#295. Disturbances at Black Gay Pride Events

Black people love block parties, as they offer one of the ultimate chances for community building and interacting with fellow Black people in a congenial environment. Having multiple generations of Black people congregating together and sharing stories with one another helps educate the young about the dangers of "The Man".

Sadly, as SBPDL has chronicled, Black people haven't had a great record of peaceful block parties as of late, and another event that attracted large numbers of Black people into a "block party" environment recently ended in tragedy and confusion. Strangely, Kanye West was nowhere to be found as were cries of "no homo".

You see, Atlanta is not only the Black Mecca of America, it is also the Black Gay Mecca of the world. And like all Gay people, Black Gay people (BGP) in Atlanta love to march in unison - as skimpily clad as possible - to the tune of Black Gay pride.

Atlanta, which already has one of the highest concentrations of Gay people in America, is beginning to see its Black Gay population come out of the closest and assert themselves as a powerful bloc.

Black Gay people in Atlanta are not content with just being Gay with those faggy white people, so they have formed another celebration of Gayness as part of Black Gay Pride Week. Meeting at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Gay Black people have come together to out-Gay each other in a celebration of their:a. Blackness; and, b. Gayness.

Sadly, block parties with Black people involved all have the same tragic ending written in advance as these happy Black Gay people in Atlanta were deprived of a Cinderella, fairytale ending:

"The Atlanta Police Department said people with guns were fighting in Piedmont Park at about 9 p.m. today causing hundreds of people to "stampede."

There were no initial reports of injuries and police said the scene was deemed safe after the crowd was dispersed. The park closes at 11 p.m. and most people were leaving the park at about 9:30 p.m.

Several arrests were made and two people was possibly maced, said APD LGBT liaison Officer Dani Lee Harris.

"The APD got a call about an unruly crowd at the park and responded to the scene. There were two Code 20s [use of mace] and several arrests were made, but it's not known yet how many," Harris said at about 10:15 p.m. "The crowd is dispersed and the scene is secure." She added there were no reports of any injuries.

Hundreds of people were gathered in the park today as part of an unofficial gathering of Black Gay Pride, with DJs playing music and numerous cookouts taking place. Sundays in the park is part of a long standing tradition at Black Gay Pride"

Atlanta is undergoing massive budget cuts, which is resulting in police being let go, and a horrible wave of crime is washing the city worse than any rain storm could hope to accomplish, yet the city still is tolerant enough to pay for an officer dedicated to LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) affairs... even in the face of economic collapse, tolerance is king!

However, the event was downplayed as being the result of an errant firecracker and any correlation of Black Gay people and gun violence was quelled:

"Initial reports by the Atlanta Police Department of people fighting with guns Sept. 6 in Piedmont Park were incorrect, according to new information released by the APD.

Lt. J. Little of the dispatch unit of Zone 5, which supervises Piedmont Park, said Tuesday that police responded to an unruly crowd at the park at about 9 p.m. Sunday after someone threw firecrackers causing many people to run.

No arrests were made and no injuries were reported, Little added. He also said police did not close down the park.

“There were no guns involved. Someone had thrown firecrackers and some of the crowd ran and caused a little bit of a panic,” Little said. “We dispatched units, but there were no arrests made and no injuries.”

Hundreds of people gather in the park each Sunday during Labor Day weekend as part of celebrating Black Gay Pride.

"There were people fighting with guns and that caused people to stampede," an APD officer told Ryan Lee at the scene on Sunday as officers set up barricades around the park refusing to allow people in the park and clearing people out. Lee is David Atlanta magazine editor and Southern Voice senior reporter and was at the park at about 9:30 p.m. when people began running."

Interesting, this large collection of Gay Black people organizing to celebrate Black Gay Pride (BGP) in Atlanta, comes on the heels of the revelation that Black People don't listen to the CDC, especially Gay Black People:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released statistics that revealed gay and bisexual Black men, between the ages of 23 to 29, become infected with the AIDS virus at the rate of nearly 15 percent a year-four times more than Latinos and Whites."

As stated, "No Homo" is not welcome at Black Gay Pride week in Atlanta, and neither is any derisive press regarding gun violence at Black pride events. According to the data, guns don't kill Gay Black People, only fellow Gay Black people do.

So, now gun shots at the festival of Gay Black pride, only Black people stampeding. Nothing new.

Sadly, the love for Gay Black people in America is not something that all Black people have, as Black people are the one group that is adamantly opposed to Gay marriage.

Stuff Black People Don't Like includes disturbances at Black Gay Pride events, for anytime that Black people are negatively depicted in the media is horrible, but for Black Gay people to be seen as bad is unimaginable.

Then again, no Atlanta-area McDonald's had any problems with transvestites attacking, so all was well in the end.