Plus, he has put some big initiatives forward. Those initiatives (the budget, the war(s), policy changes and etc.) have to be successful. If they are, more folks will come to his side and if not, they will somewhat distance themselves from him. Obama needs the superpower to make things happen. If his main issues fail, it will be hard for him to push gay rights through the loop.

Milton knows this will be a challenge, but is very optimistic. They have the support of International Federation of Black Prides, led by their president, Earl Fowlkes. He is also accompanied by Jasmine Burnett, another LGBT activist, hoping to make L.A. a more inclusive space for Black LGBT /SGL community. Together, they will reach out to younger and older groups to establish an effective and organized force.

“Black Pride Los Angeles is more than a get-together,” Milton said. “It will be an on-going event.”

Other members of the Black & Brown Coalition include Michael Hinson, IFBP Board Chair; Marjorie Hill, Gay Men Health Crisis, Executive Director; and Jose M. Roman, Executive Director Sponsored Projects Finance at Columbia University.

Registration is $10 which includes materials, breakfast and lunch. The registration form can be downloaded on the IFBP web site: www.ifbprides.org. The Summit will be preceded by a reception on Friday evening April 3, 2009 at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center’s The Village at Ed Gould Plaza. from 7 to 9 PM. The Regional Black and Brown Summits are funded by generous support of the Arcus Foundation. The LA Regional Black and Brown Summit is co sponsored by the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, and Black Pride Los Angeles.

Once the group was approved to march, they immediately sent information out from their websites, inviting any and everyone to join them for this historic event. Once I saw the invitation, I knew I had to be there.

During the parade, we realized the significance of each step we were taking. We were telling the Black community that yes; there is a Los Angeles Black LGBT community. We are just like you and we are not going anywhere. However, as we marched, a few of us became a bit nervous as much as excited.

“I realized that I was coming out to my people, and that frighten me and inspired me at the same time,” a fellow marcher stated.

The crowd showed nothing but love for us. Thousands of people were able to see and hear us as we walked roughly two miles from Crenshaw to Western Avenue down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

I can’t tell you how the smiles and cheers just encouraged everyone to move on. Of course there were some people who were not happy to see us, but the interesting part was how the crowd around them responded. Many people chastised the ‘haters’ and quickly turned it around. Many of us were moved by this gesture.

This was truly a momentous event. We hope we inspired others to take a stand and possibly join us next year.

The Washington Post reported that the group was classified as a terrorists organization in a Maryland State Police database. Also Equality Maryland was considered a "security threat" by the Homeland Security's Intelligence Division.

I'm a bit lost on this one. Maybe if you feared being turned into flag carrying queer by such group would you consider Equality Maryland a threat.

Let's face it, only in some warped world would Equality Maryland be considered a threat to national security. I wonder who else is on this list. The Masons? Fraternities? Book Club members?

Who knows, but please check out the Equality Maryland's site. Maybe you can help The Maryland State Police Department uncover all the dangerous activity going on there?

But I have to ask, did we forget to go into the Black and Latino communities to campaign? I remember seeing more campaigning in Beverly Hills than Crenshaw. And there wasn't a lot education about Prop 8 in the hood, except from the churches, and we saw how that went.

So I'll stop there, because there are several reason why this happen. And think we need to have a minute to really look into other possibilities instead of looking at the easy ones.

This choice was a wise choice for Obama. I hate that through all of this hype, we barely hear about the Rev. let alone the accomplishments Lowery has achieved. I only hope to do as a fourth of what he's done in my lifetime. So please everyone, look at Joseph Lowery as the balance to Rick Warren. Let his message, his work, and his purpose speak loudly that night and hopefully beyond.

We should remember our struggle and hope that we would have such freedoms. If they truly believed in God, then they would have not voted for this. Denying folks from their happiness is not Christian. Out of all people, Black people should've known better. I hope we can have a real discussion about this in our community. We need to get down to the heart of the issue. Yes on Prop 8 is a setback, and the support from Black folks cuts ultra deep.

Her husband and his anti-American group, her daughter becoming a baby's mama, troopergate, Bridge to Nowhere, lack of knowledge, 6 figure wardrobe, and silly ass statements. Hell, for a second I thought I was watching Erica Kane instead of Moose Mess.

• The NO campaign (in LA) preached to the choir, throwing events in WeHo, having mostly gay galas, advertising in gay areas or popular non-gay areas. We should've been in our embattled areas. We needed to win folks over, I thought.

• We should have presented a more diverse LGBT community. Believe it or not, some folks still think of the gay community as a white-only club. We still need to defeat this issue within the LGBT family.

• Look at our priorities. This is tricky because we should be free to be you and me. But we need to ask ourselves so tough questions. Like...Do we need to be sexual in very gay ad? Do we need to over-hype Folsom Street? Are we truly a community or a community of convenience? Are we diverse enough within our community? Are we promoting the party, sex, drugs image? These are questions similar to the ones most minorities ask themselves as well. I think it's time to critically process what we are actually doing as a community and a people.

• Did we talk to our opponents, not shout, but talk with them about who we are? I know that's far-fetched, but who knows.

• Did we reach out to other people besides our famous allies?

• Did we take our liberal freedoms for granted?

We should be aware that some of this is our fault. And once we do, we could get it together and come back stronger. We lost a battle but not war. Next time we have to dot the i's and cross the t's. If we make the same mistakes again, it's over. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Noah’s Arc gave gay black men a face, a voice, and a story…maybe not the best story, but a story. Still, there were options.

In college, my friends and I were in the middle. Several of them were art majors, political science majors, club presidents, play writers, and student leaders.

We didn’t fall into a specific category, nor follow traditional black male roles. We stood out and challenged the norm.

And that’s what I would like our brothers to do. Defy the stereotypical gay roles we’ve been placed in and look for something new.

Yep, I knew it. This is a tabloid book of sorts. Just a bio with true or false experiences with DL men. Now, I knew it would be something like this. As a writer, I would want to get my book published too. However, I would not sell out others for my claim to stardom. This book was marketed to out the stars in Hip Hop and movie fame. Terrance Dean was suppose to...well, I don't know what he was planning to do with this book. What are his intentions? Does he think he's helping anyone?