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Eartha Kitt as the Catwoman in the 1967 TV serie Batman

From the Boston Edge (by Kilian Melloy, EDGE Contributor, Friday Dec 26, 2008):

Eartha Kitt was an acclaimed singer, dancer, and actress–and an outspoken proponent of LGBT equality.

Kitt, famously fit and energetic until late in life, died of colon cancer at home in Connecticut. She was 81 years old.

The bi-racial daughter of South Carolina field workers, Kitt found early success as a dancer before moving on to stage, screen, and records, according to an Associated Press article published Dec. 25.

But as a 2005 article at the Windy City Times also made clear, Kitt was a champion of equality under the law for gays and lesbians.

In the article, an interview between Kitt and Windy City Times correspondent Albert Rodriguez, Kitt–then 78–allowed that, while she was not on the road any longer, she was keeping herself busy on the stage; the article made reference to Kitt having appeared in Broadway opposite Antonio Banderas not long before the interview took place.

Said Kitt in that interview, “I happen to have a great appreciation for the gay audiences.”

Said Kitt, who came out against the war in Vietnam during an appearance at the White House (finding herself persona non greata for a time, and earning the wrath of the First Lady in doing so), “When I was in trouble with the government and Lady Bird Johnson, it was the gay guys who kept my name alive because they kept looking for my records and they were imitating me.

“To them, it was as if Eartha Kitt was always there. I’m very grateful for that.”

Added Kitt, “I feel very close to the gay crowd because we know what it feels like to be rejected.”

Kitt’s sentiments in that interview are still topical now. Speaking on the subject of marriage equality for gay and lesbian families, Kitt said, “I support it because we’re asking for the same thing.

“If I have a partner and something happens to me, I want that partner to enjoy the benefits of what we have reaped together.”

Added the world-famous performer, “It’s a civil-rights thing, isn’t it?”

Though some Black Americans take umbrage at the suggestion that the civil rights struggle of gays and Blacks have close parallels, Kitt herself made that comparison, saying, “We were not allowed to go through certain doors because of our race, our color.

“It was so stupid that we were not able to sit at the counter of a restaurant because it was only for Anglo-Saxons.”

Continued Kitt, “It’s stupid when this country says it was born on ’freedom for all,’ but it’s ’freedom for some’!”

Aside from being supportive, Eartha Kitt was also one of the pioneers of activism and speaking out against not only the female but the inter-racial oppression we didn’t grow up to. It is thanks to her that we enjoy the rights that we have now.

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Her loss is a blow but we should let her legacy live on

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