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| Darlene Nipper speaks at Seattle POCAAN |
by Shaun Knittel -
SGN Staff Writer
Rev. Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, brought her nearly 20 years of management and advocacy experience to the People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN) center on May 21.
When Darlene Nipper speaks, she is talking to you, not throwing words at you. You listen. You are entranced. She gets her point across firmly, yet gently. She is a storyteller with the best of them.
The health advocate and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) activist spoke to POCAAN's mostly African-American audience about what the Task Force is doing to help with issues that are important to people of color, but also warned of the dangers that come when LGBT people do not work as a collective "community."
"You do not have to look like me; I just want to find some people who think like me," she said. "It takes all kinds of folks to get things done. We need people within our ranks as well as those outside our ranks - that includes our allies in the straight community," she added.
Nipper spoke a lot about multiple identities, saying there is more to us than simply being LGBT people.
"We [the LGBT community] are faced with health care, single parenthood, immigration and employment issues," she said. "Other than our basic LGBT struggle, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force believes that racial and economic issues must also be addressed. How can we talk about Gay and Lesbian issues without addressing those other problems?" she asked.
Nipper said she watched HIV/AIDS take away a whole community in the 1980s. She spoke of a time when a Gay club she went to was full of beautiful black men. Just a few years into the onset of the AIDS epidemic, all of the men died except for one, prompting him to close the club's doors indefinitely. Her voice cracked a little as she looked out at the people of POCAAN and spoke. "They died. All those beautiful men are gone because of AIDS." You could feel the pain in the room, the sadness of a generation nearly lost. "I tell that story to bring home the point of the importance of HIV/AIDS awareness and safe sex practice," said Nipper.
The Task Force executive said she is optimistic about President Obama; she's met both Barack and Michelle.
"Things have changed regardless of what you may be hearing," Nipper reassured the president's supporters. "The president and first lady mean to make the White House a welcoming place; they mean to do what they came there to do." Nipper said she believes the president will help make positive changes for the LGBT community, but warned that the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will be vigilant and apply pressure if they believe the needs of the community are being pushed aside by the administration.
Nipper participated in a Q and A with the audience, answering questions about Task Force policy and where she and the Task Force stand on issues such as mental health, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and educating others on issues important for people of color.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is the oldest national LGBT civil rights and advocacy organization. They work to build the grassroots political strength of the community by training state and local activists and leaders and organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislations.
"Everybody in a community needs to be addressed when you are working on legislation," Nipper said. "Our aim is to have a transformed society where you can come without question or shame, where you can bring pride and dignity to your life."
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Darlene Nipper speaks at Seattle POCAAN
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