(NAME-MCE) Gay rights on MLK's birthday!

[Anselmo Villanueva]

*January 15: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday.  Where would King stand on
gay rights if he were alive today?  His widow, Coretta Scott King, answered
that question:*

*Make Room At The Table for Lesbian and Gay People*

Coretta Scott King said the civil rights leader's memory demanded a strong
stand for gay and lesbian rights.  *"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," she said. "But I hasten to remind them that
Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.'" "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s
dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and
gay people,*" she said. - Reuters, March 31, 1998.

*Homophobia is Like Racism and Anti-Semitism*

Speaking before nearly 600 people at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Coretta
Scott King called on the civil rights community to join in the struggle
against homophobia and anti-gay bias. *"Homophobia is like racism and
anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a
large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and
personhood,"* King stated. - Chicago Defender, 4/1/98,

*MLK's Struggle Parallels the Gay Rights Movement*

Quoting from her late husband's writing, Coretta Scott King reaffirmed her
stance on gay and lesbian rights at a luncheon celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.  *"We are all
tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I
ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be," she quoted
her husband. "I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were
unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans
who believe in democracy,*" King told 600 people days before the 30th
anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 4,
1968. *Her husband's struggle parallels that of the gay rights movement, she
said*. - Chicago Sun Times, 4/1/98

"*For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human
rights for gay and lesbian people*," King said. *"Gays and lesbians stood up
for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine,
Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement," she said.
"Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a
time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their
contributions*." - Chicago Tribune, 4/1/98

*Sexual Orientation is a Fundamental Human Right*

"*Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a
fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from
racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination*. - Coretta Scott
King<http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/825/825_king.asp>, remarks,
Opening Plenary Session, 13th annual Creating Change, 11/9/00

*Justice is Indivisible*

My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere." On another occasion he said, "*I have worked too long
and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my
moral concern. Justice is indivisible." Like Martin, I don't believe you can
stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others*. So I see
this bill as…a logical extension of the Bill of Rights and the civil rights
reforms of the 1950's and '60's." - remarks at a press conference on the
introduction of ENDA, Washington, DC, June 23, 1994.