The fact that Malcolm X/El Hajj Malik Shabazz was the face of the NOI which is an organization that has branded itself as anti-homosexuality and has in the past (and even til this day) said some pretty damning words on the homosexual lifestyle since the NOI has been around, is cause for bringing this part of X's life to the forefront.

I made a post abt this 2 yrs ago in OKActivists and it was met with a lot of disbelief or denial. I've heard this abt X from older members in the Nation since as early as 1995, a few yrs after there had been this resurgence in the life of Malcolm.

A lot of posters excused his then *alleged* homosexual lifestyle and responded by saying he was in prison for 12 yrs and "he had to do something to alleviate his sexual tension but once he got out of prison and became a Muslim that he no longer engaged in homosexual acts" was the constant theme of the post.

For me, this goes back to the never ending conversation abt sexuality and labeling. Sexuality is understood as a fluid thing which is why, for example, a woman who engaged in lesbian sex during her college days but then goes on to get married and live a hetero lifestyle isn't viewed necessarily as a lesbian...but this has NEVER extended to men. Ppl in general and blk ppl especially feel as if a man who engaged in sex at any time, for how short a time, in his life with another man IS STILL GAY.

It'll be interesting to see on a national level or even within the blk community where this conversation goes from here. Will El Hajj Malik join the ranks of other prominent gay BLK men throughout American history who have made extraordinary contributions for the struggle for civil and human rights i.e. James Baldwin (who was a close friend of Malcolm), Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Alaine Locke and others? Or will Malcolm now be viewed as a hypocrite and unworthy of praise for living such an "abominal lifestyle?"