As some anti-gay black clergy are likely to recall the legacy of Coretta Scott King and her contribution to the civil rights movement during sermons on Sunday, gay activists hope they will also heed her call for equal rights for all people.
"Ministers today need to sit back and realize what Dr. and Mrs. King were all about — they don’t honor her legacy when they spew homophobia and hatred," said Keith Boykin, an author and activist who serves as board president of the National Black Justice Coalition, a group that advocates gay rights issues.
Mrs. King, wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died overnight on Jan. 30 at a holistic hospital in Mexico. She suffered a stroke in August and was afflicted with late-term ovarian cancer. The King family had not announced funeral arrangements by press time.
"She was a legend. She influenced many people," Boykin added. "And she was one of the few people who got it — that racism, sexism and homophobia are discrimination — like few others did. [Ministers] would do well to call her name and recall her words."
‘Champion of human rights’
While her legacy includes being the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., Mrs. King forged a history of her own that included speaking out against a proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. In numerous speeches she publicly advocated for gay rights as well as raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.
In Atlanta, where she created the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change to honor her late husband, she worked alongside state legislators to try to defeat the state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
"She was a champion for human rights," state Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta), a plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to throw out Amendment 1, which was approved by voters in 2004, placing a ban on same-sex unions in the Georgia Constitution.
"She opposed discrimination in all forms and she remained consistent with her husband’s vision," he added. "Her legacy will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her husband’s legacy."
State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), who also worked to defeat passage of Georgia’s same-sex marriage ban, praised King as the "mother of the civil rights movement."
"I respected her not only for her grace and dignity under pressure, but her courage," he said.
Zandra Conway, spokesperson for In the Life Atlanta, which organizes the country’s largest annual Black Pride event, praised King for being a "woman of grace and justice."
"She advocated equal rights for the LBGT community and she publicly opposed the Georgia amendment to ban same-sex marriage. One of my favorite quotes from her is, ‘I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’" Conway added.
AIDS activist, too
The timing of news of King’s death — on the day of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Speech as well as the confirmation of Samuel Alito as an associate justice on the Supreme Court — is particularly poetic, said Craig Washington, a black gay activist who works for the HIV advocacy group Positive Impact in Atlanta.
Bush began his speech Jan. 31 with a tribute to Mrs. King.
"I’m hoping her death serves as a clarion call for people in this country to call for the rights of LGBTQ people and that it also serves as a call to LGBTQ people to realize that liberation is not fully achieved until we focus on matters affecting us all," Washington said.
"We lost an amazing matriarch and lost our most well-known and consistent ally — she spoke out against homophobia and was very active in AIDS prevention mobilization," he said.
Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, also praised King’s advocacy for HIV and AIDS prevention.
"Mrs. King boldly framed our fight against the forces that fuel the AIDS epidemic as part of that mission. That is why she was among the first Heroes in the Struggle the Institute honored," Wilson said in a prepared statement.
"She contributed her voice to our campaigns time and again and to countless other efforts to help black America save itself from this scourge," he added.
Wilson also quoted her August 2001 speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Council marking the 20th anniversary of the epidemic.
"AIDS is a global crisis, a national crisis, a local crisis and a human crisis," Mrs. King said. "No matter where you live, AIDS is one of the most deadly killers of African Americans. And I think anyone who sincerely cares about the future of black America had better be speaking out."
"That address was one of many times in which she spoke eloquently about the movement to end this epidemic, and its place in black America’s struggle for justice and equality," Wilson said. "Her voice, her leadership, her compassion and her commitment will be sorely missed. But her legacy will live on in all of our individual commitments to building a secure future for our community."
Inspired beginning of Soulforce
Mel White, founder of Soulforce, an organization dedicated to ending "spiritual violence" against gay men and lesbians through non-violent actions against anti-gay churches and religious institutions, credits Mrs. King for "giving birth" to the group.
It was in 1995 when White, who used to ghostwrite for Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before accepting he was gay, was arrested for trespassing at Robertson’s CBN Broadcast Center to protest his anti-gay rhetoric. White spent 21 days in jail where he fasted.
During that time, Mrs. King sent her longtime executive assistant, Lynn Cothren, a gay man, to the jail to speak to him about non-violence and the term "soul force" used by Gandhi, later adopted by Martin Luther King Jr.
"She was my mother in faith," White said of Mrs. King. "She taught me that non-violence is something you do, it’s not something you don’t do. She literally gave birth to Soulforce. Her legacy and Dr. King’s legacy is we have to take it to the streets — we have to escalate and stigmatize these people who preach homophobia."
Cothren served as Mrs. King’s assistant for 23 years before leaving her employment in 2004. A former Atlantan, he now lives in Manhattan and is director of administration for the Girl Scouts of the USA. Cothren said gay men and lesbians have lost a significant force and ally in King.
Cothren recalled how Mrs. King would give him time to go protest Cracker Barrel restaurants for its anti-gay hiring practices and how, despite pressure from some advisers to fire him because he was gay, she told them, "I know what I need and he does his job."
"I think the world has lost a great voice for social justice, but particularly for gays and lesbians we have lost one of our greatest allies. She was always there when we called," Cothren said.
"The best way for us to really show appreciation for her legacy is to look at the issues she spoke about — she also looked at peace, at health care — all of the world issues are linked back to us as gays and lesbians," he added.
It was Mrs. King who introduced Bayard Rustin to Dr. King, Cothren added, after she met him when he was the keynote speaker at her high school graduation. Rustin, a gay man, helped organize the famous 1963 March on Washington where King delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech.
"She knew gay people long before me. She was well-grounded, well-versed in all people’s rights. It’s not surprising she would stand up for us when nobody else would. She not only talked the talk, she walked the walk," Cothren said.
Praise for King’s record
Numerous gay rights organizations touted King’s dedication to fairness for all in continuing her husband’s legacy and praised her for speaking out against homophobia.
"Coretta Scott King was one woman who shared a great dream and a great vision with an extraordinary man," H. Alexander Robinson, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said in a prepared statement.
"This couple helped to awaken the conscience of a nation. It is this indomitable spirit that will continue to motivate those who strive for equal rights for all and fairness for all families," he added.
In 1997, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force honored King for her support of gay rights; in 2000, she spoke at the Task Force’s Creating Change Conference for gay rights activists.
"From the beginning, Mrs. King understood that homophobia is hate, and hate has no place in the Beloved Community that she and Dr. King envisioned for our nation and our world," Matt Foreman, executive director of the NGLTF, said in a prepared statement.
Joe Solmonese, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, praised King for her support of a bill prohibiting anti-gay employment discrimination and for her work for justice for all people.
"She saw justice as a birthright and lent her voice as a relentless advocate for all fair-minded Americans, gay or straight, black or white. We join the nation in mourning the loss of a great hero and give enormous gratitude for all that she’s left behind," Solmonese said in a prepared statement.
The National Stonewall Democrats and its black caucus also praised King for her work for equal rights for all people.
"Black or non-black, gay or straight, Mrs. King dedicated her life to love, justice, equality, and global human rights and for that we are truly grateful," Jasmyne Cannick, co-chairperson of the Stonewall Democrats Black Caucus, said in a prepared statement.
"Mrs. King argued that our nation would not fulfill its promise unless all Americans, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens, were afforded equal treatment under the law," added Eric Stern, NSD executive director.
Family split
In March 2004, Mrs. King joined a growing list of civil rights pioneers — including U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Atlanta) and NAACP Chair Julian Bond — to publicly oppose efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage.
"Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil unions," Mrs. King said during a speech in New Jersey.
But while Mrs. King made numerous public statements supporting the rights of gay men and lesbians and quoted her husband’s call for justice for all, their family did not agree on gay issues.
The King family’s youngest child, Rev. Bernice King, helped organize a march in December 2004 with Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Church in suburban Atlanta, to call for black churches to become more vocal on issues including banning same-sex marriage, reforming the education and health care systems, and creating economic opportunities for minorities.
The march, which began at Martin Luther King Jr.’s gravesite at the King Center, drew between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to Atlanta Police Department estimates.
