Reframing the Debate on our Terms

-Ron Buckmire, Board President, Jordan / Rustin Coalition

On behalf of the Jordan/Rustin Coalition, I am proud to affirm our participation in the 2009 re-launch of Let California Ring, a public education campaign to open the hearts and minds of fair-minded Californians about the freedom to marry.

As the only Black LGBT advocacy and outreach organization in greater Los Angeles, the central problem JRC exists to address is the diminished presence of the Black LGBT community in both the Black and LGBT communities. Following the passage of Proposition 8, a racially tinged firestorm erupted in the mainstream and online media which generally framed the question as a “Black versus gay” debate. The oppositional nature of this false dichotomy fails to acknowledge that there are members of society who identify with both camps and exacerbates the marginalization of the Black LGBT community. Jordan/Rustin Coalition believes that, by participating in Let California Ring, we will be able to advance our mission to promote equal marriage rights and to advocate for fair treatment of everyone without regard to race, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

We are happy to work together with the numerous coalition partners involved with Let California Ring to develop, deploy and evaluate culturally appropriate and effective messages about why marriage equality is important to all Californians that are persuasive to diverse audiences throughout the state. We look forward to engaging with fair-minded people of faith to acknowledge that allowing same-sex couples to access civil marriage is a civil rights issue which should not be infringed upon by any religion or faith tradition. Forged through historic circumstances, African-Americans have a unique stories to tell about the importance of the recognition of all civil rights, such as equal treatment under the law, the freedom to marry the person of one’s choosing and the separation of church and state. We believe that marriage equality for same-sex couples follows in that historic tradition and look forward to engaging with our brothers and sisters in the ongoing conversation that is social justice in America. 

The mission of JRC is to empower Black same-gender loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and families in Greater Los Angeles, to promote equal marriage rights and to advocate for fair treatment of everyone without regard to race, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. www.jrcla.org