For my first installment in my series, Stories of Sexuality and Gender, I wanted to look at the intersectionality?between sexuality and race; that is, the coexistence of multiple [minority] identities. I interviewed a personal friend of mine to speak about his experiences and feelings, being a double minority. David is a 22 year old recent college graduate of the University of Connecticut. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and resides in Connecticut. I have always loved David’s candor, and his answers here give insight as to what one might feel as a young, black, gay man.
Here’s my full interview below.
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Me: What do you identify as, as far as sexual orientation? What do you identify as racially?
David: As far as sexual orientation is concerned, I identify as gay, a gay man. Racially, I’m Black. ?I’m African-American.
Me: Do you feel it is harder to be black or gay, personally? Do you have any examples where your identities have negatively affected you?
David: Oh god, that’s a good question. It’s hard to answer. It’s not an easy thing to be either one. ?I guess, of the two, I’d say it’s harder to be Black, because anyone can look at me and see that’s what I am. Homosexuality cuts across race, gender, religion, class, and all of those things, so it’s really impossible to look at someone and know that they’re gay unless you’re stereotyping them. ?Race is a more specific identity, if that makes sense. ?More specific, and more obvious to strangers. I can’t think of any examples where I was negatively affected by my identities in tandem, but that’s probably because I came out in college which is an easier place to be pretty much anything. ?I could talk about racism I’ve experienced but those stories don’t really have anything to do with my sexuality so I don’t know how relevant they’d be in answering the question.
Me: What are your personal observations on how the black community views the LGBT community?
David: I think it’s a largely negative perception, but that’s true for any group because it’s true in general. ?I can’t think of any one community where LGBT?people are viewed positively and unfortunately that includes the LGBT community itself.
Me: What are your personal opinions and observations on how the LGBT community views the black community?
David: I think it’s the same, largely negative. ?But again, some of that is because Black people in general are viewed negatively. ?Other than that, I don’t think the LGBT community really views Blacks at all, unless they need a scapegoat for homophobia or HIV statistics.
Me: Do you feel as though there is enough representation of people of color within the LGBT community? If not, how would you like to see this change?
David: I don’t think anyone is well represented in the LGBT?community, with the exception of white gay men. ?Much of the gay community feels like it’s structured around them, by them, for them. ?They’re the ones we see on TV, and in movies. ?They’re the ones we see in the news. ?Anderson Cooper is something of a gay icon, for instance; Don Lemon is not. ?Everyone knows about Tyler Clementi and Matthew Shepard, but what about Marc Carson, or Marco McMillian? Their stories are seemingly less important, less publicized. I can’t blame LGBT?people for this because it’s a result of the society we live in. ?Society in general needs to change before we’ll be able to see change in the LGBT community, but it’d be nice to be able to see people who look like my friends and me on television shows that are supposed to represent ?The gay experience.?
Me: What do you feel when you hear the phrase ?The gay rights movement is the new civil rights movement?? Are there similarities? Do you agree? Why or why not?
David: Of course there are similarities. ?The gay rights movement is a civil rights movement, and an important one, but when I hear things like ?Gay is the new Black,? I get annoyed. ?Black people are still here and still struggling to achieve equality, in the eyes of the law and otherwise. ?It’s dismissive rhetoric that implies the ethnic minority’s struggle for civil rights is ?over? and now it’s time to focus on something else. ?I’ve never heard the black community claim its struggle superseded Women’s Lib.
Me: Do you feel as if the deep religious ties within the black community have caused them to be seen as very homophobic? What are your experiences with faith and sexuality?
David: I think Black people just make a good scapegoat. ?I mean, you can see that throughout history. ?The idea that Black people are somehow ?more? homophobic than anyone else is a tool people can use to turn homophobia into ?a black issue.? Homophobia is not a problem exclusive to the black community. ?It’s a problem, period. ?The last I checked, most of the politicians drawing up anti-gay legislation were white?but you won’t see Dan Savage pathologize white people as an entire group. I didn’t have much of a problem coming out to my family. ?They’re church going but not especially religious, if that makes sense. ?The most depressing coming-out stories I’ve heard were from whites and Latinos when I was in college, but I’d never use them to stereotype white or Latino people as ?extra? homophobic. ?Everybody’s experience is different.
Me: As a recent college graduate, do you fear your race or sexuality may hinder your job prospects? Does one identity cause you greater fear? Explain.
David: It’s something I try not to think about. ?I’ve seen the studies, people are 50% less likely to be called back for a job interview if the name on their r?sum? is ?Black sounding? so I’d be na?ve to pretend my race wasn’t a hindrance. ?I’m sure the studies about gay applicants are similarly discouraging, if there are any, but I make a conscious effort to block that mental noise out. ?If I go on a job interview and they don’t like my experience, or my outfit, then those are things I can change and improve upon. ?I’ll never wake up and not be Black. I’ll never wake up and not be gay. If I let myself carry that around with me all the time, it’d be debilitating. ?When I go on interviews I just try to do the best I can and hope those things don’t matter.
Me: What advice do you have to young people who also identify as LGBT? What’s a lesson that you have learned and keep close to you as you go through life?
David: Don’t compromise yourself. ?Stand up for what you believe in. ?We’re all bombarded with messages about what we should be, what we should look like, how we should behave, and minority communities have their own specific versions of those as well. ?I don’t pay attention to them. ?It’s so much easier to be who you are and instead of what you think you should be in order to fit in. ?I’ve unknowingly won so many people over who’d later tell me they were sure they weren’t going to like me but ended up doing it anyway. ?I think that’s because I’m unapologetically myself. I wish more people were the same way. ?Don’t live your life for other people, and remember that your voice and your story are just as important as anyone else?s.
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David’s answers are very telling. First, he mentions the benefit of being able to pass as straight. Of course no one should have to pass as anything in order to be accepted, but David posits that passing sexually is something he could more easily do if he wanted, whereas racially, that is not an option. David goes on to suggest that the black community is often, what he refers to, a scapegoat for homophobia. He feels that society likes to label them as very homophobic, but are they really more homophobic than everyone else? I agree with him. It is not as if society has been overly accepting of LGBT?people and blacks have been that one faction bigoted towards them. It is common to amplify any seemingly negative views of a minority group, thus ignoring the same views a majority group might hold. David mentions something very interesting to me; he says that the LGBT community also views itself negatively? Do you agree? Like any minority, we can tend to harbor the same prejudices levied against us by our oppressors.
White gay men are at the forefront of the visible LGBT?rights movement. David feels that there should be more minority representation in the LGBT?community and I agree. For example, many black lesbians have done a great deal in the LGBT justice movement, as well as in the arena of civil rights and women’s rights. However, they do not seem to be paraded around and heralded as much as their white gay male counterparts.
Now, ?gay is the new black?. Like David, I have a problem with this phrase. The struggle for racial equality is far from over. In many categories, blacks have the worst statistics of any group of people (often only Native Americans fare worse when it comes to things like poverty, health, education, etc). ?Gay is the new black? can imply that gay rights are the main and only thing worth fighting for now and that is unequivocally false. Each movement is unique, even with its underlying similarities. Regardless, David believes in equality for all people but we must understand one another’s distinctive struggles to help move us all forward.
As a religious person, I can openly say that I used to attend a pretty homophobic church. David mentions again how blacks are made scapegoats for religious bigots when it comes to homophobia. We must keep in mind that many of the big voices in the Christian Right movement fighting against LGBT?rights are white. Do we pathologize them as an entire group based on race? Not quite. Also, that homophobic church I attended when I was younger was mostly white.
David is not a fearful person, but he is aware of how his identities might plague him in the future. Like all of us minorities, we have to keep being ourselves and trying our best. We shouldn’t have to change so that some prejudiced idiot will like us more. I have known David for a couple of years now and he has never compromised who he is. The way he speaks, walks, acts, dresses, etc., are all uniquely him, and he has been quite a successful young man. He is a shining example of how a young, black, gay man can succeed by living their truth.
Edited/Published by: SB
