My second Bilerico Guest Post is up: "Why are white gay men so racist? Why are straight black men so homophobic?" Please read it and comment and tell me what you think! Here's a preview. Read the rest on BILERICO!
Why are white gay men so racist? Why are straight black men so homophobic?
Phil Reese
...It's time to lay the cards on the table. White gay men pontificate about race as if race and sexuality were mutually exclusive--like black gay men don't exist. I'm not talking about lesbians, in fact they seem a might more inclusive. This whole post is aimed at men. Sorry dudes.
White gays constantly exclude black gay men from everything from their social networks right up to organizational leadership--and especially from the discussion of the relationship between the gay and African American communities. Yet, straight black men also often ignore the existence of black gay men--or pigeonhole them with certain stereotypes. As such, to minority communities, the fight for LGBT Equality seems like a battle being waged by whiney white middle class suburban douche-bags.
The rift seems to grow as both groups loudly laments the perceived prejudice of the other--and each takes increasingly marginalizing verbal swipes.
The best example of this are the post Prop-8 wailing spewing from queer Caucasians, putting blanket blame on this generic specter of "The Black Community."
Gay is not the new black, nor is LGBT Equality the shitty sequel of the Civil Rights struggle. That's comparing apples to tomatoes. Though there are noteworthy links between the movements, this entire correlation between Queer Equality and Black Equality is soaked in bad feelings; the square peg won't fit the round hole, so quit forcing...
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