On the Greatt Generatn: The Black Gay '80s | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• ON THE GREATT GENERATN: THE BLACK GAY '80S
• 40 BT GAY SGERS & MICIANS OF ALL TIME (LGBTQ+ SGERS)
• 35 BT GAY SGERS OF ALL TIME (LGBTQ+ SGERS)
• GREATT GAY SGERS OF ALL TIME

ON THE GREATT GENERATN: THE BLACK GAY '80S

I don't n to black gay men as much that talk about the books, and films, and art that saved their liv. But that history, that spectacular history, embedd those books, rried the burn almost sgularly of tryg to save a generatn of black gay and bisexual men. But the story of black gay and bisexual men's activism that same perd, the height of the Reagan/Thatcher era, those tremendo and breathtakg revolutnary acts also need to be told and told aga, bee giv a fuller picture of the many kds and forms and maniftatn of AIDS activism that perd.

And the startg pot for that remembrance is the activism that sprang up the 1980s among that generatn of black gay and bisexual men. Of that era, that , of anizatns formg, books beg published, nferenc anized, events ordated, that we sometim refer to as the black gay renaissance, those men, who also dispted funerals, when their brothers' liv were beg "-queered" and sanized for heterosexist fai (see wrer and activist Assoto Sat for more rmatn), and nferenc where their prence was margalized (see wrer and activist Craig Harris for more rmatn), offer important strategi for rilience and ristance, agast the Empire, the face of spair.

40 BT GAY SGERS & MICIANS OF ALL TIME (LGBTQ+ SGERS)

There are mols of rilience for black gay and bisexual men, and mols of spair, that we mt exvate om the s. Black gay men face many dangers, but to try to do this work, particularly any kd of HIV/AIDS advocy work, and not know Marlon, and Essex, and Joseph, and the many others, I thk is dangero. And we bang our head agast the wall about what to do to save black gay men.

35 BT GAY SGERS OF ALL TIME (LGBTQ+ SGERS)

But we should be askg ourselv, for that generatn of black gay men, those who died and those who walk this earth today, 's important to note that not all of our bravt died, what wisdom n we extract om them? This is particularly ccial sce our current moment, which is dire many s for young black gay men, we need to better unrstand how the 1980s that generatn of black gay men, survived their plague, or didn't; and how they ped, how they failed themselv and each other, and how they triumphed.

GREATT GAY SGERS OF ALL TIME

RelatedHIVblack-gay-men-hivhiv-activism HIV preventnHIV/AIDS. Michael JacksonLuther VandrossStevie WonrLnel RichieMarv GayePrceBarry WheTupac ShakurBilly OceanBobby BrownGay Black Sgers of the 80sThe early 80s were an important time for LGBTQ+ rights and visibily, and there were many black gay sgers who ed their platform to help further the e. Figur like Sylvter, Grace Jon, and Ltle Richard were some of the first openly gay celebri and their mic helped break down many to them, LGBTQ+ people had someone to look up to and their mic helped spread awarens and acceptance.

People like Marv Gaye, Whney Hoton, and Ana Baker were churng out hs and sellg lns of rerds. ”Last but not least, we have Marv Gaye. Though he had been active sce the late 1950s, Gaye found new succs the 1980s wh the release of his album “Midnight Love.

” The album spawned the h sgle “Sexual Healg, ” which beme one of Gaye’s signature songs. Midnight Love would go on to sell over six ln pi worldwi, makg one of the bt-sellg albums of Gaye’s reer. Unfortunately, this was Gaye’s fal stud album as he was tragilly killed are jt a few of the many talented black soul sgers who found succs the 1980s.