LGBT Blogger Initiative: Saturday Morning Session

Today was the morning kickoff of the LGBT Bloggers & Citizen Journalist Initiative. This morning’s session is at the Center for American Progress, which publishes one of my favoritest blogs Think Progress. The working breakfast began at 8:30 or 9am—entirely too early for most bloggers—but the the conference center was packed. Here are few snaps from the BlackBerry. Above is Mike Rogers outlining the goals of the morning session and asking the assorted bloggers to introduce themselves. Many of the people behind the blogs you read were in attendance, such as Rev. Irene Monroe, Michael Crawford, Lane Hudson, Ron Buckmire aka the Mad Professah, who was heavily involved with black gays and Proposition 8. The always fabulous Pam Spaulding from Pam’s House Blend was also in the house. On Friday afternoon, Pam and I strategized and shared ideas for two hours over lunch at Annie’s on 17th Street. PHB contributor Autumn Sandeen, the trans advocate who was recently very helpful in sharing information on murder of a young black trans woman in Syracuse, was also in the house.

Read the rest at Rod 2.0!

GA Exclusive: An Interview with Brian Watson

I recently had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Mr. Brian Watson of Washington D.C., exclusively for gayagenda.com.

Mr. Watson is the Director of Programs at Transgendered Health Empowerment (T.H.E.) as well as the President of the D.C. Coalition of Black, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Men and Women, which was started over 30 years ago. He is also a proactive member of other GBLT, HIV/AIDS, and health-related organizations, and he serves on the Advisory Committee to the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs. He has been recognized as a Capitol Pride Hero and was this year’s recipient of the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance (GLAA) “Distinguished Service Award”.

Brian’s most recent accomplishment however was the opening of the Wanda Alston House, a transitional home for GLBT youth ages 16-24. The house, named after the late Wanda Alston, was opened in June of this year. Wanda Alston served as the liaison to the GLBT community for former D.C. Mayor, Anthony Williams. Tragically she was murdered in her Northeast apartment in March 2005 by a neighbor seeking drug money. Part of her great legacy was her sense of community. She also greatly influenced the community and Brian, who attributes his interest in community activism to Ms. Alston.

Because many of our youth are banished from their homes when their supporters and/or family discover them to be GLBT, they often turn to drug use, suicide or prostitution as a means of survival. They resort to these things simply because they have nowhere to go. The Wanda Alston house, designed after a similar program in Detroit, and patterned after a house T.H.E. had opened 3 years ago for HIV+ people, is a housing program focused on helping the GLBT youth by providing a safe place.

I asked Brian to comment on the roadblocks he encountered prior to the opening of the Wanda Alston house. He quickly told me, “Construction”. The house was actually built 4 years ago, but it was never finished. “Trying to get the necessary permits and inspections was not an easy task.”

Speaking with Brian, I immediately sensed he is an extremely powerful and dynamic person, so I asked him what he considered to be his greatest personal attribute. Although his answer didn’t surprise me, it did confirm what I had already perceived. Brian’s answer to the question was, “The ability to step out there and do things that you want to do and others wont’ do.” He obviously has proven himself on that.

Moving on in a different direction, I asked Mr. Watson what his largest concern for the LGBT community was today. Again, without hesitation, he replied, “Discrimination within the LGBT community. There is a lot of discrimination against effeminate males. We don’t want to walk down the street or sit with them, mostly because we are still not secure with our own sexuality. There are also class issues (the amount of money one has or has not), and the fact the various sectors of the LGBT community do not socialize or work together.” Brian also added “We live in bubbles, we don’t allow ourselves to overcome stigmas within our own community, especially among the transgendered community.” He said, “I have to applaud transgendered people. Can you imagine the struggles they go through having to catch the train or applying for a job?” He reinforced this by telling me about a transgendered girl, who was not allowed to use the main restroom in her school. Her school’s principle made her go to the basement of the school, which was under construction and hazardous, to use the restroom.

Brian also asserted, there is a “stronger disconnect” in the black GLBT community as many are not accepted within their own race. “The church has issues with sexuality in the black community and they discriminate against their own. A lot of black LGBT people have not come to terms with who they are. Once they have, they will be able to move forward and embrace others.” Brian is no stranger to this type of discrimination. He admitted, “As a black gay man, I’ve had my own struggles” with sexuality. Another concern he sees as in the forefront of the GLBT community is “most GLBT people have become complacent with life. They allow a small part of the community advocate for all. We need to support the community as a whole.” He embellished on this point by saying, “Just because I’m not a woman, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be aware of breast cancer.”

Going forward, I spoke with Brian on what he considered to be the best way to combat homophobia and stereotypes. He said, “Take the time to get to know someone in each of the LGBT categories. Find out what they bring to the rainbow spectrum, because it wouldn’t be complete without all of us, it wouldn’t be complete without the “T”. Sexuality and sexual preference are two different things.” Brian added, “Also being open minded and getting to know someone opposite of you would be a big help. If we took the time, we would find no matter how different we are, our struggles are so similar, and if you take the time to educate people about the LGBT community, they will listen and even have those “Aha” moments which bring us all closer together.”

Being that he has such an active voice on GLBT issues and concerns, I wanted to know how Brian defines success. He told me, “Helping others break down walls through education, and knowing something I’ve contributed has helped someone else.”

When I asked Brian what really fires him up, he said, “Homophobic pastors who get HIV funding for their church and yet preach ignorance and intolerance.” He also added it fires him up when, “We as a community are not addressing the needs of youth. Our youth needs safe places to go. They also need to be educated on how people will not always accept them and sometimes they need to tone it down some.”

Brian continued to address what he feels is missing in the GLBT community, other than the lack of youth support and cohesiveness. He feels strongly the GLBT community members need to be socially proactive. According to Brian, it’s very easy for us to “become comfortable in our bubbles, if it’s not our issue, then we don’t want to deal with it.” He very strongly advocates giving back to the community. “So many of us in the GLBT community have great jobs, but don’t look back to the community.” He suggests giving what you can to help support the betterment of our community, your community. “Go to gay pride”, said Brian. Do “any little thing you can to support our community. It doesn’t have to be an enormous gift to make a huge difference.”

Speaking with Brian briefly about his future aspirations, I specifically asked him about a political career. Brian indicated he would rather stay involved in working from the core, adding, “I don’t want a political career directly, politics are not for me.” Although personally, I must admit, with his great accomplishments, demeanor and drive to do right, I would vote for him for just about any political post imaginable. As far as his aspirations go, Brian said, “Personally, if I’m lucky, I may get into a relationship, and for the Wanda Alston house, expansion. I would love to open another house in D.C. There is still no data on the homeless GLBT youth in D.C., but I know from experience, it’s a problem, a very large problem.”

Well, as you can see, Brain Watson is driven, to say the least, not to mention dedicated beyond reproach to helping the GLBT community, especially those within the community that need it most, our GLBT youth. So far, he’s done a great job at it, but even he admits, “there is so much more to do.”

Want to find out how you can help either by volunteering or donating, then visit the website for Transgendered Health Empowerment (T.H.E.) or The Wanda Alston House, or the National Minorities AIDS Council.

You can also read more about Brian Watson and the Wanda Alston House at bestgayblogs.com.