the young people's professor

preach, frank. this is terrible news, i remember following the story when it first came out. this is a real tragedy.

thank you 4 sharing n giving us your prospective

exactly. thanks for writing this. towards the world we deserve.

Frank, if you are that upset about Duanna Johnson's murder (and you have every right to be), you can go to Memphis and organize a protest in her name. There is nothing stopping you.

Please don't say, or imply, that the people who are upset about the passage of prop. 8 should be concerned about something else (like DJ's murder). Gay people should have the right to marry if they want to just like straight people.

It's not fair to ask gay people who are preoccupied with gay marriage rights to put their hopes and dreams on hold and do something else that is supposedly more important. If you think the DJ's of the world are so important, YOU put YOUR hopes and dreams on hold and fight for them.

I like you and your blog: you have humanized the "ball community" for me, a college educated professional black gay man. I think, however, this was a poorly thought out thread. If you don't care about gay marriage rights, just say so.

Hey ELG

Thank you for your comments. I hope that my blog can be a forum for a plurality of voices, including those that disagree with me. So thank you for articulating your concerns. Naturally, I strongly disagree with you.

First off, in regards to your comment that I should just come out and “admit” that I don’t support gay marriage, actually I’ve already done that. I’ve been quite public about my opposition to the movement for same-sex marriage. If fact, I would encourage you to read my essay, “Why I Hate Gay Marriage, or Notes on Queering Black Gay and Lesbian Politics” in my co-edited collection "If We Have To Take Tomorrow." You can find the essay online at the website for AIDS Project Los Angeles, by googling “If We Have To Take Tomorrow.”

But let me very clear about something. I have never said that I do not care about the “rights” of married people. Quite the opposite. I believe in an obliteration of “marriage” as a legal institution. I believe that marriage should remain a religious or symbolic exercise for those that wish to engage in it (sort of like a Bar Mitzvah), but should not form the basis by which certain legal rights are distributed.

For instance, why not talk about a universal distribution of the rights currently associated with marriage, rather than simply buy into the institution of “marriage” as the only recourse to state recognition? In other words, why should “marriage” be the only the way that two people in love can obtain healthcare or social security benefits? Why not UNIVERSAL health care?

Time does not allow me to go into a long critique here of my opposition to marriage, but if possible, I’d encourage you to check out my essay, or check out some of the work of historian Lisa Duggan or Richard Kim.

Yaz!

Get into my brista citing herself in her comment section. Need more clarity on where I stand on the issue? Google my published article.

Loves it.

I have to agree with ELG. We all have the power to pick our battles and causes. We pick those that matter to us most or affect us greater.

I could care less about Prop. 8 since I don't live in California. Those homos in Cali can work and fight for that. It means nothing to me. I have more important issues at hand; like coming out of this recession unharmed with a roof over my head.

California is a nutty state to me. They have time to vote down a Proposition banning gay marriages but are all for a $48B proposal to build a high-speed rail system linking north and south California. I could have sworn The Terminator said the state was close to being bankrupt so I am wondering where these idiots in California are going to get the money to bring this train to fruition.

I think it's horrible that what has happened to DJ is being allowed. There is no reason for something like this to go unsolved with no resolution. You can't tell me there were no cameras, no witnesses and no idea. Last time I looked out my window during a shooting, I don't recall the 4 shots being anywhere near silent.

Cali can fall into the pacific for all I care. Let them worry about Prop. 8. I’m busy trying to keep my job!!

kudos, frank.

We already know that many people feel that the LGBT rights struggle will be "over" whenever federal gay marriage is sanctioned, leaving behind those of us with different immediate concerns to work without their support... Oh wait, we're already working w/o their support, aren't we?

I guess the general mindset is that some will sacrifice for the many which makes no sense to me. It is obvious that we need to keep ringing the bell via this media or else those lost will be forgotten...

This comment has been removed by the author.

I think the music behind what ELG is saying is what will work best in supporting/standing for Duanna Johnson and other transgender women and men of the world. People supporting and fighting for Gay Marriage right are working toward what they believe is most important them.

Frank, I often wish you would galvanize your readers around a cause you support. It would be refreshing to see someone in our community that is as transparent, intelligent, and vocal as you that both young "black" gay scholars and ballroom kids alike can look to as an example of leadership.

Those of us that believe something must be done in the case of Duanna Johnson, or the cases of the many victims of homohostility, gather a small group of people and do something about it. We often miss out on the opportunity to actually take a stand for something because we're too busy discussing it how we feel about a particular subject. Let's be clear, talking is simply expressed analysis. Action is movement toward results.

In the game of life, there are the players, coaches, fans, and journalist. Whichever one you choose to be, simply have the game be fulfilling to you.

RIP Duanna Johnson.

P.S. Please let us not have the need to express our thoughts diminish the tragedy that happen with Duanna Johnson. She's much more than a subject matter, and certainly much more than her initials that act as a means to our point.

Im so ashamed of my city. I currently live in Memphis Tn. First we kill MLK now Duanna Johnson,damn what next? Obama should NEVER set foot here. Im telling you this word is that the Police probably did have something to do with her killing. The media seems to forget that Duanna was on that street because she lived only a few streets over. Does not mean she was out there "working". And lets be real it was hard as hell for her to get a job here, what else could she do?

I resent your marriage comments. Its fine for breeders to start to dissect whats wrong with marriage culture if they want to. But im sooooo sick of gay boys who think they are revolutionary for rejecting marriage. I cant tell you how often I hear people talk about how free love, polyamory, etc are whats so cool and unique about our community. ok. that stopped being cool a generation ago and was coffin nailed the second AIDS struck. There are HUGE reasons why legally bonding two people has benifits for us all - our families, communities, and health. Esp as gays increasingly have children.

Secondly, I disagree with the idea that marriage comes at the price of public discussion around hate crime. Marriage is only recently at the top of our agenda, most because we started to see it as possible. maybe we got ahead of ourselves, but the brandon-teenas, keven aviances, Steven Parrish's have always been our primary concern and historically mobilized us in our greatest numbers. Do you forget that mobilization around hate crimes was the bulk of our political activity for most of the movements history? For most of my life that was the ONLY thing that mobilized us or won us public sympathy.

I take yr point that we need to have employment protection as a more primary focus, demand federal protection instead of waiting for states to catch up, better funnel $$$ and activism across the county. Obviously we need to get better at working w/in communities of color. And we need to publicize EVERY case of violence against lgbt people, certainly when the state is not protecting us.

But what about Duanna Johnson? can you not see how living where the majority of people have voted in favor of the gay community to give her "a recourse to 'marriage'"might have helped? Where the majority and the state saw their relationships as normative? How differently the police and establishment might react when they know the population stands with her? What about all the future Duannas growing up where marriage is legal?
Does gay marriage really have nothing to do with her?

I feel you Frank on Duanna. I do disagree with you on gay marriage a lil. I think people have been so focused on the idea of marriage that the "act" itself has clouded people's judgments. I am referring to heterosexuals.

The problem is people con themselves into believing that marriage is the answer for their livelihood, however, it can cause ruin and more pain than beforehand. There is nothing wrong with those who have found their mates to demand rights that are given to heterosexuals. I hope those gay men and women who are with another person have invested a legitimate amount of time in order to suggest rights for marriage.

I do plan to read your essay and provide more insight on the subject. I know within the black gay community, we have ALOT more issues that we should focus on honestly, not dismissing the protests. However, people are still dying of AIDS, being infected with HIV, and the DL cloud is still over the black community, and HOMOPHOBIA.

I do contend with gizmo when I believe action within the community is necessary as well in the case of Duanna. Do you have people you connect with in Memphis, TN or know someone who does? Lets move to the next level.

Y'all can stop with that 'all rights flow from marriage' lie now.

Our people got legal recognition of their marriages after emancipation in 1865, but it still took another 100 years and several Civil rights acts before we got the Civil Rights Acts of 1964-65 passed.

As a transwoman, the gay push for marriage rights doesn't do jack for me. I can't get married if I don't have a job or I'm dead.

Passing ENDA and hate crimes legislation does far more for a broader swath of the GLBT community than passing marriage equality ever will.

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

Free pills gyne-lotrimin Online calan Canadian effexor Order apcalis sx Low price gestanin Online plendil