS mural that depicts a child saying, ‘I once knew a child with AIDS.’ And so it is really sad  and very troubling that someone would use this opportunity to damage a piece of art that was created for the purpose HIV prevention and education to our community.

We are currently working with the police to see whether or not it was a hate crime. It seemed to be very targeted. There are six painted murals and only this mural was vandalized. So it was very targeted and focused.

I also really appreciate so many people from the community expressing their concern and sadness at this vandalism.”

Zaldivar says that if people want to be supportive, they can help create a discussion with the larger community around safety and other issues in the park. He requests that comments and suggestions be sent to jperez@thewalllasmemorias.org.

Additionally, Eddie Martinez says:

“We plan to try to clean it today at 2pm. We are going to try to use soap and water. If that does not work, we will need to call the company that produced the fabricated murals to see what the next steps are. We don’t want to further damage the murals. We have a team of volunteers and staff going to the monument today. People are welcomed to be there for support but we have enough manpower.”

The story is developing. Richard says they will post updates on The Wall’s Facebook page.

My friend Greg Hernandez over at GregInHollywood has been covering Outfest 2010, including a panel during which actress Meredith Baxter – pictured here with gay entertainment publicist and coming-out specialist Howard Bragman – talked about coming out.  She reveals she had toyed with the idea before taking the leap last December.

“To be honest, I was at a point in my life where I was sort of entertaining the idea … I thought I might put an ad in the paper, kind of like a little birth announcement that would say, ‘Okay, I’m gay. – Meredith.’ I didn’t really know how that was supposed to come about but I was planning to talk to my business manager about that the same day he called and said that Perez Hilton and The Enquirer and all those guys were ready to talk about the fact that [her partner] Nancy [Locke] and I were on a lesbian cruise.”

Please click over to Greg’s terrific site for more on this story and Outfest 2010.

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Ashley Love of Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People (MAGNET) will moderate an impressive panel of transsexual and LGBT activists looking at the role media plays in producing inaccurate and stereotypical images of transsexuals. The panel will also discuss the controversy over whether and how the gay male community irresponsibly produces stigmatizing images of transsexual women. In addition to critiquing harmful images, the panel will also seek to create and build trust within the LGBT community, according to a MAGNET press release.

The panel is Thursday night, July 15^th, 7-9:30pm Plummer Park Community Center (Room #6), 7377 Santa Monica Blvd. (Cross street is Martel) West Hollywood, CA 90046.

Please click inside for more on the topics and panelists.

In a radio interview that aired on KHVH 830 AM last Thursday, Hawaii governor Linda Lingle seemed to reveal one of the reasons why she vetoed the state’s civil union bill last week:

“For those people who want to make this into a civil rights issue, and of course those in favor of the bill, they see it as a civil rights issue. And I understand them drawing that conclusion. But people on the other side would point out, well, we don’t allow other people to marry even — it’s not a civil right for them. First cousins couldn’t marry, or a brother and a sister and that sort of thing. So there are restrictions, not to put it in the exact same category. But the bottom line is, it really can’t be a civil right if we are restricting it in other cases, and it’s been found to be legal in those other cases, that the restrictions (are constitutional).”

The Honolulu Civil Beat reported that later “a caller who identified himself as Joe from Maryland told the governor that first cousins can get married in Hawaii. Lingle’s response: ”Whether or not a first cousin can marry in Hawaii, I’ll have to go back and check. I don’t know that that’s untrue, but let me go back and check on that.”

Honolulu Civil Beat followed up an reported that “the Hawaii Department of Health says, ‘Cousins may marry. However, the blood relationship between the prospective bride and groom cannot be closer than first cousins.’”

Here’s the audio of the interview (hat tip Think Progress and advocate.com):

I was unable to attend the press conference regarding the arrest of Jesus Catalan (pictured), suspect in the murder of transgender Paulina Ibarra last year. However, Lt. Wes Buhrmester, the detective from the LAPD’s Rampart Division, provided the update below. Please click inside if you are interested in a personal comment on why I think this arrest has broader implications.

Here’s Buhrmester’s update on the arrest of Jesus Catalan:

“At the press conference, we divulged a few more details.  On July 3, 2010, Jesus Catalan was involved in a dispute at a motel in Tijuana, Mexico.  The landlord called the police and they responded.  Catalan was involved in a dispute with them also, and was taken into custody.  Because he was not a Mexican citizen, but an American, and had no ID, he was transported to the border crossing and handed over to authorities there.

The U. S. Border Patrol did a fingerprint check of Catalan, and that revealed the outstanding murder warrant in Los Angeles.  He was booked in San Diego pending his being transported here.  That was done, and he now has a preliminary hearing date, as you wrote, of July 19, 2010.

It was gratifying and humbling that we could cause Catalan to be brought to justice.  I was going to write, “to bring him to justice,” however credit where credit is due, it was the Tijuana police who set his arrest into motion.  In any event, the support and interaction with the LGBT community in Los Angeles was most satisfying, and we on the Department and especially at Rampart do not intend for the associations and friendships to end with Catalan’s trial.  We and the community intend to keep the dialogue going.  As part of that dialogue, I always post my e-mail and phone number if anyone has comments or questions. (25214@lapd.lacity.org and 213-484-3400) If it’s criticism, I will hear that especially.  Community exchanges are what help us, like any company or organization, to improve.

Jesus Catalan, wanted in the August 28, 2009 murder of Paulina Ibarra, (pictured) a 24 year old transgender woman who lived in East Hollywood, is in custody. LAPD Lt. Wes Buhrmester, who has been working the case from the beginning, says there will be news conference at 4:00 p.m. at Rampart Station, 1401 W. 6th St. to discuss the details of the arrest. Buhrmester,  some LAPD command staff and possibly some community members will speak.  Additionally, members of Paulina Ibarra’s family will be in attendance.

Working with the transgender community, Buhrmester was able to issue a description of Catalan and warn that he was considered armed and dangerous.  He also got the case profiled on the Fox TV show “America’s Most Wanted” last December.

Buhrmester said Catalan was in Mexico “when he ran afoul of the authorities down there.  He is not a Mexican citizen, being born in Puerto Rico, so they transported him to the border and turned him over to the U. S. Border Patrol.  A fingerprint check revealed he was wanted in Los Angeles on the murder warrant.” As of press time, Buhrmester had no date for arraignment.

UPDATE: Buhrmester says Catalan has been arraigned. A preliminary hearing has been set for July 19, 2010, 8:30 a.m. at the Criminal Courts Building, 210 W. Temple St., LA, Division 32.

The LGBT community juggled a lot of news Thursday dealing with our constitutional right be treated fairly and equally under the law and not to be second-class citizens in America. We admire the historic civil rights movement and often quote Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about how “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

But we must wonder about both the arc of the moral universe and our system of “justice” regarding treatment of African Americans when we hear the verdict in the videotaped shooting death of Oscar J. Grant III (pictured) by white Bay Area transit officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year’s Day 2009.  Grant was shot in the back as he lay face down on the subway floor, surrounded by officers who had handcuffed his three companions and were in the process of handcuffing him. 
Protests erupted in Oakland, prompting a change in venue to Los Angeles. Mehserle testified that the “he mistakenly grabbed his firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon during a struggle with Grant,” according to the LA Times. Here’s how The Times describes it:

“Alameda County Deputy Dist. Atty. David R. Stein rejected the idea that the shooting was a mistake, telling jurors that Mehserle’s holster was specially designed to prevent easy release of his firearm. The prosecutor contrasted the light, bright yellow Taser gun with the heavier black Sig Sauer handgun that Mehserle fired. “He let his aggression dictate his conduct,” Stein told jurors.

The prosecutor urged jurors to find Mehserle guilty of second-degree murder, pointing out that the officer never told his colleagues that night that the shooting was an accident…..Mehserle testified that he intended to use his Taser because he believed Grant, 22, might be reaching for a gun in his pants pocket. While the officer’s firearm was on his right side, the Taser was in a holster on the left side of his belt but angled so that it could be pulled out with his right hand.

Two people, including a friend of Grant’s, testified that they heard the officer say he intended to use his Taser shortly before the shooting. In at least six other instances, officers have said they made the same mistake of firing a handgun when they intended to use a Taser.

 Numerous witnesses said Mehserle looked shocked after the gunshot. Defense attorney Michael L. Rains said video footage shows his client holding his head in his hands in despair.

“He’s sick to his stomach,” Rains told jurors, “because he has shot a man who did not deserve to be shot.”

The jury, which had no African Americans, returned a verdict of involuntary manslaughter which carries a sentence of two to four years. He could get an additional 10 years for a finding on use of a gun. The next hearing was set for Aug. 6, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The Bee reports that Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, stared at jurors and appeared upset then later denounced the verdict outside the courthouse.  “My son was murdered! He was murdered! He was murdered,” she said.

Here’s a news report that shows the video of the shooting.

A federal court in Washington state is currently weighing whether signers of a 2009 ballot petition face a grave enough threat of reprisal for their support of “traditional marriage,” to warrant blocking the release of their names as required under a state law. The petition they signed aimed to strip domestic partner protections from gay and lesbian couples, but voters approved Ref. 71 and kept the protections intact.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled strongly in favor of disclosure, rejecting in their 8-1 decision in Doe v. Reed the notion that publicly disclosing the names of petition signers generally violates their First Amendment rights. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that disclosure helps root out fraud in signature gathering, and “promotes transparency and accountability in the electoral process to an extent that other measures cannot.”

What the Court mostly eschewed, and left for the Washington state court to address, is whether the particular case of Washington’s Ref. 71 presents special circumstances warranting an exception to disclosure, due to a “reasonable probability” that disclosure of these petitions will subject petition signers to “threats, harassment, or reprisals.”

Justice Samuel Alito tries to make the case in his Doe v. Reed concurring opinion that “the widespread harassment and intimidation suffered by supporters of California’s Proposition 8 provides strong support for an as-applied exemption [from disclosure] in the present case.”

Evidence of this purported harassment and intimidation suffered by backers of Prop. 8 — the ballot measure that stripped the rights of gays and lesbians to wed in California in 2008 — has been trumpeted far and wide by anti-gay groups wishing to perpetuate a meme that they are in fact victims in their campaigns to codify gay Americans as second-class citizens.

The Science of Growing Leaders

Guest post By Stevie St. John

Communications Manager,

L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

Advancing change and fighting for the equality of LGBT people is an art—but at the [L.A. Gay & Lesbian] Center, it’s also a science. It’s a science that, instead of beakers and lab coats, involves conversations, spreadsheets and follow-up calls that track how people become more supportive of marriage equality and what messages resonate with voters.

And door-to-door canvasses aren’t the only things brewing at the Center. The new Leadership LAB (Learn Act Build) is helping shape tomorrow’s LGBT leaders not only in California, but across the nation and beyond the U.S. borders.

Please click inside to read more of Stevie’s essay.

Dominic Montelongo was shaking when he told his story to LAPD Chief Charlie Beck at a recent police forum at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center.  Between 1:30-1:45 a.m. on April 20 after leaving Mr. Black, a club at Bardot on the second floor of The Avalon on Vine St, just north of Hollywood Blvd.,  Montelongo said three people “ambushed” him from behind, knocked him down twice, continually calling him a “fucking faggot” while they beat him. They finally knocked him out with a “blunt object.”

Montelongo suffered a fractured skull and to his eye socket, a split lip, a torn ear and heavy bruising on his face, skull, neck, back and arms. He walked home in shock, with no help from anyone. The next day, he went to the ER after realizing how badly he was hurt. It was then that the police were called and were “very helpful,” although he was unable to describe his assailants’ faces. He was unable to work for two and a half weeks but nonetheless, he felt “comparatively lucky.”

Beck and the LAPD officers at that June 15 forum were “shocked” to hear his story and “looked grim,” Montelongo’s partner Andrew Ableson says. They had just finished talking about how there were more “feet on the street” and violent crimes had gone down since January.

Ableson spoke up too, saying that he knew of two other people who were recently beaten up in the same area and “if I personally know of three people – there has to be more.”

Please click inside to read the rest of the story.

On this spectacular summer day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and his Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that the Civil War was over and the slaves were now free – a decree with enough troops to finally enforce the Emancipation Proclamation President Lincoln issued two and a half years earlier.  Gen. Granger read General Order Number 3, which begins:

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”

June 19^th became celebrated worldwide as Juneteenth. One of the groups celebrating in Los Angeles is the LGBT Jordan/Rustin Coalition, which will actually hold their celebration on Sunday, June 20 from 2:00-5:00pm at a private residence in Hancock Park. In addition to the traditional homestyle cooking, the coalition is honoring Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass, who is expected to win her congressional race to replace Rep. Diane Watson in November, and Jeffrey King, the extraordinary Black Gay founder and Executive Director of In The Meantime Men. King has also contributed thoughtful essays to LGBT POV.

Please visit the Jordan/Rustin Coalition website for more information on the group and the event and click here for ticket information.