Not even an ice storm in early April could keep more than 400 members of the Boston-area gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) communities and others from gathering to discuss the struggles facing minorities in their community Saturday morning.
Urvashi Vaid, a gay activist, lawyer, author and founder of the Boston Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, touched on many problems currently facing the gay community and the world, and said she is particularly concerned about increased security following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and their effects on the gay community.
‘We know the dangers of over-policing,’ she said, as she addressed fears on what she called ‘the erosion of freedom.’
Vaid also declared how far gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trans-genders have come in procuring civil rights, and how far they still have to go. She expressed the resistance activists face when confronting the epidemic, particularly in communities of color.
‘I am currently speaking as a progressive dyke,’ Vaid told the crowd at the 14th annual Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast at the John F. Kennedy Library. ‘I am owning my biases and I am proud of them.’
She spoke of several other problems GLBT citizens face: lack of diversity in the programs, prejudices within the organizations and the continuing struggle to gain respect for people of color within GLBT communities.
‘The GLBT agenda is bigger than the gay issue alone,’ Vaid said.
People of color represent only 18 percent of the Massachusetts population, according to the AIDS Action Committee, which provides support services to those affected by AIDS and HIV and educates the public on the diseases. However, they make up 59 percent of those recently diagnosed with HIV.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that nearly one-third of young, gay black men in the U.S. are HIV-positive, as are nearly 14 percent of young, gay Latino men.
‘AIDS is prevalent in our community,’ said Gerald B. James, co-chairperson of the Breakfast Committee, in his opening speech. ‘So I thought there could be no weather that will keep us for coming together thanks for proving me right.’
The presentation portion of the program began with a short film called ‘Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.’
Rustin was a civil rights activist one of the chief architects of the 1963 March on Washington and was also a gay black man.
‘I am committed and humbled by [Rustin’s] words and teaching,’ Rev. Irene Monroe said. ‘His tenacity leads us to continue on.’
Following her speech, Cambridge City Councilor E. Denise Simmons and Cambridge Mayor Ken Reeves presented Vaid with a golden key.
Reeves called Vaid ‘a brilliant drum major for justice’ before presenting her with ‘the key to our hearts.’
The breakfast was created in 1989 by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts to help recognize the roles of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people from communities of color in the AIDS epidemic.
The event drew a variety of people, including Jenifer Firestone, who runs Alternative Family Matters and has attended the breakfast for years.
‘I feel like it is a very unique event,’ she said. ‘There are hardly any opportunities to learn about the efforts and accomplishments of black gay people. I always learn a lot and I brought my daughter and her friend because I want them to learn, too.’
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