“I Can’t Be Racist, I’m Gay” Explorg Queer Whe Men’s Views on Race and Racism on JSTOR

Contents:

• WHE GAY MEN ARE HRG OUR PROGRS AS A QUEER COMMUNY
• STUDY FDS GAY, WHE MEN ARE OVERREPRENTED LGBTQ EMPLOYEE GROUPS
• HERE'S ONE BTAL TTH EVERY WHE GAY MAN NEEDS TO HEAR
• ARE MORY MEN MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY? WHY?

WHE GAY MEN ARE HRG OUR PROGRS AS A QUEER COMMUNY

”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.

STUDY FDS GAY, WHE MEN ARE OVERREPRENTED LGBTQ EMPLOYEE GROUPS

”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.

“Whe gay man has bee an ephet, ” he the amic fn of tersectnaly may be narrow, s meang has broaned as s age has spread across var social jtice movements. Not only is ed as shorthand to talk about work between alns, has also e to embody the ia that, as wh the experience of inty, the sourc of opprsn — sexism, homophobia, transphobia, racism — are ternnected.

HERE'S ONE BTAL TTH EVERY WHE GAY MAN NEEDS TO HEAR

“I thk what [the foc on tersectnaly] do is brg everyone to rally around our victimhood, and that, fundamentally, is negative, ” said Jimmy LaSalvia, now a polil pennt who -found gay Republin group the Log Cab Republins.

”Kirchick said tersectnaly has ma the work of some LGBTQ+ anizatns herent, cg groups like Gays Agast Guns, which spng up after the Pulse massacre Orlando last year. “You n support gun ntrol, but I don’t see what that has to do wh beg gay, ” Kirchick said. “And the notn that gay-rights groups should be weighg at all on [the] abortn issue is prepostero.

ARE MORY MEN MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY? WHY?

”Erasg Gay Whe Cisgenr Men? But even some progrsive gay whe men say they feel alienated om a movement they see beg more radil, particularly onle, where the tenor of nversatn is often uncivil.

This clus downplayg the role of gay men the 1969 Stonewall rts that kicked off the morn-day LGBTQ-rights era. “People lerally say that gay whe men have done nothg for the movement for the last 50 years, ” he said.

”But Olson, who is gay and married, add that the ternal nflict the LGBTQ+ movement is currently experiencg — and the drop-off participatn om those at the top — was to be expected after marriage equaly.