A Frivolous Magazine Section Joins the Revolution

Essence magazine, the magazine for professional black women, is this month featuring its first ever lesbian couple [1] in the Bridal Bliss section. As surprising as that is, (don't hold your breath waiting for Ebony [2] to go there) even more surprising is how overwhelmingly positive the comments are.  So far. But black LGBTs aren't out of the woods yet within their own community.

PEW has found that white support for gay marriage has increased; those "for" and "against" are now evenly matched as consciousness-raising over the issue works its magic. Negroes remain unmoved [3], however: "In 2010, just 30% of non-Hispanic blacks favor gay marriage while 59% are opposed. From 2008 to 2009, 28% of blacks favored same-sex marriage and 62% were opposed."

So, for those of us who support same-sex marriage and are hoping to convince blacks of the same, we'd best remember MLK's words (since, apparently, many of those he fought for don't): "The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice." One magazine page at a time.

Photograph of Essence cover.