1983, Coretta Scott King Endorses National Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Legislation

In August 1983, in response to a coordinated campaign involving many national and international organizations, for the first time, Mrs. King went public in support of civil rights legislation for gays and lesbians.  The coordinated campaign was led by NCBLG, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and local members of the DC Chapter of NCBLG, the DC Coalition of Black Gay Men and Women. Mrs. King went before the national press, in the Mayor's Conference Room at the District Building (now the John Wilson Building), and said that in 1964 "we passed the Civil Rights Bill" and it is now time to amend it to include gays and lesbians as a protected class.  The efforts of then NCBLG Executive Director, Gil Gerald, and that of others, has been told in several publications, including but not limited to: Gerald G, The Trouble I’ve Seen, Freedom in this Village, E. Lynn Harris, editor, Harris, Carrol & Graff Publishers, 2005.  That article by Gil Gerald was first published in the NCBLG Newsmagazine, Black/Out, Volume 1, Number 3/4, 1987, page 23.  The referenced photo shows Gil Gerald, Ginny Appuzo, then Executive Director of NGTLF, Rev. Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, and Mrs. King.