by Andrew Walden

According to CNN, this is the only recorded comment by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr on homosexuality.  It comes from an "Advice for Living" column King penned for Ebony Magazine in January, 1958:

Question: My problem is different from the ones most people have. I am a boy, but I feel about boys the way I ought to feel about girls. I don't want my parents to know about me. What can I do? Is there any place where I can go for help?

Answer: Your problem is not at all an uncommon one. However, it does require careful attention. The type of feeling that you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired. Your reasons for adopting this habit have now been consciously suppressed or unconsciously repressed. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with this problem by getting back to some of the experiences and circumstances that lead to the habit. In order to do this I would suggest that you see a good psychiatrist who can assist you in bringing to the forefront of conscience all of those experiences and circumstances that lead to the habit. You are already on the right road toward a solution, since you honestly recognize the problem and have a desire to solve it.

Under laws enacted in California and most recently in New Jersey, it is now illegal for a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist to assist a willing patient desiring to stop his or her involvement in homosexuality.

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