 |
Gay Ally
Coretta Scott King Battles Paralysis
by 365Gay.com
from the Web. August 21, 2005
|
| |
|
Atlanta, Georgia -- Doctors
for the 78-year old widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. say she is mostly
paralyzed on the right side of her body and is mostly unable to speak.
Coretta Scott King suffered a heart attack and stroke last week.
Dr. Maggie Mermin, King's personal physician, said that the stroke affected the
left side of her brain, which controls speech functions.
Mermin said Mrs King was able to speak a few words on the weekend in what she
called an encouraging sign. Mrs. King is working with a speech therapist,
but, "I'm not certain she'll have full recovery," Mermin said.
King has for a number of years spoken out in favor of LGBT issues -- especially
in support of same-sex marriage and against the proposed federal amendment to
ban gay marriage in the Constitution.
In March 2004 King in a speech at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey
affirmed her belief that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue.
"Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal
protection, whether by marriage or civil union," King said.
"A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing
and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages."
She has frequently denounced other black leaders who support amending the
Constitution.
King has frequently said that her late husband also supported gay rights and saw
it as a civil rights issue.
Last December she distanced herself from an Atlanta march organized by a
prominent local black preacher who said Martin Luther King would have opposed
gay marriage. King's daughter, Bernice King, attended the rally --
speaking out against gays and same-sex marriage.
| 
