Reply #16: You are a true American hero. Very brave... [View All]

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

I am a straight black woman who was raised by a gay father. One of the things that really irks me about this argument is that even those who should know better are behaving as if there are no black gay/lesbian brothers and sisters. In the black community, sadly, being gay/lesbian is still considered a "white thing". This past weekend, my father and many of his black gay friends were lamenting this fact: the fact that black gays/lesbians--and most gays/lesbians of color--are being rejected and marginalized by everyone. They are unwelcome in the white, mainstream LGBT community. (Yes, there is racism in the white gay/lesbian community that is often just as bad if not worse than the larger society.) They are also unwelcome in their own community, which is so disheartening. Meanwhile, the black community is struggling to deal with the extraordinarily high numbers of men and women living with and ultimately dying from AIDS/HIV. At the same time, it is precisely because of the homophobia that exists in the black community that the silence and hatred leads to death. On the other hand, the rejection of black gays/lesbians from the larger white gay/lesbian community must surely be devastating. That community was supposed to be more open and welcoming, but it often is not. That is evident by how many white gays/lesbians are pointing fingers at the black community when they need to be dealing with the racism and sexism that exist within their own group and remember that the more they raise their voices, the more they forget that they are alienating black gays/lesbians.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.