When the Supreme Court of the United States’ recent Obergefell v. Hodges decision made Same Sex Marriage legal in the entire country, many Gay and Bisexual men of color discovered through social media that some of their “liberal” black friends were not as tolerant as they once thought. Some were outright intolerant bigots…similar to Confederate flag waving white racists.
Admittedly, most of the responses on my own (non-work related) News Feed were either very positive or indifferent. There were only a small handful of people seen posting blatantly discriminatory remarks, but then again I have some very progressive Facebook friends.
The people who populate my own friends list are a diverse group of genders, races and sexualities. Admittedly there are more heterosexuals than otherwise, to be honest. One thing that I did notice after the Caitlin Jenner and Same Sex Marriage announcements was that 100% of the negative homophobic or disturbing comments posted were made by African Americans.
All of them.
And of those people, 100% were Christians.
This isn’t to say that Black people who are Christians are more homophobic than white people. Many of the more publicized displays of homophobia in the media and public spotlight have been perpetrated by White Americans. Especially the ones that involve violence.
Having said that, many more heterosexual White Americans appear to be progressive on the issue of homosexuality and gender identity than Black Americans. I didn’t see too many heterosexual Black people changing their Profile Photos to the rainbow flag, not like the heterosexual White people were.
Granted, this is all anecdotal at best.
I’m sure someone could dig up a Pew Survey that reveals there to be MORE homophobic White Americans than any other race in the population. But of the over 300 million citizens in the United States, White Americans make up over 200 million of them…So of course its more than likely that there are more homophobic Caucasians than any other race in the country.
That isn’t the point of this discussion.
Let’s make some connective tissues, shall we?
As everyone knows, the push and awareness for racial social justice is on the rise again due to the overwhelming number of violent fatal White-On-Black attacks by police officers and citizens. Calls for “justice” and “equal protection under the law” and the erasure of discrimination can fill your social media timeline depending on the day and news cycle.
ReTweets from Activists and Conscious Rappers along with Jon Stewart rants are shared as gospel; articulated voices of a frustrated society.
In Podcast #34 I made an observation on the irony that many of the protesters in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD were passionate about their assertion that “Black Lives Matter”…but only if those black lives are heterosexual.
What do these protestors want? They want to be treated fairly, to been seen equally, to not be judged or mistreated merely because of who they are or what they look like.
Sound familiar?
This is exactly what gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people want.
Do #BlackGayLives not matter?
So when you see hate speech in the comments section of YouTube videos calling President Obama an ape or nigger, its clear that these are the beliefs of racists individuals.
The same applies to homophobic hate speech seen online on places like Facebook.
“…Homophobia is like Racism.”
These are not my words, believe it or not. Coretta Scott King said this speaking to nearly 600 people back on April 1, 1998:
“Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group.”
This should not be as complicated of a connection as one would think. However I’m constantly forced to argue in debates with (seemingly) intelligent Black Americans that the LGBT Rights struggle is the same as the Civil Rights struggle.
Discrimination is discrimination.
It doesn’t matter who “struggled more.” It’s not a contest.
Some people have retorted that gay people aren’t being killed, so its not the same.
Really?!
So many Transgender Americans have been killed in the year 2015 alone that it needs its own subsection on Wikipedia.
Homophobic speech, like racist rhetoric, can oftentimes be like a watering can feeding the flowers of homophobic violent acts to eventually bloom. Especially when its coming from or being fed to a person who is already militant or activist by nature.
We saw this first hand with Dylann Roof. Homophobic hate speech and opinions are no different than the racist rhetoric that he likely repeatedly heard and harbored, driving him to committing a heinous hate crime.
Many Black people who should inherently understand what its like desire equal rights are still often seen showing disgust in regards to homosexuals, an equally disenfranchised group in many ways.
Speaking of black activists, 1960’s Black Panther Party founder Huey P Newton said it best in 1970:
“…We must relate to the homosexual movement because it is a real thing. And I know through reading, and through my life experience and observations that homosexuals are not given freedom and liberty by anyone in the society. They might be the most oppressed people in the society.“
How can this be? How can LGBT citizens be the most oppressed people in the society? Well for starters, until recently, they were legally despised by people of all races and genders in the country.
There is not a single enforceable law in any state in the country that specifically discriminates against Black people.
There are, however, laws that specifically discriminate against Homosexuals. Many of them written into the State Constitutions. The June 26th Supreme Court of the United States Same Sex Marriage decision makes the laws pertaining to marriage void, but many “religious freedom” lawsuits will soon arise in the coming months as Christians of all races fight for their supposed religious “right” to discriminate.
This brings me to the “Facebook comments” mention in the title of this article.
While scrolling through my news feed on Facebook, I came across a photo of about 12 black men. It was a tame photo of them all posing for a group shot. I knew at least a couple of the men were gay because they’ve been featured on this website in the past. There was no flamboyant clothing or Michael Sam kissy-cake-face going on…Just men posing stoically for the camera.
Then I realized that this was a “shared post” that someone else had created. My progressive Facebook friend was responding to what someone else had originally posted about the photo. My friend voiced his disapproval on the original commentary and that he was disturbed by how hateful the person and the commenters seemed.
The photo and comments were set to “public” (for all to see) so I clicked on the original post (created by a man named LaMont Brooks) and started reading.
Not only were Brooks’ and others’ comments filled with disgust and hate, whenever a sane person tried to voice their own non-bigoted opinion they were instantly blocked and unfriended by Brooks, unable to respond. Sometimes they were even mocked and ridiculed in their absence.
Seeing abhorrent commentary online is nothing new. As I’ve stated earlier, racists comments are all over just about every popular website on the Internet.
What struck me here was that these people seemed to be saying we need all the black men we can to stand up to White Supremacy and Government Oppression, yet they implied that these men were less than than able to supply that help because they were gay. They were not “real” men. They even state they they are teaching their children to hate and disapprove of gay men.
LaMont Brooks states:
When the war begins…..These mothafuckas won’t be good for shit. REAL MEN NEED TO STEP UP AND BE MEN. ITS ABOUT TO GET SERIOUS YALL.
If you read between the lines, does this mean that women are worthless to the cause? And what “war” is he referring to? A pending Race War?
You know what, never mind. Trying to comprehend the paranoid rantings of a bigot is like trying save exhaled marijuana smoke in your pocket for later.
Embedded below is the full public thread for all to see. Granted this hate speech is not much different than what is seen on sites like Mediatakeout, WorldstarHipHop and others…but the difference here seems to be coming from #BlackLivesMatter advocates who feel like a battle is coming and soldiers are already being lost.
Notice how replacing the words “Gay” and “Homosexual” from the comments below with “Black” or “African American” would easily change this commentary from Homophobic to Racist.
If these are examples of the “Black Lives” that “Matter” so much, maybe the “war” is already lost.
Nick Delmacy
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This was exactly the discussion I’ve been having with family and friends. I too noticed that a lot of heterosexual support for the recent supreme court ruling (rainbow filter etc) were by my white FB friends. None of my straight black friends or extended family members said a word. Not that they had to. I have the love of my immediate family and many straight allies. That’s all that matters to me. I wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t much support for the issue of marriage equality. The level of hate and ignorance on social media from blacks was just disgusting. Especially coming from people who claim to be Christian. I’ve always said that black homophobia is similar to white racism. We’ve got work to do. An incredible article CA!
Bravo @Nick on a excellent written observation. I have thought about this a lot lately since the marriage equality ruling. In the days after the ruling, I found myself purging my FB of people who I thought were friends or considered associates to say the least, writing the most despicable shit I have ever read. In one case, a family member of mine who wanted to attend my upcoming wedding wrote congrats on my page while in the same day writing “I believe that marriage is man and women” on a “Kirk Franklin Donnie Mc—Whatever” MEME that says they changed their gay ways. I was in total disbelief that this family member was so blatantly two-faced. She failed to realize I could see some of the things she comments on. Needless to say, she has been uninvited and unfriended but to be honest, most of the commentary I saw was pleasant and supportive even gleeful and jubilant.
But this leads to me my point in commenting here. This is a direct product of the internet. These often nameless and faceless internet crusaders have been unleashed to write whet ever they want often without push back or criticism or critique. This is where we are now. The Twitter trolls and FB trolls even the one in the screenshot you showed, don’t use their real names or their real faces….it is easy for them to write that, I bet they would sing a different tune if they had to actually say it to real people.
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Also, I have never really understood the extreme denialism in the Black Church in particular and the black family in general. Gay men and lesbian women exist in everyone’s family and in EVERY CHURCH as presented my COGIC “I am Delivert!”
Its so freaking weird….the church loves their Choir queens and praise dancers but in the same vain will pretend to practice “loving their neighbors” its all ridiculous. With that being said, I don’t think that homophobia is more prevalent in the black community….in someways, I fond this claim to be the response from the white gay establishment who was criticized for their deafening silence on the issue of black people civil rights being violated but that is a different post….
This LaMont Brooks character sounds like a professional “troll.” The whole reason they make posts like this is to get emotional rises out of people a feed off them like vampires. I visited his Facebook page for about 30 seconds and he seems like just as much of a mysogynist as a homophobe yet there were plenty of black females agreeing with his opinions about how a black man should behave. Best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them.
There’s strength in numbers! With that being said, the only way for us to really fight homophobia in the black community is for more of us black gays to start living for ourselves and shedding the shame of being gay. More of us need to find the courage to not hide anymore and re-direct our focus from living discreetly to just living truthfully and standing up for ourselves. If we don’t show the world who we are and demand our respect, we’ll never get it.
Gay people of all colors are all over the place being out and proud. The picture the facebook thread is about, is from a large group of out black men. What we are seeing with the hate and vitriol is a reaction to black men being out. Anti-homosexual attitudes steeped in religious beliefs will not change because more men are out IMO.
I think it will. The religious anti-gay rhetoric is thriving in our community because nobody close to home is challenging it. A large percentage of gay blacks just ignore it, stay in the closet, and/or adjust their lifestyles to appease and avoid confronting it. The pockets of out and proud gay black men are not large or organized enough to take on this cause by themselves. We need more support from within the gay black community, no one else can do it for us. Just imagine if the black civil rights participants were afraid or not willing to challenge authority and religious beliefs– we’d still be pissing in separate bathrooms and sitting at the back of the bus.
I think we could be talking about two different things or perceptions. I feel proud out black men cannot change someone’s religious beliefs. Challenging discrimination does not make black homophobic people less hateful. You have OUT proud black men that are not considered “real” men by blacks because they are homosexual.
If I came out to my brother right now (WHO HATES FAGS) yes it could possibly lessen his disgust for me personally (doubt it) but at the end of the day he will still think I’m an abomination and will burn in hell. What was accomplished?
Yes, there will always be resistance, but what will be accomplished is the frame work for respect. By staying secretive and silent we allow the wrong perception of gay black men to be formed based on inaccurate images and stereo types. If people don’t experience us as regular loving, honorable, and respectable black GAY human beings who are NOT disgusting freaks, then how can they treat us as such? I believe that once black people are able to make more personal correlations to more regular black gays, the anti-gay attitudes will start changing.
I think there is merit in coming out and taking ownership over our lives…hate will always be there but I have come to the rationale that I cannot change the fact that you don’t like me or what I do. That your own problem…if more black men and black gay couple came out despite what some idiot writes on FB or Twitter will make it 100 times easier for future black gay men and the community at large.
I don’t know…in my own personal life and family…a lot of my bible thumping family members have softened their views of gay people because one day I came out of the closet and said fuck it….it also helps that I am successful (i.e., I never moved back in with MOMS and earned several college credentials). Now I look at my family and they are the my biggest advocates…my nephews and little cousins always want to come to Uncle “BGE’s” house etc. My family and close friends saw that me and my guy are just living our lives like everyone else and that matters. It is meaningful. When Florida was in the process of allowing same sex marriage, it was my mom who emailed the family a petition to sign to overturn the ban….this is all because I came out, decided not to let irrational fear consume me live my life has I please.
“If I came out to my brother right now (WHO HATES FAGS) yes it could possibly lessen his disgust for me personally (doubt it) but at the end of the day he will still think I’m an abomination and will burn in hell. What was accomplished?”
Coming out is something you do mostly for yourself and your own integrity as a human being and as a gay man.
If your brother hates “fags” (and you are a gay man), then you don’t have a “brother”. Seriously.
I have walked away from people (including relatives), places and things that no longer benefited me in any positive way. It isn’t easy but often it is absolutely worth it in terms of your general well being.
When a person has a deep-seated hatred of something,nothing can change that.If they didn’t use their religious beliefs that’s pick something else ot justify it.Religion is just something they know other people will co-sign for.That’s why religion doesn’t stop them for gossiping about and hating homosexual men.
Really coming out to homophobes just makes you a target.They’re a lost cause.The most you can hope for is to affect change for the future so that these attitudes are less commonplace in later generations and that people’s viewpoint’s will be changed,much like how old white from the Jim Crow era may hate blacks,but their kids were racially tolerant,and their grandkids might even have black associates.
I do agree that black homophobia is intense and irritating, but let’s not ignore who initiated this centuries long war on LGBT people…WHITE CHRISTIANS HAVE TERRORIZED THE ENTIRE PLANET, DESTROYED CULTURES AND PEOPLE AND THAT INCLUDES BLACK PEOPLE. This is why we see this today. The crusade against gay people is still headed in the West by mainly white Christians. Being here in Middle America, I see them in all of their glory. And no, white racism is not like black homophobia. There is a lot of emotionalism in this argument instead of actual facts. RACISM, and only white people currently have the power to be racist, is when one is bigoted and has the power to affect someone’s life socioeconomically based upon this. Gays have way more power and organization than black Americans do, so black americans cannot oppress gays. This post alludes to this romaniticized view of white people and I just have to call stuff out when I see it. Whites have been historically oppressed in many ways, why can’t they empathize with anyone else? White women have been oppressed by their men, why don’t Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, and the fox news harlots be more empathetic to the gay struggle? This isn’t something unique to black people. Being historically oppressed doesn’t mean one will automatically empathize with another oppressed group.
While I mostly agree with your point of view, I feel the point is if this was a conversation between whites on facebook and if you replace “gay” with “black”, blacks would have major issues (rightfully so). However here that outrage is non-existent because these blacks hate gays and their hate is excusable because it’s not white racism.
I’m one that doesn’t like the comparison between anti-homosexual views and racism. Yes they are similar in that they both have oppressive outcomes but it is well known that white homosexuals can be just as racist as their heterosexual counter parts. Just because many ethnicities are homophobic that doesn’t mean it’s not trumped by racism.
Yes!
Similar but not the same. White gays will always have their white male privilege. And if they are part of the elite white hrc type gays they are basically unstoppable. With marriage rights, they are pretty much done with what they need to accomplish. We will see if they really will put forth efforts towards Trans rights as they claim that’s the next fight.
Well said.
It’s my observation most white gays couldn’t care less about what black heterosexuals think of them. They have the benefit of whiteness and that still counts for a hell of a lot in American society. It’s not white gay people that are affected by black anti-gay attitudes. It’s black gay people who should be concerned because we’re the ones in danger. We’re the ones who face being ostracized by families and peers. We’re the ones who face the threat of violence. White gays know they’re protected by the mechanisms of the state. Black gay people can’t count on the state or the black community for safety or support.
I believe adding this commentary to the discussion is reductive and an attempt to shine the light away from Black accountability when it comes to homophobia. Clearly a person can be racist without having power. And clearly the black church and black homophobia has caused much psychological turmoil within MANY black men and women of different sexualities. Be as critical as you want when it comes to white people, but I doubt you’d ever see many black heterosexuals marching for the equal rights of black homosexuals as we’ve seen white people marching for the equal civil rights of black people.
Not disagreeing here either…but there are nuances and a bigger picture that I do feel this post didn’t explore (it’s no way it could have, nor do I think was its intent btw) BUT it is successful in pointing out the hypocrisy of some Afrocentric black folk and starting the conversation.
Yeah the post is clearly about black homophobia, not the scope and origin of Racism and White Supremacy. I think the adequate number of nuances on the hypocrisy and venom of Black homophobia were explored to at least keep the discussion focused. As I said before, trying to shift the conversation to “I hate Whitey” is distracting and isn’t helpful to the main, seldom discussed dialogue. Just my opinion.
I never understood why oppressed groups try to downplay each other’s successes (gay marriage being legalized for instance). People be acting like it’s some sorta game.
“I’m oppressed!”
“No I’m more oppressed!”
“We deserve more rights!”
“No we deserve more rights!”
Little do they know they’re making it easier for the not oppressed to continue what they’ve been doing. United we stand, divided we fall.
It’s the oppression olympics. Everyone is trying to get the gold for most oppressed group of ppl.
Nick, you hit the ball out of the park with this one. Oppressions should not be ranked. Racism does not trump homophobia.
This was the reason why I was scared of coming out to some of my family, especially the men. But ironically those are the people who I first came out to when we had a meeting last year, THE MEN in my family! All of my uncles and cousins, to my surprise, were acceptable about it and I was just a happy person inside that they still saw me no different from what I am as a person. But over the years I knew that they were homophobic and still feel that way. They may be okay with me, but I don’t think they’re okay with the whole shenanigans of it all. I guess because I’m not that much of a flamboyant person, that made it easier for them to accept me being gay. But yeah, black homophobia was/is/will always be real. I have to say, I’ve never experience racism in my life (and ironically I live here in Columbia, SC of all places lol) but I’ve experienced homophobia a time or two, and I wasn’t even out. But I feel like as I’m getting older (26 going on 27 tomorrow) I’m starting to not care about what people feel, and I’m sooooo elated that I’m actually starting to feel that way, like really! I just wish I started feeling this way earlier in my life, but it’s okay.
There is something to be said for our lack of visibility. Im not tryna play devils advocate for ignorant fuks, but these ignorant fuks dont get it until they realize that ppl they love are a part of ‘that group’. They see gay men as a group of ppl who want to be women and dont realize that their cousin, bro, uncle/etc who is masculine is someone who they’re going against. Im w/ u 100 on the point, but we also have to consider that a lot of blk mofos are waaaaay behind and aloof. Its the same reason why we dont go to certain movie theatres. Too many of yalls stupid cousins are gonna be there.
Thank you! Loews Theater on Jamaica Ave, for example.
Nah, that theatre by the Pink Houses in East NY, and that damn Court st theatre downtown BK. I remember going to see a movie there on a Sunday, when the kids happened to have Monday off from school, AND Tyler Perry had a new movie out that wkend, and kids were pulling alarms n cutting the fool. The lady at the popcorn stand was holding up some 3/4 yr old black girl, yelling ‘is this your child’?! Yall’s cuzzins…
LOL Its a damn shame. Whenever I do go to the movies (which is rare since this shit is like $100 now) I go to the one on 34th & 8th.
Part of the problem is many of us are cowards. We(black gay men) refuse to confront the anti-gay attitudes, remarks, and actions of other black people. The white gay movement is not, can not, and should not do what we should be doing for ourselves. Heterosexual black people know most of us won’t fight back which is why things are the way they are. More of us need to grow some balls, get angry, and fight back.
Man you said that.
I wish more of us just stopped caring and worrying so much about the opinions of people who are not paying our bills or have any influence in our lives. If you are not feeding, financing, or fucking me, why should I care what you think? This includes relatives and social media strangers.
Most of us here are not the rainbow flag Facebook profile picture having type but I really hate to get lumped into the group of All Things Gay because I don’t represent that. But it matters not to most holier than thou types because to them you’re either a Fag or DL. One extreme or the other. I just want to pop a lot of straight dudes in the jaw over being dumb asses. That Keyboard Courage has a lot of people saying things online they’d dare not say to my face.
Exactly!!! I had a coworker who insists on calling me and BF/Fiance roommates…and it always seems like shade to me so one day at the lunch table with our fellow coworkers I looked at her and said, “you know its ok to say boyfriend or partner” its not offensive. I could tell she was embarrassed but I didn’t care about her embarrassment in that moment…she needed to learn a hard lesson and now we are better colleagues because of it…
Its usually simple acts of defiance that change people’s minds. Simply giving them permission to say what we all consider PC helps people jump over those homophobic bridges. I am an out black gay man in all forms for the most part (I am not flag waving but I no longer lie, or omit) and to tell you the truth I feel freer and the family members or people who can accept that fact can KEEP IT MOVING.
But let me get this “straight” … this is the same website that doesn’t care for fem men and drag queens? We do more harm to EACH OTHER than straight people do to us. The onus has never been on white gay people to save us, we need to save our damn selves.