What would Martin say about Gay Rights?

Martin Luther King was one of my primary
mentors. When he spoke in Washington,
it felt like he was sharing my private
thoughts and deepest beliefs at the
nation’s capital. I was thrilled.
He gave me hope we were not alone.
I was only 12, but was so moved by
his speech it brought tears of joy.

It is unfortunate that his daughter Bernice
seems fundamentally confused about LBGT
communities and issues.
She should have listened to her Mom.

“King has in the past said her father “did not take a bullet for same-sex marriage,” and in 2004 she marched in Atlanta alongside antigay Pastor Eddie Long to protest same-sex marriage.
According to the Georgia Voice, King tells Atlanta Magazine in its upcoming August issue that while she opposes marriage equality, she isn’t homophobic.
“People have labeled me homophobic. If I was homophobic, I wouldn’t have friends who are gay and lesbian, so that can’t be true,” she said”

Bernice’s defense sounds a lot like Southern white racists protesting that they have lots of black friends.

Coretta Scott King, speaking four days before the 30th anniversary of her husband’s assassination, said Tuesday 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.

“For too long, our nation has tolerated the insidious form of discrimination against this group of Americans, who have worked as hard as any other group, paid their taxes like everyone else, and yet have been denied equal protection under the law…. I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience.
My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. 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 step forward for freedom and human rights in our country and a logical extension of the Bill of Rights and the civil rights reforms of the 1950’s and ‘60’s. The great promise of American democracy is that no group of people will be forced to suffer discrimination and injustice. “– Coretta Scott King, remarks, press conference on the introduction of ENDA, Washington, DC, June 23, 1994
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“The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. called gay marriage a civil rights issue, denouncing a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban it.
Constitutional amendments should be used to expand freedom, not restrict it, Coretta Scott King said: “Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union,” she said. “A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages.”