Johnson: Honest Talks Can End Homophobia

I second what Ben in NY posted. In articles such as this one, there will inevitably be racist white gays who blame straight black people for the lack of or loss of civil rights for gays. But what is lost in the idiotic scapegoating is how many black politicians, celebrities, etc., SUPPORT the gay community. We need to build bridges to other communities, NOT sitting there expecting them to support us merely b/c they're also minorities.

Black homophobia gets a disproportionate amount of attention because blacks just got their civil rights a generation ago and also because, as agruably the two most democratic groups in America, blacks and gays are politically alligned. Actually, the last set of statistics I read from the Advocate on the subject showed that conservatives are slightly more homophobic than blacks. As far as gay bashing goes, black boys will stop outside the Ramrod and yell "faggot" while conservatives will support homophobic legislation with a smile and a handshake. I personally feel less threatened by the black boys.

While the black electorate may be somewhat more homophobic than whites (by a margin of 10% or so), black elected officials are much more supportive of our rights, overall, than white ones. Witness the near-unanimous passage of marriage equality by the DC council, or the marriage vote in New York, where 80-90% of black state legislators voted in favor of same-sex marriage compared with less than 50% of whites. A black elected official is far more likely to vote the interests of their gay constituents than a white one, and perhaps of any racial group. In other words, the black community is often more tolerant when it counts the most, and they deserve credit for that.

GayElephant, you're trying to tell me you've never experienced homophobia at the hand of a hispanic person? Well, I can tell you I definitely have. I think it's pretty absurd that you have no problem shining a spotlight on homophobia in the black community, but you refuse to acknowledge the presence of homophobia in other racial groups. Laughable.

Why is it assume by some of you that blacks are immune to criticism? Like they have this special privilege to be haters, racists and homophobes themselves, and when we call them on it they get all angry at us for doing so? Is there a special law that protects them from honest criticism? Why are they so special? It isn't as though we point out their color of skin as the problem but simply their *conduct* as a group. And as a hispanic, I can say that I have not experienced homophobia from my fellow hispanics (just some satirical jokes), yet I do know of certain black gays who have been brutalized and even raped by other blacks. I am sorry to say but at least you will not find this kind of permissible conduct in other groups (hispanic, asian, whites,) other than Muslims of course.

"The Advocate is pretty shameless in pushing this racial divide narrative," -- It does get tiresome, especially when you disagree with a certain President that happens to be black and then be branded a racist redneck teabagger.

First of all let me just say that it was not The Advocate that did this sort...they are just the ones that pick it up. Second, as a black gay man this is something that need to be talked about. People really don't understand how homophobic the black community is. I am not saying that there is no other communities, but I can only speak about the homophobia in mine. That is what this journalist was talking about. The truth is the truth. If you want to know about homophobia in other communities maybe someone in that community needs to come forward and do an interview.

The Advocate is pretty shameless in pushing this racial divide narrative, but I doubt it will stop anytime soon. If any of you want to see what a well written article on race and sexuality actually looks like, I suggest, for starters, the link below. http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=moving_beyond_race_on_the_gay_rights_debate I think if we really want to move forward as a community, we might want to stop dividing ourselves along racial lines.

Why does the Advocate keep doing this--singling our homophobia in the Black community as opposed to other minority communities--and no one questions it? Why no articles about homophobia in the Latin, Asian, and especially white people in this country. Do the editors of this magazine really expect readers to ignore the lily white droves of people in the middle of the country that drove anti-gay campaigns like Prop 8, opposition to ENDA, and DADT? Homophobia in the black community is a problem, but homophobia in the white community is and has been rampant. GayElephant, are religious right and the Christian Coalition majority black organizations now? Is the National Organization for Marriage mostly funded by and run by black people? Did black people by themselves block marriage in "liberal" California, Maine, and New York? Are the majority of Republicans who in the last decade introduced a Federal Marriage Amendment now all of a sudden black? I guess the Advocate thinks so.

Has Jeff Johnson ever posed in the nude? And is so I wonder where I might see the photos.