Lafayette’s Greatest Hits

Many years ago Cypher Avenue highlighted 13 of the Best Black non-heterosexual characters in film and television. Many reader’s favorite characters were not listed which caused some criticism. We explained that since the site is primarily here to celebrate masculine leaning non-heterosexual men of color, our choices reflected that. It didn’t matter that literally every LGBTQ website caters to fem leaning men, transwomen, their interests and sensibilities; they wanted us to be a Black version of the status quo. One of the main excluded characters that we received criticism for was Lafayette from HBO’s True Blood.

Personally I think actor Nelsan Ellis did a fantastic job of bringing life to Lafayette. Apparently fans did as well. To my understanding his character died in the first novel installment in the series but because of his portrayal of the character, he became a main stay on the show. I was reminded of his presence when I came across the video 24 Lafayette Quotes From “True Blood” To Get You Through The Day. While watching the video, I completely forgot that Ellis passed away in 2017 due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome. He attempted to withdraw from alcohol in secret due to the shame he felt over his addiction. He had to be hospitalized for the complications and heart failure. He was only 39 years old when he passed. While he didn’t make our list, he is easily one of the most memorable Black non-heterosexual characters in television history.

Salute….and remember to Tip Your Waitress!