Alex Hirst, ‘A Tribute to James Baldwin (Lambeth Town Hall, February 3rd), 1988, p. 15

‘Creation for Liberation organised a tribute to James Baldwin last week, it was held the days after Clause 23 had passed through the Lords like indigestible lump of shit. The Black and Gay Group, no doubt anticipating what was to come, leafleted the audience to make sure they knew that Baldwin was a cardinal force in the giving gay people of all races a voice in world literatures. None of those on stage seemed to be aware of this, or of the fact that some of his books may soon no longer be available in public libraries. Maya Angelou made a fleeting and dubious reference to Baldwin’s sexuality by flapping her hands like a stereotype fairy and telling us that he was ‘still a man’ irrespective what he did in bed. Thanks, Maya, for being so liberal’.

The other [word missing] avoided the topic outright, most of them preferring, along with Maya herself, to celebrate their own successes, rather than to give tribute to Baldwin. One of the performers, having come off stage in tears, was heard two minutes later negotiating his fee backstage with the organisers. It was as if a bunch of white queens had put on a tribute in which they omitted to mention that Baldwin was black.

I think Baldwin would have been insulted and hurt that a central part of his life and writing was denied in this way. For all their fervid and rightful celebration of black consciousness, the performers diminished themselves and the memory of Baldwin by the thunderous silence on this ‘sticky’ issue. At a time when all minorities are under threat, there is no room for us to be ashamed of them that night and they should be ashamed of themselves. Baldwin was a great writer, he was black and gay, and so is the content of his books’.