Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Washington Blade - October 29, 2004
Joe Crea
A new DVD being distributed by a group of black, gay Republicans supportive of President Bush's re-election suggests that gays are "misguided" and argues against same-sex marriage rights.
Don Sneed, co-founder of the Dallas-based Abe Lincoln Black Republican Caucus, which distributed the DVD, said in the one-hour conversation with ALBRC spokesperson Anthony Falls featured on the DVD, that he does not "subscribe to the notion that you have to be male, female, gay or lesbian."
"[It is] as if we have two new genders pop up out of nowhere and become a reality in the world today," Sneed said in the DVD.
Sneed also dismissed the concept of African-American men on the "down-low" - a term referring to black men who have sex with other men but don't identify as gay - adding that what is really at play is "black males who reject the whole 'lifestyle' label and the description of being gay as a 'lifestyle.'
"A lifestyle is a misnomer to us. It's not applicable. It is not grounded in reality," said Sneed, who is a member of Log Cabin Republicans and the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, known as PACHA.
"To take a sexual act and to describe human beings by a sexual act is certainly demeaning and devalues a human being's life. I don't think black people have ever fully bought into that."
The DVD, entitled "The Emancipation of the Homosexual - The End of the Gay & Lesbian Rights Movement," begins with images of a Dallas sunset with a recording of Gloria Estefan's "Coming Out of the Dark," playing in the background.
The opening credits dedicate the program to the "22 million who have succumbed to the AIDS virus and the over 30 million who currently live with HIV/AIDS."
Sneed and Falls did not return repeated Blade phone calls seeking comment.
Sneed said homosexual attractions are a result of what he calls, "blended soul polarities," with the left side of the brain more associated with masculine traits, while the right side is more feminine.
Sneed said gays are born with blended polarities - the more intense the blend, the likelier you are to be attracted to members of the same gender. A less blended polarity indicates you will find members of the opposite sex attractive.
DVD garners little reaction
Chris Barron, the political director for the Log Cabin Republicans, declined to discuss Sneed or his views as expressed in the DVD, noting LCR was focused on the upcoming election.
Some fellow PACHA members said that while Sneed's views might be in the minority, he brings a strong measure of diversity to PACHA meetings.
"He does have a valuable voice in the community, and I respect him for that," said David Greer who is gay sits on the 35-member PACHA board. "He's a unique voice that often times isn't heard and I say more power to him."
Brent Minor, another gay PACHA member, said as long as everyone agrees on the larger focus of preventing HIV/AIDS, Sneed's views - while not shared by many - are respected.
It is not clear to whom the DVD is being distributed. The group says it supports the traditional definition of marriage, since "only a man and woman can procreate children and this should be the cornerstone for defining the state of marriage."
But Abe Lincoln Republicans do "endorse the recognition and respect of civil unions between members of the same-sex."
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