Will the civil rights move still be inclusive of gays and lesbians now that it has forfeited its gay-friendliest voice? The passing of Coretta Scott King.


Will the civil rights move still be inclusive of gays and lesbians now that it has forfeited its gay-friendliest voice? The passing of Coretta Scott King, wife of slain civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr upon January 30 has prompted about gay rights leaders to publicly worry about the to come of the movement.

in succession many occasions King affirmed her belief that fighting for gay rights was in keeping with her husband's legacy. She forged alliances with gay leaders and in March 2004 denounced a propos federal constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage as an attack onward gay families.

King was single of a very few prominent voices in the African-American civil rights motion to embrace lesbians and gays, and she faced fierce opposition smooth from within her family. King's youngest daughter, the venerable Bernice King, made news last year when she participated in an antigay march in Atlanta with her mentor, Bishop Eddie in extent a megachurch pastor. In 1998 King's niece Alveda King trekk across the geographical division speaking at rallies against gay rights legislation, calling her organization "King for America."

moreover Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a well-known black political commentator, isn't worried about a change in direction now that Coretta King is gone "Bernice and Alveda don't have the political or social resonance, cachet, prize admiration, or long and astute track record of commitment to the civil rights change that got [Coretta] the platform that she had," he said. "She was able to be a friend and an ally to many changes not just the gay civil rights mental action No one else in the King family has that power."



COPYRIGHT 2006 Liberation Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group

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