Black Leaders Finally Call For an End to Homophobia

After so many years of hiding their heads in the sand, “black leaders” announced a war on AIDS at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Julian Bond issued the much belated cry in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

“The face of AIDS in the United States is primarily black as well. The majority of new HIV infections here are black, the majority of people who die from AIDS here are black and the people most at risk of contracting this virus in the United States are black. AIDS is now in our house. It’s now our problem, and we must come up with solutions.”

Also, these “leaders” called for a war on homophobia as well.

In a media roundtable discussion put together by Black AIDS Institute before the convention kicked off, several black men who are living with the virus challenged black journalists to begin the conversation on this subject.

“What is it that the African-American community believes about homosexuality and why?” one speaker asked. “We are having a debate about same-sex marriage — and in my view same-sex marriage isn’t in the top 10 of our agenda. Same-sex marriage is no threat to anyone else.”

I suppose I shouldn’t criticize these “leaders” too harshly. After all, they finally acknowledged that AIDS and homophobia is eating away at The State Of . . . Black America. Now that the first step has been taken, the next step in my opinion is to remove the stigma that so many black people have about AIDS and also homophobia. The former is a disease and not a character trait. The latter is a way of life chosen by people who are our brothers and sisters. They deserve the embrace of our people and our culture.