The following story will help you understand some of the history of our founding chapter Black and White Men Together (BWMT) and our change, in early 2003, to People of All Colors Together (PACT). So let’s have Ron tell us the beginning….

The Steering Committee of PACT has asked me to write a brief history of our organization. I believe they did this since I somehow seem to have been around for forever. Well, who knew that one could live so long. I will endeavor to enlighten those reading this with a bit of whit and tell some of the history, as I know it. Your attention and understanding are all that will be required.

Our founding father was a black man by the name of James Wallace. I am certain that he wouldn’t mind my referring to him this way. James read an article in a local gay rag here in the city about an organizational meeting of a group specifically for gay black and white men being held in San Francisco, CA in the spring of 1980. Michael Smith was the gay white man hosting the event and he was encouraging men from across the country to come to this convention and discuss the possibilities of forming a nationwide gay organization to address the racism and divisions in culture that were apparent even in the gay community.

James went. I have always thought that was a brave endeavor on his part. He simply bought the ticket and on faith went to the weeklong meeting because he shared the same concerns that he felt needed to be addressed here in the gay community of Cleveland at that time. I am not sure how many were in attendance at the founding meeting in San Francisco, but I do know that gratefully James was among them. The result of that meeting began a nationwide organization heavily represented by both coastal areas of America along with a few Mid-American cities. In the fall of 1980, the first meetings of the Cleveland chapter of BWMT began and so Cleveland became one of the earliest, local Chapters of what has become the National Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT).

What guided the formation of the early chapters, as it still does today, is the fact that leadership had to represent both races and that equality must be fostered and present in the decision making process as well as any issues being addressed. This made the dual co-chairing of each chapter a prerequisite for forming a chapter. I can say at all the levels of leadership I have been involved in with the organization, this has truly been a learning and growth experience for me. Sharing a leadership role and learning from the other man’s perspective has not always been easy. It certainly has taught others and me about the internal racism that we can discover and the prejudices we each hold just from being products of our society.

The Cleveland chapter got off to a healthy start in the 80’s. This is after Stonewall and the civil rights were history and the gay society was looking at itself from all angles. Just because we were gay didn’t necessarily mean we didn’t bring our collective junk with us in this newly discovered lifestyle. BWMT seemed to address a definite need in the greater gay community. At the time entrance into bars mainly could be a problem for men of color. Bars would card customers at the door. When asking for forms of identification, a white patron only needed to provide one form of ID. However, a man of color may have been asked for three or four pieces of identification for the same entrance rights. These were gay establishments but still the ugly face of racism was there and alive.

BWMT Cleveland would counter these actions by sending one white and one black man together to a place and if the ID issue came up the bar would find itself being picketed by our group. We would then loudly chastise the bar in any form of media we could use in order to sound an alarm at that time. We began to break down the barriers of oppression and racism in order to realize the equality we deserved even within the gay community.

The organization also began in its external workings to hold what were known as rap sessions or workshops where gay men were allowing themselves the opportunity to explore in a safe setting the issues of injustice, the internalized racism they felt and to vocalize these same feelings of injustice. These events really helped open people’s minds to issues that for a long time had remained hidden. Issues like myths about black men as lovers, what is the attraction of interracial couples, power sharing and equal leadership among different races when society didn’t seem to allow for that. These early rap sessions were popular and attracted several individuals to join our organization.

The Cleveland chapter held its initial meetings at a local Catholic Church no less. However, when it seemed that the Church had altered its views on the gay lifestyle, the organization began to move their meetings to various members’ homes.

The early chapter was instrumental in helping the original Gay and Lesbian Center get off to an healthy start by painting, wiring and doing an all around fix up of the store front it started in.

Our chapter began to address the issue of HIV/AIDS when the disease first began to emerge in the US. Meetings were held to educate our members and the community about this issue as best as was known at the time. John Pugh, who has since passed on, was very instrumental in elevating the awareness of HIV/AIDS within the greater community. He wrote and established a workshop for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland (as it is known today) entitled, “Should I be tested?”

Finally BWMT Cleveland was the first group to operate a food stand at the PRIDE festival. It made the chapter some money and was a great exposure for our organization. We have hosted a prior Midland Regional Meeting and in conjunction with the Midland, we hosted a national convention of the NABWMT in 1996.

By now, if you have read this far, I am sure you are hoping I bring this to an end. The Cleveland chapter has seen many ups and downs, firsts and lasts, successes and failures and yet for 25 years it has endured. The secret of our endurance is simple… we supply a need to the community. We have become a safe place for dialogue between gay folks of varying cultures and races. There has been no arena that offers this but us. While it isn’t earth shattering in itself; the communication that happens seems to meet a need that even our society at large lacks. Communication is key to understanding ourselves and those who make up our organization. We should congratulate ourselves for providing this simple avenue which has for 25 years allowed BWMT the ability to, “foster supportive environments where racial and cultural barriers against the acceptance of diversity can be overcome and the goal of human equality realized”.

And so our story continues as Mike takes us into a new era…

It seemed in late 2002 when Kevin Calhoun and I were asked to “step up to the plate” and become Co-chairs that a need was not being met within our organization and the greater community.

Moreover, in 2003 the officers realized the void that was missing within our own group and the greater Cleveland community. Our name and mission statement were exclusive. Black and White Men… what about Latino, Asian, Native American or women, bisexual and transgender persons… what about the heterosexuals? All of who were supporting us and coming to our events but did not feel comfortable joining the organization by virtue of our name alone. And we looked at the larger community and realized that there were 30+ organizations in Cleveland that had all formed to meet the needs of a particular group of individuals but were in one way or another exclusive as well.

And so was born a renewed organization. In January of 2003 we adopted a new name and a new set of by-laws and became People of All Colors Together – Cleveland. Since that time our message has been heard by so many folks and in 2004 we realized an 8% increase in membership. Although this is small it is significant because in that 8% we proudly accepted a more racially diverse group of members and for the first time had members not only of the gay, lesbian, and transgender community but also the bisexual and heterosexual community as well.

As you can see our outreach to the entire community of the Greater Cleveland area has made us a more inclusive organization. We continue to collaborate with many of the existing organizations such as Asians and Friends, BlackOut Unlimited, The Center, Cleveland PRIDE, The Rainbow Wranglers and more.

And so we have come full circle. The early members by their action reached out to diversify and unify the greater gay community (as it was referred in the early 80’s); to educate society on issues such as racism and homophobia and HIV/AIDS discrimination. These men called an alarm that sounded in bars, papers and meeting spaces that all deserved the right to be as they were created and to live in an inter-racial relationship without question.

As People of All Colors Together we must be today the same barometer for diversity within the Greater Cleveland community. What is the future of our organization? That is for the next generation to decide. For now, we are PACT – Cleveland, a multiracial, multicultural organization of gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons and persons who identify themselves in other ways, even as straight. We are an active organization whose basic mission is the fostering of equality with and through diversity and the fight against so many of the “isms” that hinder the freedom of the LGBTQI community.

We are called to sound the alarm that all people of every color and orientation have the RIGHT to be. In the words then of Dr. John Bush… “Yes, we are sisters! Yes, we are brothers! Yes, we are lovers! We have the right to be!”