Lgbtq Informative Speech

When it comes to history, black history is already talked about at a bare minimum. Black history is disregarded as if it has no importance in American history. So when it comes to being black, which already targets someone as a threat, and gay the history is not taught unless the initiative is taken to obtain that knowledge. History is important to who it affects, so at first look I would say black LGBTQ history is not important, but in the same breath I would say how important African American history is important. Well, with some new knowledge, one realizes that you can’t mention African American history and without including black LGBTQ history. There are significant figures in African American History who were apart of the LGBTQ community: Bayard Rustin, Barbara Jordan and Langston Hughes. These historians inspired others and paved the way for other LGBTQ people such as Frank Ocean, Wanda Sykes and other black LGBTQ celebrities. Black people have an extraordinary history and many do not know that some important parts of that history just so happened to be a part of the LGBTQ community. Langston Hughes is an example of a revolutionary black man. Hughes was a titan during the Harlem Renaissance were he lead the way with his poetry, short stories and novels. The Renaissance was a period that brought us an eruption of artistic figures leading up to the evolution of black entertainment. Langston along with a multitude of other Renaissance artists were gay and they all play an important role in our, as in black people, history. Not only have LGBTQ people affected our culture we also have had some political aspects of our history impacted by these type people. If I mentioned the name Barbara Jordan many people would not even know who she was but she is very important to the history of African Americans and black LGBTQ. Jordan was the first black Congresswoman breaking barriers that seemed unbreakable. Not only did she become the first black Congresswoman but she held her position for the state of Texas, known for its outrageous racist inhabitants. Ms. Jordan was secretly gay, but for her to be black, a woman and gay that sets her on pedestal that most cannot reach. Barbara Jordan can be considered more than just an African American boundary breaker, but she has broken boundaries for black women and black gays. Speaking of Black and LGBTQ history the civil rights movement is a very focused on topic. An important part of the movement was the March on Washington, little do people know a gay man by the name of Bayard Rustin orchestrated that whole gathering. Most people would give Martin Luther King Jr. …show more content…
the credit for that incredible protest, but without Bayard Rustin MLK would not have had that platform to give his historical speech “I had a dream.” Rustin is so relevant because not only was he gay he was openly gay man who put together probably the most impactful movement of that civil rights era. Black LGBTQ history really has impacted us so much more than we know. Thinking about the history one would think that the history is irrelevant, but people like the few examples I have given are far from irrelevant. The history of the black LGBTQ community is so watered down and put to the side because nobody talks about it. I mean, African American history is not really a topic that the education system goes in depth about. History also doesn’t go into depth about LGBTQ people, white or black. We are in a time where being gay in America is okay in society’s eyes and a person of that nature can be open and free with it. To be gay in America is almost becoming a social norm. America is like that now because of its prevalent LGBTQ history. With the help of people like Langston Hughes and people of that nature the views of LGBTQ have changed tremendously. America has gone from hating gay people and blaming them for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, to having homosexuality displayed on television shows. We are at a point now where if somebody of power says something that the LGBTQ community feels was offensive, then they have a chance of losing that position. The LGBTQ community has immense power when