Dr. King's legacy lives on

Today marks four decades since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Arizona Sen. John McCain are among the thousands of people expected to take part in a variety of commemorations across the city that will mark the grim anniversary. Pundits, commentators and other observers will certainly continue to analyze Dr. King's legacy today -- as they have done since his untimely death on April 4, 1968.

My home state of New Hampshire did not officially recognize Martin Luther King, Jr., Day until the late 1990s, and some may question how a 26-year-old gay white man from the Granite State could possibly find this figure inspirational. Dr. King was certainly controversial during his all too brief life, but the movement he spearheaded (and arguably continues to lead in memorium), arguably laid the foundation upon which the modern movement for LGBT rights is built.

Racial prejudice and intolerance remains alive and well in the United States. My grandmother's initial rejection of her multiracial great-grandchild is one of a myriad of examples of this reality. This country must continue to confront this legacy. Dr. King inspired millions of people to stand up and demand their rights in a country whose founding document proclaims all men are created equal. This legacy lives on four decades after his death.

Dr. King: An LGBT Rights Activist?

The debate over whether late civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., would have advocated on behalf of LGBT rights remains alive among many circles inside and outside the movement for LGBT rights. This writer thinks he would have based on statements made by his widow, the late Coretta Scott King, and others close to him that suggested he would have indeed brought LGBT Americans into his broader message of equality and human dignity. Panelists at a forum sponsored by WNYC and Civic Frame at the Brooklyn Museum this past weekend seemed to agree as they discussed Dr. King's legacy. Hindsight is almost always 20/20 -- as perhaps suggested in my article for EDGE New York on the forum -- but it remains relatively clear he would have become an LGBT rights activist. His faith and tradition of non-violent struggle would have almost certainly have mandated it.

With social commentators, politicians and activists continuing to debate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., nearly 40 years after his death, many maintain the late civil rights icon would have advocated on behalf of LGBT people. Panelists who participated in a forum moderated by WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer and Civic Frame President April Yvonne Garrett at the Brooklyn Museum on Jan. 19 to examine King and his impact seemed to agree.

Corey D. B. Walker, assistant professor of Africana studies at Brown University, said he feels King certainly included LGBT people in his broader message of equal rights. Walker further added King’s own faith would have mandated him to do so.

"King felt religion compelled him to act in a certain way because he felt human dignity was being violated," he told EDGE in a pre-forum interview. "What we see with King is... the extension of rights to communities throughout the American nation."

Eric Gregory, assistant professor of religion at Princeton University, agreed.

"King never used his faith to exclude anyone from the American promise," he argued. "King’s love should stand against vicious homophobia, discrimination and hypocrisy in high places and bigotry in all sorts of sacred places."

Gregory further concluded the black church remains a crucial institution to carry out what he categorized as King’s LGBT-inclusive vision. Walker criticized it for the homophobia that remains prevalent in many historically black congregations.

"A lot of work needs to be done in the role of the black church to develop a much more progressive stance with gays and lesbians in society," he said. "It doesn’t portray the essence of Dr. King’s beliefs."

Academics and especially LGBT activists are quick to point out King’s widow, the late Coretta Scott King, and their eldest daughter Yolanda were vocal supporters of LGBT rights. King famously drew parallels between the Civil Rights struggle and the movement for LGBT rights during the opening speech of the National Lesbian & Gay Task Force’s 2000 Creating Change conference in Atlanta. And she also spoke out against the proposed Constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples in a 2004 speech she delivered at Richard Stockton University in New Jersey.

Bayard Rustin, the chief organizer of King’s 1963 March on Washington, was openly gay. He remained one of King’s leading advisers throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

Anti-LGBT organizations, such as Concerned Women for America, and some within the black church have criticized LGBT activists for using King’s messages and rhetoric to advance marriage for same-sex couples. The movement continues to grapple with the effectiveness of this strategy but Gregory said it does raise some questions.

"How to appropriate King and his legacy is a contentious and controversial plain," he said.

Walker singled out presidential candidates during a discussion focused on how King exerted his influence as a political strategist. He argued they fell prey to using religion to gain votes and political power. And Walker concluded this strategy fails to take King’s legacy into account.

"In many ways, the religion King was talking about is an inconvenient religion," Walker said. "We don’t see that religion in any of the candidates."

Walker further concluded King’s political legacy compels elected officials, candidates and those whom they represent (or want to represent) to expand equality to all Americans.

"King forces us to look at humanity," he said. "King forces us to look at the complete human being."

Martin Luther King's Legacy to Us All

Nearly 40 years after his assassination, academics, pundits and other observers continue to debate and examine the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I attended the "Embracing the Radical King: Prophetic or Passé?" forum sponsored by WNYC and the Civic Forum at the Brooklyn Museum yesterday. I walked away with a clear understanding the late civil rights leader would have certainly included LGBT people in his broader vision to secure equality for everyone. I also concluded this legacy is desperately needed in this divided world which so often lacks basic compassion and human dignity.

My own life contains examples of this indignity. My grandmother, for example, refuses to acknowledge her great-grandson because her granddaughter, my cousin, had him out of wedlock with a black man. She considers herself an adherent Catholic but
has no problem telling her granddaughter that her newborn son is not welcome inside her home. This appalling rejection is an affront to the love and compassion Dr. King and others spread through their faith.

Another example remains a born-again Christian friend who routinely asks me how it feels to live a so-called alternative lifestyle. He's in prison for 10 to 20 years so perhaps he has a lot of time on his hands to think about these theological questions but I can't help but think that Dr. King would not approve of the way people who claim to be good, virtuous people of faith subjugate those who choose not to subscribe to their narrow ideologies.

As a white gay man born and raised in New Hampshire, some may ponder how Dr. King's legacy impacts my life. But as a white gay man born and raised in the Granite State, his legacy provides a path upon which anyone who believes in true compassion, equality and human dignity should follow. This message transcends race, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural and faith backgrounds. It even includes my grandmother who continues to deny her bi-racial great-grandson and my born-again Christian friend who uses his new found faith to question my sexual orientation.