Nineteen Fifty-Six Best of 2020-2021 Melanin Magic

JEFFREY KELLEY
EQUITY ON A
SPECTRUM
W
ith kindness and light in her
heart Marsha P. Johnson, a
Black trans woman, and gay
liberation activist helped march
the gay rights movement forward
during the 1960s. Yet, though she
was a pivotal figure in history, it
seems that her story has been swept
under the rug and known only by
those who seek it out.
That sentiment of
underrepresentation is something
the 39% of LGBTQIA people who
identify as people of color grapple
with every day.
According to a study by the UCLA
Williams Institute, LGBTQIA people
were nearly four times more likely to
experience violent victimization. In
addition, according to the Southern
Poverty Law Center, the number of
anti-LGBTQ hate groups rose from
49 to 70 in 2019.
Also, in 2020, according to the Human
Rights Campaign, 30+ transgender
or gender-nonconforming people
were murdered, with the majority
of them being Black and Latinx
transgender women.
These statistics, along with constant
bigotry online or in real life, made it
apparent to most LGBTQIA people
of color that the fight for equity
was not over. “Being of LGBTQ and
a person of color right now in this
moment, we are very underrated,”
said Jay Love, a Black gendernonconforming
UA senior majoring
in African American studies.
Love said they felt like it’s a constant
fight to “prove a point” that LGBTQIA
people of color deserve the same
privileges and acceptance that the
majority take for granted.
This fight for acceptance is
something Faith Wamble, a Black
bisexual junior at the University of
Alabama majoring in environmental
engineering and specialist in the
army, understood immensely.
She said it was a fight that had seeped
into many facets of her life. While
at work, she experiences occasional
hostility when customers made
the wrong assumption about her
sexuality. And though her immediate
family was welcoming to her, she
also faced some opposition from her
relatives while coming out.
Wamble said she even experienced
these moments of opposition in the
military. “I’m already looked down
upon, so to speak, because I’m female,
and on top of that, I’m Black,” Wamble
said. “And on top of that if I’m like I’m
gay; they’re like ‘oh no she can’t do
this,’ and it’s like there’s no reason
that it should be held against me in
a sense.”
She said moments like that made
her feel like she had to validate
herself to other people continually.
“I try not to because I am who I am.
I don’t really have to explain myself
to you, but sometimes I find myself
in a position where they aren’t
trying to be bigoted. They just
don’t understand,” Wamble said.
“And there’s only so much I can do
to help them understand. Like look,
just because I’m this way doesn’t
mean it changes how I can be with
you.”
In the search for acceptance and
equity, these educational moments
are essential because ignorance
and fear are breeding grounds for
hatred and stigma.
Yet while trying to educate others,
people of color and Black people in
particular are sometimes met with
even more hatred and stigma.
Love said when Black people speak
out about an issue, they are painted
as “an angry Black [person],” making
it hard to truly educate and even
harder for Black people to reach
toward equity.
That’s something Stephen Shol, a
gay biracial junior communications
39 NINETEEN FIFTY-SIX MAGAZINE