There's an interesting recent article about the plight of people who happen to be racial and sexual minorities by Topher Campbell of rukus!, a British Black lgbt organization, called "Black, gay,... and invisible." Campbell does an excellent job of detailing the parameters of the problems that Black gay people have in both Britain and in the United States. Here's an excerpt (with especially poignant points bolded by MadProfessah):You should go to The Guardian's website and read the rest of the article and leave a comment there, or I'd also like to hear what my readers have to say in the comments of my blog.Black people need to stop treating homosexuality as if it's a white man's disease. We need to embrace the vibrant presence of gays and lesbians in our community and stop siding with bigots and racists.
Over the past few weeks the homophobic murder of Ian Baynham in Trafalgar Square and the assault on PC James Parkes in Liverpool have shocked the gay community. Every anti-gay opinion adds strength to their attackers and supports other gay bashers.
Whenever the subject of homosexuality is raised in the black community there is hysteria and denial. We who are black and lesbian or gay are considered at best a joke and at worst just plain wrong, weird or dirty. Many think we are somehow infected with a western decadent ifestyle and are undermining our race.
This thinking is fuelled by a combination of ignorance, fear, hatred, Christian and Islamic-based homophobic religious beliefs, and perversely racial pride. This deadly combination of prejudice forces us to be invisible in our own communities. Being black and lesbian or gay makes it harder for many of us to come out. The fear of losing our families in a racist society, and therefore our connection with our culture, is very real. Also having to negotiate through a white gay scene makes it doubly difficult to forge an identity or gain support from our peers.
The knee-jerk reaction of many African or African Caribbean parents is to either throw their lesbian and gay children out of the house at 16 or 17 or disown them. The wider community is hostile, too. I know of one teenager who was chased out of his school in East London by a group of 40 armed youths with dogs.
An alternative to coming out for many young people and even adults is to live invisible lives. Through disguise and deceit many black lesbians and gay men establish friendships, networks and lovers and never tell their families. The stress on themselves and their relationships can be unbearable.
The underlying problem we are faced with is to choose between our sexual identity and our race. The reality is that we cannot choose because both are intrinsic to us.
One cannot be hidden while the other cannot be denied. Sadly, in today's world, for black people who are "flamboyant" whether gay or straight or just more bookish or more sensitive or even academic (or for girls more sporty) we cannot escape the "accusation" that we are gay.
Homosexuality is as natural as eyesight. It is not a choice. It cannot be denied or made subject to one's race no more than you can change your place of birth.
2 comments:
Black folks make me so damn sick! Some of the most self hating individuals I have ever come across in my entire life!
I want to congratulate Topher Campbell for this very important article.
As an African American out gay man involved in community leadership around black gay men's issues in San Francisco, it is imperative that we stand up and stand together to fight discrimination and silence within and across our communities.
The human right to live openly and to love openly is universal.
As Topher is right to point out, there are far more black men and women who are gay or lesbian. We are everywhere. Yet, the convergence of societal pressures to conform and overt societal repression to hide....seen very clearly in The Caribbean and in Africa.....make "coming out"...a great challenge and in for many, frightening and life endangering.
Perhaps it is taboo to talk about, but throughout history,black male and female sexuality has been far more fluid than anyone is willing to acknowledge. Black men and women have been "different" and ..like Oscar Wilde.... have been pressured into a furtive life of..... "a love that dare not speak its name" since the 1800s and before.
This secret society and secret life has further been enforced by the edicts of The Church... especially churches in the Caribbean and Africa.
Yet....in the States.... the cost of AIDS to the African American community...from the SILENCE and HATRED furthered by the Black Church...has finally opened a new chapter where a DIALOGUE about the existence of African American gay and lesbians in the black community.
Finally, in certain affirming black churches, the willingness to dialogue is an important first step to include and embrace black gay and lesbians within the church. Long overdue, such can be seen as a health and wellness outreach by progressive black ministers and churches to break down the closet door that leads to an even darker and more controversial world of the "down low": a world where the perceived fear of discovery of one's homosexuality has often led to tragic consequences especially around AIDS.
I agree with Topher Campbell: the time is now to acknowledge the long term existence of black gay men and lesbians as a vital part of the community. We are too numerous, too productive and essential to our community to be denied or ridiculed any longer.
United we stand....divided we continue to fall...
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