Jesse Jackson's "Rainbow Coalition" was as political as it was poetic - LGBTQ Nation

""We must address their concerns and make room for them," he said of a constellation of oppressed people. "The Rainbow includes lesbians and gays," Jackson said to cheers. "No American citizen ought to be denied equal protection from the law.""

""We gather today to say that we insist on equal protection under the law for every American, for workers' rights, women's rights, for the rights of religious freedom, the rights of individual privacy, for the rights of sexual preference. We come together for the rights of all American people," Jackson declared."

"Jackson won 29% of the popular vote in the Democratic primary the following year, earning the hearts of progressive Democrats, if not the nomination."

Jesse Jackson created the Rainbow Coalition to bring together Black and Brown people, the poor, and LGBTQ+ communities to fight racism, poverty, and homophobia. He organized alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington and emphasized collective action. In 1984 he explicitly included lesbians and gays in calls for equal protection under the law. In 1987 he spoke at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, asserting equal protection for workers, women, religious freedom, privacy, and sexual orientation. He won significant progressive support in the 1988 Democratic primary.

Read at LGBTQ Nation