In the News

Say it loud: I’m black, gay and proud!

Danielle Moodie-Mills celebrates Pride Month.

“You’re already black and a woman … what more do you want against you?”

That was the first thing my mother said over a decade ago when I told her I was a lesbian.

Like most parents who are on the receiving end of their child’s declarations — which at times run contrary to their own — she wept.

She wept for the life she thought I wouldn’t be able to have. A life filled with love, happiness and gainful employment.

In that moment, I tried desperately to reassure her that my life would be exactly as she had hoped with a minor tweak to the vision. I was 22, incredibly naïve and obnoxiously hopeful. I didn’t understand at the time that my parents had just cause for concern. Marriage equality hadn’t become a part of our lexicon, and people could be fired from their jobs in almost every state for being gay.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Grio. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Danielle Moodie-Mills

Advisor, LGBT Policy and Racial Justice