Did you know that the co-founder of the Black Panther movement, Huey Newton, was a strong advocate of the Black gay community? Well, you better believe it! While black people were still trying to fight for their civil rights, Newton made a clear effort that we should fully support our gay blpack brothers and sistas, too!
On August 21st, 1970, Newton published a letter in The Blank Panther Newsletter titled, A Letter from Huey Newton to the Revolutionary Brothers and Sisters about the Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements. In the letter, he address how the black community should be in support of black boys and girls who identified themselves as gay because they could be allies as well.
He says, “Whatever your personal opinions and your insecurities about homosexuality and the various liberation movements among homosexuals and women (and I speak of the homosexuals and women as oppressed groups), we should try to unite with them in a revolutionary fashion.”
He continued to embrace the insecurity that he felt most Black men had in the letter. He continues, “I say whatever your insecurities are because as we very well know, sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual.”
Huey Newton understood that to be black was one thing, but to be black and gay was another. He was in full support of the black gay community because he understood that we are people too and we shouldn’t be ignored.
Read the letter for yourself here: http://www.blogcitylights.com/2013/02/04/a-letter-from-huey-newton-to-the-revolutionary-brothers-and-sisters-about-the-womens-liberation-and-gay-liberation-movements/
Source:
http://www.newnownext.com/huey-newton-black-panthers-gay/07/2015/
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