Gay Black Liv Matter: TV’s Sudn About-Face LGBT Racial Diversy

Contents:

• MORE GAY BLACK CHARACTERS ON TV SERI THE DAYS: 'EMPIRE,' 'BEG MARY JANE,' 'THE HAV & THE HAVE NOTS'
• BLACK ACTORS WHO PLAYED GAY MALE CHARACTERS

MORE GAY BLACK CHARACTERS ON TV SERI THE DAYS: 'EMPIRE,' 'BEG MARY JANE,' 'THE HAV & THE HAVE NOTS'

“I’m lucky I was born outsi of Nigeria, so I haven’t had the same stggl that my gay brothers and sisters have had wh Nigeria, and the problems that they’re havg: beg arrted all the time, beg harassed when they go out [and] beg thrown out of their fai. THEIR IMPACT: In this age of “Don’t Say Gay” bills and other forms of blatant homophobia, this Netflix seri — and the romance between lead characters Nick (Connor) and Charlie (Locke) — wasn’t jt enarg but val lettg kids know that if they’re non-straight, don’t mean they’re bad or wrong. 1 on the ll sheet — is a Black gay man, ” says seri -creator Cameron Johnson, who also acknowledg the rary of beg able to tell stori about a gay man who isn’t a TV show’s “addnal character.

When two Black men love each other on screen, shows others what is possible, and shows that you n be who you are and still fd love.So we want to take a look back at some of the Black gay upl that we've seen on TV who have spired viewers and changed media as we know .

Unfortunately, the upl aren't as numero as they should be, but as more Black queer creativ get chanc to tell stori, we n only image what the future of Black gay reprentatn looks like. Black, gay men are g out — all over a rare and unprecented season, there's been an flux of black gay characters prime-time dramas on h shows cludg Fox's "Empire, " BET's "Beg Mary Jane" and OWN's "The Hav & The Have Nots. "And while gay characters have been mon on TV for years, black, gay men were hardly anythg other than stereotyped sikicks or hunky objects of 's all changed now bee the guys are sential to ma storyl of each show, and picted non-stereotypil rol wh their own eyebrow-raisg story season's biggt succs story, "Empire" has ma major wav the zegeist wh R&B sger Jamal Lyon (Jsie Smollet) who, while vyg for his father's acceptance and petg for the top spot of the fay empire also grappl wh gog public wh his sexual "Beg Mary Jane" — now s send season — Mark Bradley (Aaron D.

BLACK ACTORS WHO PLAYED GAY MALE CHARACTERS

Meanwhile the third season of "The Hav & The Have Nots" (wrten, produced, created and directed by Tyler Perry) has had jaws droppg as wh the story arc of Jefey Harrgton (Gav Hoton) gettg blackmailed by his own meddlg mother (Angela Robson), who ref to accept that he's gay. "It was only a few years ago that GLAAD's annual televisn reports found that gay black men were one of the most unrreprented groups on televisn, but the current flux of more diverse characters is a very promisg sign, " says Matt Kane, a program director at “Empire, ” Jsie Smollett (l.

"It's a skill not lost on filmmaker Patrik Ian Polk who for years has been breakg ground tellg stori about the liv of gay black men die films such as "Punks, " "The Skny" and the 2005 televisn seri "Noah's Arc, " which aired on Via's Logo work. It may appear quat now, when we have TV seri like Hulu’s Love, Victor (about a Latx teen explorg sexual fluidy) or Netflix’s Bondg (about sex work and alternative sexualy), but the great gay panic set off by Ellen DeGener g out on her s 1997 was a bombshell that didn’t necsarily nvce the works that they’d open the gat to LGBTQ experienc.

Luckily Will & Grace buted 1998 and the groundbreakg NBC seri nvced many that gay people might not be so toxic (and wouldn’t sre off advertisers) — so much so that Vice Print Joe Bin later creded wh changg his md about same-sex marriage.