Black FistsIn a recent post Internet Perusing by a Jaded Gay Negro, I mentioned the fact that when I visit mainstream LGBT websites; I don’t see many people of color and I’m bombarded with Marriage Equality. Put frankly, marriage equality is at the top of the priority list of the White LGBT community. Not saying marriage equality isn’t important (of course it is), I just don’t feel it’s at the top of the list as it pertains to issues impacting many LGBT people of color.  Well, apparently my observations are shared by others. A new report by Black Youth Project states:

•More Black (80.2%) and Latino (74.9%) youth believe the marriage equality movement has taken too much attention away from other important LGBT issues compared to white youth (64.0%).

•More Black youth (58.0%) believe that LGBT issues in communities of color are not well-represented by mainstream LGBT organizations than Latino (45.9%) and white youth (42.7%).

•More than a third (35.0%) of Black youth reported that HIV/AIDS is the single most important issue for LGBT organizations to address. Latino youth reported that bullying (20.1%) is the most important issue, while white youth (21.3%) reported that same-sex marriage is the most important issue.

Read the full report here.

This report was highlighted in a eye opening discussion on Roland Martin’s show on TVOne with featured panelist Terrance Laney (Black Youth Project), Cleo Manago (Black Men XChange), and political columnist Jasmyne Cannick (JasmyneCannick.com). After viewing the video, feel free to share your thoughts?

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