On homophobia in the Black community
“In 1997, when Ellen made her famous declaration, it took place in an America where the Defense of Marriage Act had just passed months earlier, and civil unions were not yet legal in any state — but also remember, just 30 years before that, the Supreme Court was deciding that the ban against interracial marriage was unconstitutional. Up until then, heterosexual people of different races couldn’t marry who they wanted to marry, either. So when Black people today tell me that they don’t believe in gay marriage … the first thing that I say is, ‘Please don’t let anybody try to get you to vote against your own best interests by feeding you messages of hate. And then I say, ‘You know, people used to say stuff like that about you and your love, and if we let the government start to legislate love in our lifetime, who do you think is next?’ ”
