Monday, November 10, 2008

My People, My Disappointment 2: The Gays


Okay, let's not do this folks. Over at several LGBT blogs, I'm seeing some racial foolishness rise.

For example
Geoffrey, a student at UCLA and regular Rod 2.0 reader, joined the massive protest outside the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood. Geoffrey was called the n-word at least twice.
It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU NIGGER, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a FAGGOT, I will call you a nigger. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the niggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them.
Los Angeles resident and Rod 2.0 reader A. Ronald says he and his boyfriend, who are both black, were carrying NO ON PROP 8 signs and still subjected to racial abuse.
Three older men accosted my friend and shouted, "Black people did this, I hope you people are happy!" A young lesbian couple with mohawks and Obama buttons joined the shouting and said there were "very disappointed with black people" and "how could we" after the Obama victory. This was stupid for them to single us out because we were carrying those blue NO ON PROP 8 signs! I pointed that out and the one of the older men said it didn't matter because "most black people hated gays" and he was "wrong" to think we had compassion. That was the most insulting thing I had ever heard. I guess he never thought we were gay.
So I see the blaming is getting out of control and we have resorted to more drama within the community. Let's not go down this path. The last thing we need is have another group coming after us. I mean that on both sides (Black and Gay)

We need to recognize that there was some things we could've done better. Like reached out to the Black and Latino communities. And make it more open for LGBT people of color to feel a part of the community. I reported last month about how some of us felt like outsiders in the WeHo world.

If more of this craziness continues, we will only give the Religious Right the perfect fuel to their cause. They can say that these racist acts are just examples of our demon possession. And we only want to create chaos instead of harmony. This is not the time for racism in the midst of our culture war. As we want to remind the Black & Latino folks about the past, let's not push it by rehashing the racist mess from that past.

We must accept the mistakes from the NO on Prop 8 campaign and move on. We are fortunate to have another chance. Let's not screw it up on petty issues.

5 comments:

EMikeGarcia said...

This is truly one of the saddest things our community could ever be held accountable for.

Invisible Woman said...

That shit is so freakin' crazy. It is just an excuse to unleash the racism that was inside anyway. I know dozens of Blacks who voted no on 8, and were stunned when it passed, me being one of them.

I don't care what those people say, it is hatred against Blacks that was already there, they just didn't have an outlet for it. The story of the attack of the couple wearing no on 8 shirts made that clear. They claim to be so progressive in LA, but they are no better than those at a McCain Klan rally.

Jeremy Rizza said...

All the finger-pointing is getting ridiculous. Thank goodness for blogs (like this one) that can set the record straight. The other day, I was talking with some other gay guys about Prop 8, and somebody started up with the whole "I read that it's the African-Americans' fault" nonsense. I was happy to explain to them that it was a load of hooey (to use the technical term), and that Blacks were being scapegoated.

Let's just figure out how we can do better next time, and move on.

Verdant said...

As hard as it is right now, we can't let idiots like those racist WeHo clones keep us from building coalitions. And while it's important to call out the racism in the LGBT community, it's just as important to tackle the homophobia in the black community.

I think one of the biggest problems regarding outreach into the heterosexual black community is that it's up to openly LGBT black people to make those inroads. But so many of us were cut off painfully from the community when we came out. Confronting homophobia in the black community brings up some of our worst insecurities. Are we black enough? Are we masculine/feminine enough? Can we accept when people say they love us, but hate the sin? I gave money to the No on 8 campaign, but that's it. I didn't go to any black churches. I didn't visit any black civic organizations. Sure, there were black LGBT people out there fighting the good fight, but not enough. I could've done more, and that's a bitter pill to swallow.

A lot of people will feel this is too little, too late, but I'm working on a short video as a black LGBT response to Prop. 8. I'm looking for 12 black (6 women, 6 men), openly LGBT volunteers willing to be filmed for a minute-long spot that will be uploaded to Youtube, Myspace Video, etc. Participants will need to be from the SF Bay Area, as filming will take place in San Francisco.

Best,
Tommy
pridehigh@gmail.com

Invisible Woman said...

@verdant: if you need someone Black and straight to speak up as well (I think that is important too, for both communities) I would be glad to do it. I'm in Berkeley for a while...

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.