I’m shocked. I really am. Approving the creation of a Gay Task Force is the last thing that I expected from an organization like the National Association of Black Journalists (of which I think I was a member, briefly, on a previous job).
The National Association of Black Journalists approved the creation of a Lesbian and Gay Task Force over the weekend, a milestone in efforts by black gay journalists to gain acceptance within the organization. NABJ becomes the first journalist of color organization to recognize an internal gay group.
The board voted 13-5 to authorize the task force, NABJ secretary Sarah J. Glover said.
“This task force, which grew organically from its gay and lesbian members, will work to strengthen black journalists — including the scores of gay journalists who felt NABJ did little to pay attention to their individual/collective needs,” co-chair Frankie Edozien, a reporter at the New York Post, told Journal-isms. “Many for YEARS have been afraid to congregate openly within NABJ. . . . It is a further affirmation that NABJ is a big tent umbrella organization for ALL black journalists, including its hitherto silent gay members.”
It’s a step in the right direction; one that was a long time in coming. I remember when the controversy first stirred up a few years ago, and I have to say I’m amazed at what’s happened now. I expected it to take a lot longer. But, then, I tend to be somewhat more pessimisitic when it comes to African American communities and institutions reponding positively to the issues of black gays and lesbians in their midsts. Thta’s based on personal experience, but this is a positive development. It’ll be interesting to see what follows.
