Very Few People Say “No Wh”: Gay Men of Color and The Racial Polics of Dire - PMC

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Whe gay privilege exists all year, but is particularly tratg durg Pri

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WHE GAY PRIVILEGE EXISTS ALL YEAR, BUT IS PARTICULARLY HURTFUL DURG PRI

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Jt as the movement for LGBTQ rights has been whewashed, so has Pri month often felt like a whe, gay-centered event — far removed om the lears of the Stonewall a recent article for BET, I discs how the Stonewall rts should be nsired an important part of Black history.

”It isn’t a cince that that same summer of 2017, 11 owners of queer spac Philalphia went through mandatory anti-discrimatn trag after several cints at var gay bars — cludg the disvery of a YouTube vio showg bar owner Darryl DePiano g racial slurs 2016, and other alleged cints volvg racial discrimatn.

”No Jtice, No Pri and Black Liv Matter–affiliated groups reprised the prott ci across the untry throughout the Capal Pri nontatn and others like have laid bare a growg chasm wh the LGBTQ+ muny between olr activists and younger; between gay whe cisgenr men who feel like they n celebrate post-marriage equaly and those who fear for their liv unr a Tmp admistratn; between those whose biggt stumblg block life is beg gay and those who feel their eedom is ntgent not only on LGBTQ+ rights but also on issu like police reform, reproductive rights, and enomic equaly.

WHE GAY MEN ARE HRG OUR PROGRS AS A QUEER COMMUNY

Why some whe natnalists want to appear gay-iendly. * gay white *

”But as dtups ed by groups like No Jtice, No Pri show — as well as other velopments, like the addn of a brown stripe to Philalphia’s LGBTQ pri flag; and scuffl over the cln of Israeli flags at monstratns — that not everyone is happy wh the LGBTQ+ movement’s foc on tersectnaly, which has foreground discsns of privilege, police btaly, sexism, racism, and anti-trans BeckSome gay whe cisgenr men are startg to tune out. “You have gay whe men who are no longer volved activism or muny work bee they jt get shouted down by mory activists who want to racialize everythg, ” said Jamie Kirchick, a right-leang journalist and visg fellow at the Brookgs Instutn.

The movement was not only far more centralized than today, when several large LGBTQ+ advocy anizatns wh lots of money generally set the agenda; was stacked wh crics of palism, cludg munists like Harry Hay, who -found early homophile anizatn the Mattache Society. This is a month that is meant to be voted to uny and celebratn, but wh the world divid now more than ever seems like that msage is beg I was young gay boy, the ia of an entire month voted to upliftg people like myself ed to brg me so much joy and hope, however now that I am olr and unrstand the ncepts of palism and privilege, my views on pri have altered que a b.

Gay whe men have been some of the most, dare I say, problematic members of society due to the fact most of them have this plex that mak them believe they are jt as disenanchised society as black people and other people of lor, and even women as well.

WHY WHE GAY MEN HAVE RUED LGBTQ+ PRI MONTH FOR MESHAWN BANKS·FOLLOW6 M READ·JUN 15, 2020--4LISTENSHAREPHOTO BY CLAY BANKS ON UNSPLASHIT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGA, AND THOUGH THE WORLD IS A TEGORY 5 CRISIS SEEMGLY BEYOND REPAIR, WE STILL MT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JUNE 2020 IS STILL PRI MONTH. Y, THE ONE MONTH OUT OF THE YEAR WHEN EVERY RPORATN THAT SELLS MERCHANDISE RANGG OM T-SHIRTS TO MOTOR VEHICL SLAPS A RABOW FLAG ON THEIR PRODUCTS AND CLAIMS TO BE AN ALLY. THIS IS A MONTH THAT IS MEANT TO BE VOTED TO UNY AND CELEBRATN, BUT WH THE WORLD DIVID NOW MORE THAN EVER SEEMS LIKE THAT MSAGE IS BEG LOST.WHEN I WAS YOUNG GAY BOY, THE IA OF AN ENTIRE MONTH VOTED TO UPLIFTG PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF ED TO BRG ME SO MUCH JOY AND HOPE, HOWEVER NOW THAT I AM OLR AND UNRSTAND THE NCEPTS OF PALISM AND PRIVILEGE, MY VIEWS ON PRI HAVE ALTERED QUE A B. WHEN I LOOK AT THE MON NOMATORS AS TO WHY THE IA OF PRI HAS BEE MORE OF AN ANNOYANCE PROVOKG NCEPT RATHER THAN A SPARK OF JOY, ALL BOILS DOWN TO ONE THG — THE ACTNS OF WHE PEOPLE; GAY, STRAIGHT, OR ANY OTHER INTY. WHE PEOPLE HAVE AN EXPANSIVE HISTORY OF APPROPRIATG CULTUR, IAS, AND MOVEMENTS, AND QUEER PRI IS NO EXCEPTN. LET’S DISCS A FEW OF THE WAYS, SHALL WE.WHE GAY PRIVILEGE IS VERY REALLET’S START WH THE SASSY, BRAVO-OBSSED, VENTI ICED FFEE DRKG WHE GAY MEN THAT ARE G PRI OM THE SI OUT. GAY WHE MEN HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE MOST, DARE I SAY, PROBLEMATIC MEMBERS OF SOCIETY DUE TO THE FACT MOST OF THEM HAVE THIS PLEX THAT MAK THEM BELIEVE THEY ARE JT AS DISENANCHISED SOCIETY AS BLACK PEOPLE AND OTHER PEOPLE OF LOR, AND EVEN WOMEN AS WELL. WHILST BEG A GAY PERSON DO QUALIFY YOU AS A MORY FACG VAR LEVELS OF OPPRSN, THEY HAPPEN TO FET THE TOTEM POLE OF PRIVILEGE THAT EXISTS 21ST CENTURY SOCIETY.FIRST OFF, YOU’RE WHE, WHICH IS THE GOLD MEDAL OF PRIVILEG, AND THEN RIGHT AFTER THAT YOU’VE SNATCHED THE BRONZE MEDAL OF PRIVILEG BY BEG A CIS-GENRED MAN AS WELL. EVEN I AS A BLACK GAY MAN, STILL ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE PRIVILEGE OVER WOMEN AND TRANSGENRED DIVIDUALS. AND Y, THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE THIS WORLD STILL YELLG TO END MARRIAGE EQUALY, HOWEVER WHAT I WOULD LIKE FOR THE MEN TO DO IS S BACK, ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR VAST LEVELS OF PRIVILEGE, AND PLEASE NOT TO TRY PLAY THIS GAME OF ‘WHO HAS IS HARR’; BEE SWEETIE, YOU WILL ALWAYS LOSE.THIS LEVEL OF LN WAS MA PECIALLY CLEAR LAST YEAR DURG NYC’S ANNUAL PRI CELEBRATN AT THE FAMO STONEWALL BAR, WHICH JT SO HAPPENED TO BE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL UPRISG. IT WAS REPORTED THAT AT A DRAG SHOW AT STONEWALL, A YOUNG BLACK TRANS WOMEN ATTEMPTED TO HONOR HER TRANS SISTERS WHO WERE KILLED THAT YEAR ACROSS THE UNTRY, HOWEVER A WHE GAY MAN REPEATEDLY TERPTED HER BY YELLG “SHUT UP, SHUT UP.” THE RT OF THE CROWD, WHICH IF YOU HAVEN’T GUSED BY NOW WAS PREDOMANTLY WHE, JOED BEHD THIS MAN AND ALSO SCREAMED SHUT UP TOWARDS HER, AND EVEN THREATENED TO LL THE PS ON HER. LUCKILY, THE PS WERE NOT NEED BUT BAR SECURY DID FORCE HER OUT OF THE BAR, UNJTLY MIGHT I ADD.THE ENTIRE CINT WAS RERD AND POSTED ON FACEBOOK, AND WH A DAY THE VIO HAD REACHED MAJOR NEWS OUTLETS AND SENT TWTER ON A TIRA. THIS UNFORTUNATE CINT GO TO SHOW HOW ENTLED OUR GENERATN AS A WHOLE HAS BEE, BEE WHILE WHE MEN ARE G THEIR PRIVILEGE TO EVICT A TRANS WOMAN OUT OF A BAR, THEY FET THAT WAS TRANS WOMEN OF LOR JT LIKE THIS GIRL WHO FOUGHT FOR THEM TO HAVE THE RIGHTS THEY HAVE TODAY. MARSHA P. JOHNSON, SYLVIA RIVERA, AND A SLEW OF OTHER GAY MEN OF LOR WERE ON THE ONTL THROWG BRICKS AND FIGHTG FOR QUEER RIGHTS. THE FACT THAT THIS CINT HAPPENED WHERE QUEER RIGHTS WERE VIGOROLY FOUGHT FOR BY TRANS WOMEN IS CREDIBLY IRONIC ALL THE WORST POSSIBLE WAYS.ARE LABELS REALLY NECSARY?AMONG THE MANY NEGATIVE THGS WHE PEOPLE ARE NOTOR FOR, AND ONE OF THE THGS WHE CULTURE IS MOST NOTABLE FOR, IS THE IA OF SEGREGATN. WE ALL KNOW THEIR HISTORY WH SLAVERY, JIM CROW, AND MANY OTHER HEO ACTS AGAST BLACK PEOPLE, BUT MANY DON’T SPEAK ENOUGH ABOUT HOW WHE GAY MAN HAVE CREATED A LEVEL OF SEGREGATN WH THE GAY MUNY. WHEN WE LOOK AT THE NICKNAM OF OTTER, BEAR, CUB, AND ETC, THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY SYNONYMO WH GAY MEN, AND MANY HAVE ADOPTED THE LABELS WH PRI. HOWEVER, THE LABELS ARE CREDIBLY WHE-WASHED, AND THE LABELS ARE NORMALLY GIVEN SPECIFILLY TO WHE MEN AND HAVE BEEN THAT WAY SCE WAS CREATED THE 1970’S SAN FRANCIS GAY SCENE, WHICH WAS PREDOMANTLY POSED OF F, WHE MEN.AS SOMEONE WHO NEVER LOVED THE IA OF BEG PUT TO YET ANOTHER LABEL, I WAS NEVER ONE TO TRY AND F MYSELF TO THOSE ANTIQUATED TEGORI, BUT WHEN I WAS ONCE TOLD BY A USIAN PERSON THAT “THOSE KD OF LABELS DON’T REALLY WORK FOR ME”, I IMMEDIATELY KNEW WASN’T BEE OF MY REBELL PERSONALY; WAS THE LOR OF MY SK. WHAT THIS DIVIDUAL WAS TRYG TO MICRO-AGGRSIVELY SAY TO ME WAS THAT AS A BLACK PERSON, THE LABELS OF BEG A BEAR, OTTER, CUB AND MANY MORE DON’T REALLY WORK ON SOMEONE LIKE ME SCE THEY’RE RERVED FOR THE WHE MEN WHO CREATED THEM. INSTEAD, GAY CULTURE HAS TRIED TO F ME AND OTHER BLACK PEOPLE TO THE TEGORI OF BEG A THUG, A DL MAN (DOWN-LOW AKA SECRETLY GAY), OR A FEM AKA FEME MAN. THIS KD OF TERNAL SEGREGATN WH A MUNY THAT IS MEANT TO BE BUILT ON UNY AND CLN, HAS LEFT A SOUR TASTE MY MOUTH WHEN TO PRI CELEBRATNS. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE FORTABLE BEG MY TE AND THENTIC SELF, WHEN THERE’S SO MUCH PRSURE WH YOUR OWN MUNY TO BE WHAT THEY EXPECT/WANT YOU TO NFORM TO?QUEER PRI IS NOT A PRODUCTTHE MASS MERCIALIZATN OF LGBTQ+ PRI MONTH HAS ALSO BEE SOMETHG THAT HAS TAKEN OVER AND HAS ALLOWED BE BLEED TO MASTREAM HETEROSEXUAL CULTURE, WHICH HAS BROUGHT QUE A FEW POSIVE ASPECTS, AND QUE A FEW NEGATIVE ASPECTS AS WELL. Y, ’S GREAT THAT PRI HAS BEE A RPECTED TIME OF CELEBRATN ACROSS THE WORLD, BUT THIS HAS OPENED A PANDORA’S BOX OF PANI THAT SHOW THEIR PSDO-SUPPORT BY SLAPPG A RABOW FLAG ONTO A SMALL SEGMENT OF THEIR PRODUCTS TO SHOW THEIR ALLY-SHIP. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT MANY OF THE PANI THAT CLAIM TO SUPPORT THE QUEER MUNY ACTUALLY DO THE OPPOSE, AND JT E PRI AS A WAY TO PULL MORE CTOMERS TO CREASE THEIR PROF MARG.CORPORATNS SUCH AS COMST, AT&T, AND UPS THAT CLAIM TO STAND FOR THE QUEER MUNY ACTUALLY HAVE DONATED HUNDREDS OF THOANDS OF DOLLARS TO ANTI-GAY POLICIANS, BUT MANY PEOPLE STRAIGHT OR OTHERWISE, ARE UNAWARE OF THIS RMATN AND GO BLDLY FORWARD SPORTG PRI PARAPHERNALIA TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT, WHICH IS QUE A SMALL GTURE IF WE’RE BEG HONT. AND TO BE ANK, IF I HAVE TO SEE ONE MORE POORLY MA TOTE BAG WH A RABOW FLAG LAZILY PLACED ON HANGG OFF THE SHOULR OF A MIDDLE AGED WHE WOMAN, I THK I MIGHT HAVE A PUBLIC OUTBURST MORE OUTRAGEO THAN A PRI PARA FLOAT.WE ARE ALL THIS TOGETHER

View Gay Whe rults cludg current phone number, addrs, relativ, background check report, and property rerd wh Whepag. * gay white *

Whilst beg a gay person do qualify you as a mory facg var levels of opprsn, they happen to fet the totem pole of privilege that exists 21st century off, you’re whe, which is the gold medal of privileg, and then right after that you’ve snatched the bronze medal of privileg by beg a cis-genred man as well. And y, there are still plenty of homophobic people this world still yellg to end marriage equaly, however what I would like for the men to do is s back, acknowledge their vast levels of privilege, and please not to try play this game of ‘Who has is harr’; bee sweetie, you will always level of ln was ma pecially clear last year durg NYC’s annual pri celebratn at the famo Stonewall bar, which jt so happened to be the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprisg. However, the labels are credibly whe-washed, and the labels are normally given specifilly to whe men and have been that way sce was created the 1970’s San Francis gay scene, which was predomantly posed of f, whe someone who never loved the ia of beg put to yet another label, I was never one to try and f myself to those antiquated tegori, but when I was once told by a usian person that “those kd of labels don’t really work for me”, I immediately knew wasn’t bee of my rebell personaly; was the lor of my sk.

WHE NATNALIST GROUPS ARE SPLTG OVER GAY INCLN

Corporatns such as Comst, AT&T, and UPS that claim to stand for the queer muny actually have donated hundreds of thoands of dollars to anti-gay policians, but many people straight or otherwise, are unaware of this rmatn and go bldly forward sportg pri paraphernalia to show their support, which is que a small gture if we’re beg hont. One major flt le has emerged over homosexualy: While fascist and whe natnalist movements have historilly nmned queerns, many the self-scribed “alt-right” wanted to dash this image, acknowledgg that the social mood had shifted on gay issu and that they had a number of homosexual members their ranks.

Over the summer months, as whe natnalists and fascists who rallied unr the banner of the “alt-right” were repudiated by their more mastream unterparts at plac like Rebel Media, a fal pture began to take place between those who cid to clu gay fascists their ranks and lears who termed this to be the hill they wanted to die on. Both are te the se of attus toward homosexualy wh the aln between the openly whe natnalist “alt-right” and the “alt-le, ” which tends to publicly downplay s support for whe supremacy per se while spreadg anti-immigrant, anti-Mlim and anti-femist sentiments.

GAY WHE

While self-scribed members of the “alt-right” have certaly never put same-sex relatnships on the same ground as heterosexual on — primarily bee of their belief the sancty of the “tradnal” fay un — they haven’t treated gay people entirely as outsirs eher. Donovan was first known for wrg the book Androphilia (unr the name Jack Malebranche), where he argued that as a man attracted to other men, he was not actually “gay, ” as that was a morn chosen inty that also aligned self wh “male effemacy, ” femism and leftist polics. In 2014, he banned Matthew Heimbach, founr of the Tradnalist Worker Party and Tradnalist Youth Network, om attendg that year’s Natnal Policy Instute nference after alleged ments that Heimbach and Stt Terry ma about the “biblil” rponsibily of executg homosexuals for their ss.

STUDY FDS GAY, WHE MEN ARE OVERREPRENTED LGBTQ EMPLOYEE GROUPS

Heimbach had been known to be iendly wh Donovan, cludg askg him a qutn at Donovan’s 2014 speech at Amerin Renaissance, but Spencer was not gog to allow for this kd of vlent homophobia or the negative media spectacle Heimbach has ma for himself. As Nathan Damigo, the founr of Inty Evropa, told me last year while planng a seri of mp actns, gay men would be allowed if they kept their sexual orientatn off the radar, but transgenr people would be turned away and directed toward mental health servic. After the accatns were ma agast both Spencer and Johnson, Spencer tried to put the spotlight more exclively on Johnson by postg the same article and speech that had been available for years which Johnson argu that homophobia was a social opprsn created by Jews.

WHE GAY

Matt Forney — a Manosphere blogger associated wh the Manosphere webse Return of Kgs who had moved on to whe natnalist media outlets like Amerin Renaissance and Red Ice Creatns, which foc on race rather than genr — then put out a large list of accatns about whe natnalist figur who had allegedly engaged homosexual behavrs. This clud gog after The Right Stuff, one of the most popular whe natnalist blogs known for s podst, “The Daily Shoah, ” accg them of havg a “si group” lled “Fashy Faggots, ” intifyg Greg Johnson as a llaborator, and the alleged homosexualy of other mentators. As whe natnalists wh the self-scribed “alt-right” ntue to e homophobia to ga clout durg their movement’s ternal power stggl, be clear that the majory of people the movement believe both homosexual attractn and genr nonnformy to be social diseas rrodg the proper “Wtern” orr of society.

DEAR WHE GAY MEN: LABELG PEOPLE OF COLOR "DIVISIVE" ISN'T A CRIQUE — IT'S RACISM

Even if they have back-seated the views out of an opportunistic and pragmatic sire to attract younger, more gay-iendly members, the current le of acturg shows the stabily of this aln and further illtrat the cel and multidirectnal bigotry that f the movement’s inty.

Three four lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or queer employe experienced at least one negative teractn at work related to their sexual orientatn or genr inty the last year, acrdg to a study released Tuday by the Boston Consultg Group and New York Cy’s Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Communy Center. And more to the pot, cril speech and of self is no way more “divisive” than the racist, transphobic, or misogynist behavr you’re beg asked to fet: It is a privilege to argue about opprsn or “divisive” thgs when you yourself do not have to experience such opprsn every day of your queer people, you mt regnize that there are hierarchil power stctur built to the LGBTQ+ muny, due to the very real opprsn of those wh who are not whe gay men.

From 2010 to 2019, the number of new HIV fectns among whe gay/bisexual men fell om 7, 500 to 5, 100, but remaed about the same among Black gay/bisexual men (9, 000 to 8, 900) and rose among Hispanic gay/bisexual men (om 6, 800 to 7, 900), rearchers found.

HIV RAT FALL AMONG GAY WHE AMERINS, BUT NOT MORI

While a number of different typ of sexual fields that n be found the gay muny have been discsed the amic lerature as well as the popular prs, there has been ls attentn paid to the ways that erotic words are socially anized (Mart and Gee 2006). To do so, we brgg together the sexual fields perspective wh the growg lerature on sexual racism, an act of eher sexually excludg non-wh as potential partners or cludg racial mori as sexual partners based only on racial several scholars have noted, ntemporary gay life is marked by high levels of racism directed towards gay men of lor by gay whe men, wh much of the racism maniftg self as negative sexual attus towards, and sexual excln or fetishizatn of, non-whe men (Armstrong 2002; Bébé 2001; Epste 1996; McBri 2005; Tenunis, 2007).

VERY FEW PEOPLE SAY “NO WH”: GAY MEN OF COLOR AND THE RACIAL POLICS OF DIRE

In fact, several studi have shown that gay whe men were much more likely to prefer their own race and actively exclu non-wh as potential sexual than gay men of lor (Lundquist and L 2015; Ph and Kfman 2003; Rafalow, Feliciano, and Robt 2017; Smh 2014). Dpe gay whe men’s sistence that sexual excln was not racism but rather personal preference, and that the personal preferenc have nothg to do wh racism, Collanr and his lleagu (2015) found that attus toward sexual excln were related to almost every intified factor associated wh racist attus general. Th, sexual racism should be unrstood not as personal preference, but as “problematic ndns that stcture the very formatn of romantic relatnships” that is neher benign nor trivial (Bedi 2015: 998) the ia of sexual racism has been wily discsed the popular prs, and amic studi have also documented the racial hierarchy of sire the gay muny, there have been fewer attempts to systematilly exame how such racialized hierarchi of sire are unrstood by gay men of lor and, more importantly, the impact the racial hierarchi have on them.

Wh any sexual field, some dividual e to be seen as more sirable than other dividuals pendg on the tras that they posss that are valued by the specific sexual field which they discsg gay sexual fields, Green (2008; 2011) intifi a number of potential tras that fluence the level of sirabily that any given dividual might posss.

In fact, sire for whens has been noted by a number of scholars examg race and racism the gay muny (Callanr, Holt and Newman 2016; Han 2007; Robson 2015; McBri 2005; Tnis 2007) other characteristics intified by Green, such as clothg or mculary, whens is a central anizg prciple the gay muny (Bébé 2001; Han 2007). In promotg equaly through the normalizatn of (homo)sexualy at the expense of “non-gay” issu, gay anizatns such as The Human Rights Campaign promote a monolhic image of the “gay muny, ” as beg rich, nservative, and whe (Bébé 2001; Phelan 2001; Seidman 2002; Walters 2014). As Peter Jackson (2000: 184) not:When sirabily is lked wh race, and when certa rac are ascribed greater erotic tert than others, then to be a member of an “unsexy” ethnic group is to be equated wh an ferr form of importantly, unlike other markers of sirabily among gay men that Green discs, such as amount of body hair, mculary, cloth, etc., race is an entirely ascribed stat, not an achieved one.

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Gay Whe Men: Labelg People of Color "Divisive" Is Racist | Them .

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