Center Appalled by MLK Use in Flier
Group using note to fight gay rights law
By Karl Ross
Originally published in The Miami Herald, August 2, 2002
A spokesman for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center on Thursday repudiated a flier being distributed at black churches in Miami–Dade by a group seeking to repeal the county's gay rights law as "a big distortion" of the late civil rights leader's views.
The flier—targeting black residents likely to vote in the Sept. 10 referendum on whether to repeal the law—;reads: "Martin Luther King Jr. would be OUTRAGED! If he knew homosexualist extremists were abusing the civil rights movement to get special rights based on their sexual behavior."
It goes on to exhort readers to vote "YES, to REPEAL the dangerous 'sexual preferences' amendment, which gives special privileges to Homosexuals, Bisexuals, Heterosexuals and Transexuals."
Lynn Cothren—special assistant to King's widow, Coretta Scott King, at the Atlanta–based King Center—said King never publicly discussed his views about homosexuality but, in private conversations with his wife, expressed concern about discrimination against gay men and lesbians.
A statement provided by the center quotes Coretta King calling for equal treatment of homosexuals and inclusion in the civil rights fold: "I appeal to everybody who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother– and sisterhood for lesbians and gay people."
'ENDORSING' GROUPS
A phone number on the flier belongs to Take Back Miami–Dade, the group attempting to overturn the 1998 amendment to the county's human rights ordinance that extends protections against discrimination to gays and lesbians.
Take Back's communications director, Eladio Jose Armesto, said he didn't know who distributed the flier but said the group was "lending" its hot line number" to several affiliated groups.
Still, he challenged King's widow's portrayal of the slain leader's views: "Coretta Scott King is entitled to her opinion. She can't speak for her husband, though."
The flier listed four "endorsing community organizations"—the African American Council of Christian Clergy, the Democratic League of Miami–Dade County, Families Strengthening Communities for the Good Life and People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality.
PULSE is led by Take Back's co–chairman, Nathaniel J. Wilcox, and the Democratic League is led by Armesto.
PREPARING THE FLIER
Wilcox said "a committee" he was involved with prepared the flier, which he said would be widely distributed prior to the referendum.
Wilcox, a Christian clergyman, argued it is the Bible, not the historical record of King's remarks, that supports the flier's assertion.
"That's right—he would be outraged," Wilcox said. "I fear other people might be trying to speak for him but, as a minister, he believed in the word of God.
"The Book of Romans speaks against homosexual relations. And if Dr. Martin Luther King was the man of God I think he was, then he preached against all sorts of immorality &meash; including lying, stealing and homosexuality."
Wilcox said he takes offense at attempts to compare the plight of gay men and lesbians with that of black people.
The only supporting evidence on the flier attesting to King's alleged disdain for gay causes is a quote attributed to the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a Birmingham, Ala., civil rights leader.
"Dr. King and I were not crusading for homosexuality," he said, according to the flier. "I've heard Dr. King speak out against homosexuality on many occasions. It is wrong to equate homosexuality with civil rights."
King Center spokesman Cothren said the flier not only misspells Shuttlesworth's name—omitting an "s"—but misrepresents his views. Cothren said he spoke with Shuttlesworth, now in his 70s, and he disavowed the remarks.
"He doesn't remember making the statement," Cothren said. "He said that if he did say anything similar it was taken out of context. This is a misuse of Rev. Shuttlesworth."
'NOT A BLACK THING'
Cothren noted that King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech culminated the 1963 March on Washington, which was organized by a gay civil rights activist, Bayard Ruston. He said King thwarted efforts by other rights leaders to expel Ruston from the movement's inner–circle because of his sexual orientation.
Cothren also said King devoted much of his effort to broadening the civil rights movement to embrace Hispanics, Native Americans and poor whites.
"It's clearly not a black thing," Cothren said. "These are people who are taking and distorting Dr. King's views and the movement he led. You can't compare apples to oranges, but oppression of any kind is wrong. That's where they're missing the point."
The flier was noticed earlier this week by a staff member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida attending a meeting at the Mt. Tabor Baptist Church in Liberty City.
ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon, a veteran of the civil rights movement, said the flier runs contrary to King's teachings.
"What I find outrageous is that the flier is an effort to distort the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and make him look like the Rev. Jerry Falwell, when nothing could be further from the truth."
Simon called the flier an attempt to "confuse" the county's 187,000 black voters, who could be crucial in deciding the outcome of the referendum.