The gay community is a mess....
After a local LGBT organization’s anti-Trump protest march last week, rumors swirled around several figures involved.
In a Facebook status following the Feb. 2 event, Ernest Owens, vice president of Equality Pennsylvania and editor of G Philly, accused Malcolm Kenyatta, co-chair of march organizer Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club, of “start[ing] rumors” that “the Black & Brown Workers Collective was going to protest” state Rep. Brian Sims at the event.
Owens alleged that Sims received several phone calls from people stating the social-justice group intended to target what they saw as unresponsiveness to Gayborhood racism. Owens wrote that Sims declined to speak “because he didn’t want to draw controversy to the event and disrupt a peaceful assembly.”
Sims did not respond to requests for comment from PGN. BBWC cofounders Shani Akilah and Abdul-Aliy Muhammad also did not respond to requests for comment.
“People thought I was going to use my [G Philly piece, “The Gayborhood’s Trump-Triggered Activism Is Hypocritical”] as fuel for my speech and in doing so, that was going to create an opportunity for the Black & Brown Workers Collective and other people to criticize,” Owens told PGN.
Sharron Cooks, a community activist, told PGN she was in communication with Sims prior to the march. She said she requested Sims speak about Gayborhood racism. He agreed to do so before hearing about potential protests. Cooks had another conversation with him after she says he declined to speak.
“Through our conversation, there was one recurring theme and Malcolm Kenyatta was the person that was the common thread in all of the phone calls that state Rep. Sims got regarding being protested by the Black & Brown Workers Collective,” Cooks said.