Black Gay Men Differ On Roland Martin’s Punishment

by Frederick H. Lowe
Black gay men are divided over whether CNN should take a tougher stance against political commentator Roland Martin, regarding his anti-gay tweets during the Super Bowl.

“I think CNN needs to fire him because it would send a message to others,” Malcolm Westfield, a social worker who works for a gay- support agency in Chicago, tells The NorthStar News & Analysis. “CNN took several days to suspend Martin, which leads me to believe that the network tolerates this kind of behavior.” Westfield added that CNN must put in place a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to discussions about gay men and lesbian women.

But Max Smith, president of Adodi Chicago, the largest African-American same-gender loving organization in the United States, called Martin's tweets and subsequent suspension by CNN a 'teachable moment.'

 “I am not that thin-skinned. I don't think CNN should fire him,” said Smith, adding that he thought Martin tweeted during a Super Bowl party where they may been too much beer being consumed. “I think Martin should get up to speed. This is not 1957 when you can joke about the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender]  community and people just snicker.”

Last Wednesday, the Atlanta-based CNN wasn’t snickering or laughing. The network suspended Martin indefinitely for his 'regrettable and offensive' tweets sent during the Super Bowl between the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

One of Martin's tweets said, “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!”

Another tweet said, “Who the hell was that New England Patriot they showed in a head-to-toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass.”

Right after Martin's tweets, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), posted an online petition with 7,500 signatures calling for CNN to fire Martin. The following Monday, GLAAD posted a video of a black gay man being brutally beaten while the attackers shouted anti-gay slurs.

“For some people, this is what 'smacking the ish out of them' can look like” GLAAD said.
 
Martin later apologized.

Martin received a strong pushback for his tweets because of his years at Chicago radio station WVON (Voice of the Negro), where as an on-air personality he was 'hostile and dismissive' of the LGBT community, Smith, a regular WVON listener, charged. Callers flooded WVON's telephone lines after Martin was fired to discuss his antipathy toward gays and Lesbians, he added.

Martin, Chicago Defender executive editor, in September 2005 began hosting a three-hour show on WVON-AM from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Monday through Friday. Five years later on February 8, 2010, Martin stopped hosting WVON's "The Urban Business Roundtable" due to his busy schedule.

“Martin's hostility to the LBGT community has been ongoing,” Smith said.

He charged that Martin's wife, Rev. Jacquie Hood Martin, was an active participant of Pray Away The Gay, a group that counsels gay men and lesbian women to abandon their homosexuality.

“Mr. and Mrs. Roland Martin don't accept the concept of in-born sexual orientation,” Smith said. “They want us to be dishonest about our sexuality. When I was six years old, people at my school called me a sissy."

Martin, who also is a minister, and his wife are featured in Ebony magazine's February issue.

Martin and GLAAD members met on Tuesday in Los Angeles. GLAAD posted on its website that it was the beginning of an open and honest dialogue.

"Both parties came away with a better understanding of one another and look forward to continuing this dialogue," said Herndon Graddick, senior director of programs at GLAAD.

Westfield strongly believes, however, that the meeting was a waste of time.

“He is homophobic, and he will be homophobic until he dies,” Westfield said. ”It is ingrained in him. He is frightened by black gay men. Their masculinity frightens him.”

He added that Martin's comments will make older black gay men stay in the closet, but younger gay black men will want Martin fired.

Smith said Martin shouldn't confine his meetings to GLAAD, a mostly white organization. He also should meet with same-gender loving black men and women.

This is the third time within a year that a high-profile black man has been cited by GLAAD for anti-gay comments.

In April, the National Basketball Association fined Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star, $100,000 for uttering an anti-gay slur during a game with the San Antonio Spurs.

Actor Tracy Morgan also apologized to the gay and lesbian community after an anti-gay rant last June in Nashville.