Spring Break
Guest Commentary - Signs of the times: A response
Michael Rankins
Issue date: 3/11/07 Section: Opinions
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In the February 26, 2007 edition of The Current, Opinion Editor Myron McNeill expressed his concerns about The Blacklist, a resource compiled by Charles Tarver, a writer and radio station director at the University of Delaware. This resource, authored by an African American gay man, was shared by the GLBT & Allies Resource Center as a contribution to Black History Month.
Tarver's work discussed the sometimes difficult intersection between African descent and LGBT minority status, and the inherent difficulties of multiple minority status as experienced by Black LGBT persons.
In compiling a well-researched list of famous and influential persons of African descent who were also lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, the author hoped that above all else, LGBT persons of African descent (and other persons) would see that it is indeed possible to be Black, LGBT, and successful.
Given the prevalence of homophobia within many cultures in the United States, including (but hardly limited to) African American/Black culture, as well as the existence of LGBT culture as a largely invisible minority, it is essential that positive images of LGBT persons of African descent be presented.
This is especially true for persons of African descent who are themselves LGBT. Particularly during Black History Month, these persons yearn to see some sort of programming which reflects who they are, and which speaks to their inclusion in a celebration of Black culture…whether they are "out" or not.
When Mr. Tarver began compiling The Blacklist in 1994, in response to claims that "Black LGBT people had never contributed anything of importance to the Black Community," he knew that his work would be controversial.
I also anticipated controversy in sharing his work with the UM-St. Louis community. Yet despite anti-gay bias in society, the time has come to make LGBT persons who are also members of racial or ethnic minorities fully welcome within their communities of origin.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons are unique in that they tend not to emerge from families and cultures of origin which share their LGBT minority status. When LGBT persons emerge from racial minority families, however, these double minority persons are in a unique situation.
Specifically, while the family and culture of origin shares with them one acknowledged, frequently visible minority status, it does not share their often invisible LGBT minority status.
When the minority culture of origin suffers from homophobia, this situation can be very difficult for both the LGBT individual and his or her family and community.
Criticism of The Blacklist based upon the controversial title, which was viewed by some as disrespectful of the African American, Black, and African descent communities, is a point of contention which I believe it is up to the author to defend.
In the future, however, when citing this resource, I will avoid any impression of insensitivity on my part by avoiding the use of the title "Blacklist" as the title of a presentation which I share.
I will also make it perfectly clear that in sharing information related to the intersection of LGBT and African descent minority statuses, the African American community is in no way being disrespected nor accused of being more homophobic than other cultures, nor is the worth of the wonderful celebration of Black History Month being slighted.
I do, however, share the author's belief that LGBT persons of African descent experience difficulties related to homophobia from both the greater culture and the African descent community. A wealth of research literature has clearly demonstrated that double minority status results in a host of difficulties for persons who are both LGBT and members of a racial minority group.
Additionally, I very much agree that because many LGBT persons possess a worldview shaped by their sexual orientation, it is very important that their status as members of an LGBT minority not be disregarded.
Otherwise stated, the writings and other works of prominent persons are shaped by many important elements of who they are, including gender, race, class, religion, and sexual orientation.
As an activist and a member of the LGBT community, I offer the following comments with specific regard to the opinion piece in The Current.
First, sexual behavior and sexual orientation are not the same thing. Further, sexual identity, achieved through an often lengthy, grueling, and painful process of identity formation, is an integral part of a person's identity, one element of the very core of the person's being.
Never is it "miniscule." A diatribe which reduces sexual orientation to sexual behavior, but then throws in a token denial of this reduction, only adds insult to injury. Next, comparisons which equate LGBT persons in any way to adulterers or persons who harbor secret illegitimate children are typically rather offensive to LGBT persons.
Also, with regard to similarities between discrimination experienced by same-sex couples and interracial couples, I would suggested that many parallels do exists, and that both types of relationships are subjected to harmful bias within a culture which is both racist and homophobic.
Persons who are part of an interracial couple also may experience negative reaction from their families and cultures of origin. Exemplified by a legacy of misogyny laws and cultural taboos, the challenges of interracial couples certainly should not be minimized.
If anyone believes that either the LGBT community or the African American community should somehow "shrink away" from comparisons of bias and inequity suffered by same-sex couples and interracial couples, let there be no doubt that the answer is a resounding no.
The freedom of both types of couples to express their love for one another is expanded within a culture unencumbered by oppression and biases.
While the oppression of persons of African descent and the oppression of LGBT persons has been manifested somewhat differently, any dichotomy drawn between African American civil rights and LGBT civil rights should only be used to understand the unique legacy of oppression for each group.
Ultimately, it's still about civil rights. Those seeking to refute that the denial of equality to one group is ultimately tied to the denial of equality for many groups only serve to confuse the issue of what oppression does, from whence it emerges, or by what means it can be resisted.
Does anyone really believe that it is merely a coincidence that the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Liberation Movement, and the Gay Rights Movement all gained tremendous ground within the same century? It wasn't just that oppression for any one particular group lost ground…it was that oppression in general lost ground.
Where do you think those "racist cops" you mention went after they were through getting their kicks by roughing up African Americans, Mr. McNeill? In many cases, they went "straight" over to the Stonewall and hundreds of other gay and lesbian bars and hangouts, and turned those same nightsticks, dogs, and hoses on us.
Do you truly believe that LGBT persons are going to entertain arguments that sex (meaning sexual orientation, and LGBT persons) had "nothing to do with those who fought for the rights of oppressed people?" Our people, having come from all walks of life, some of whom were of African descent, have for decades openly demanded equality for all persons, knowing that without equality for all, there is equality for none.
"Our" people too have fought, have struggled, have died…and all the while, the LGBT community has embraced those who had been turned away from their cultures of origin for being gay or lesbian, including (but certainly not only) those who had come from the African American community.
Such is the nature of the LGBT community, my friends. When the culture of origin has slammed the door in the face of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person, that person comes to us. Our door may be a bit tarnished, and dare I say that it doesn't quite hang "straight" on its hinges…but it's open.
Each year, in commemoration of Hate Crimes Awareness Week, PRIZM and the GLBT & Allies Resource Center place the somber tombstones bearing the names of victims of hate crimes across campus. Each tombstone clearly lists the cultural identity of the victim.
Racism killed some, other "isms" killed others, and some were murdered because of homophobia, but in any case, they all died at the hands of oppressors. I repeat, they all died. We include them in the Hate Crimes display sponsored by the LGBT community on campus because they belong there, not because they were all LGBT, but because they were the victims of the same nihilistic hydra of oppression that seeks to devour us all.
It uses a head of racism to ravage racial minorities, and another head of homophobia to ravage the LGBT minority, but the heads are attached to the same malevolent creature. The beast has many heads, my friends, and it is as insatiable as it is clever. When we all fight it at once, it becomes frightened…but it knows how to encourage us to divide our ranks, to squander our resources on inter-minority and intra-minority infighting, and ultimately to contribute to our own destruction.
Look closely at the realities of LGBT culture and politics, and one can plainly see that along with racial minorities, women, and many other targeted groups, we have long been and will always be part of the Civil Rights Movement. Accordingly, the considerable overlap between LGBT culture and many other cultures, including African descent culture, will remain an important reality, the acknowledgement of which is critical to any true progress toward equality and civil rights.
In closing, I note that the opinion piece implied that within our culture, sexuality is irrelevant with regard to an individual's contributions or perspectives. If this is true, then why did the St. Louis American, in covering the controversy surrounding my decision to bring the Blacklist to campus, find it necessary to mention that I had identified myself as gay? Curious, isn't it?
Michael Rankins, is the Director for the GLBT & Allies Resource Center and an Assistant Director for the Office of Student Life.
Tarver's work discussed the sometimes difficult intersection between African descent and LGBT minority status, and the inherent difficulties of multiple minority status as experienced by Black LGBT persons.
In compiling a well-researched list of famous and influential persons of African descent who were also lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, the author hoped that above all else, LGBT persons of African descent (and other persons) would see that it is indeed possible to be Black, LGBT, and successful.
Given the prevalence of homophobia within many cultures in the United States, including (but hardly limited to) African American/Black culture, as well as the existence of LGBT culture as a largely invisible minority, it is essential that positive images of LGBT persons of African descent be presented.
This is especially true for persons of African descent who are themselves LGBT. Particularly during Black History Month, these persons yearn to see some sort of programming which reflects who they are, and which speaks to their inclusion in a celebration of Black culture…whether they are "out" or not.
When Mr. Tarver began compiling The Blacklist in 1994, in response to claims that "Black LGBT people had never contributed anything of importance to the Black Community," he knew that his work would be controversial.
I also anticipated controversy in sharing his work with the UM-St. Louis community. Yet despite anti-gay bias in society, the time has come to make LGBT persons who are also members of racial or ethnic minorities fully welcome within their communities of origin.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons are unique in that they tend not to emerge from families and cultures of origin which share their LGBT minority status. When LGBT persons emerge from racial minority families, however, these double minority persons are in a unique situation.
Specifically, while the family and culture of origin shares with them one acknowledged, frequently visible minority status, it does not share their often invisible LGBT minority status.
When the minority culture of origin suffers from homophobia, this situation can be very difficult for both the LGBT individual and his or her family and community.
Criticism of The Blacklist based upon the controversial title, which was viewed by some as disrespectful of the African American, Black, and African descent communities, is a point of contention which I believe it is up to the author to defend.
In the future, however, when citing this resource, I will avoid any impression of insensitivity on my part by avoiding the use of the title "Blacklist" as the title of a presentation which I share.
I will also make it perfectly clear that in sharing information related to the intersection of LGBT and African descent minority statuses, the African American community is in no way being disrespected nor accused of being more homophobic than other cultures, nor is the worth of the wonderful celebration of Black History Month being slighted.
I do, however, share the author's belief that LGBT persons of African descent experience difficulties related to homophobia from both the greater culture and the African descent community. A wealth of research literature has clearly demonstrated that double minority status results in a host of difficulties for persons who are both LGBT and members of a racial minority group.
Additionally, I very much agree that because many LGBT persons possess a worldview shaped by their sexual orientation, it is very important that their status as members of an LGBT minority not be disregarded.
Otherwise stated, the writings and other works of prominent persons are shaped by many important elements of who they are, including gender, race, class, religion, and sexual orientation.
As an activist and a member of the LGBT community, I offer the following comments with specific regard to the opinion piece in The Current.
First, sexual behavior and sexual orientation are not the same thing. Further, sexual identity, achieved through an often lengthy, grueling, and painful process of identity formation, is an integral part of a person's identity, one element of the very core of the person's being.
Never is it "miniscule." A diatribe which reduces sexual orientation to sexual behavior, but then throws in a token denial of this reduction, only adds insult to injury. Next, comparisons which equate LGBT persons in any way to adulterers or persons who harbor secret illegitimate children are typically rather offensive to LGBT persons.
Also, with regard to similarities between discrimination experienced by same-sex couples and interracial couples, I would suggested that many parallels do exists, and that both types of relationships are subjected to harmful bias within a culture which is both racist and homophobic.
Persons who are part of an interracial couple also may experience negative reaction from their families and cultures of origin. Exemplified by a legacy of misogyny laws and cultural taboos, the challenges of interracial couples certainly should not be minimized.
If anyone believes that either the LGBT community or the African American community should somehow "shrink away" from comparisons of bias and inequity suffered by same-sex couples and interracial couples, let there be no doubt that the answer is a resounding no.
The freedom of both types of couples to express their love for one another is expanded within a culture unencumbered by oppression and biases.
While the oppression of persons of African descent and the oppression of LGBT persons has been manifested somewhat differently, any dichotomy drawn between African American civil rights and LGBT civil rights should only be used to understand the unique legacy of oppression for each group.
Ultimately, it's still about civil rights. Those seeking to refute that the denial of equality to one group is ultimately tied to the denial of equality for many groups only serve to confuse the issue of what oppression does, from whence it emerges, or by what means it can be resisted.
Does anyone really believe that it is merely a coincidence that the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Liberation Movement, and the Gay Rights Movement all gained tremendous ground within the same century? It wasn't just that oppression for any one particular group lost ground…it was that oppression in general lost ground.
Where do you think those "racist cops" you mention went after they were through getting their kicks by roughing up African Americans, Mr. McNeill? In many cases, they went "straight" over to the Stonewall and hundreds of other gay and lesbian bars and hangouts, and turned those same nightsticks, dogs, and hoses on us.
Do you truly believe that LGBT persons are going to entertain arguments that sex (meaning sexual orientation, and LGBT persons) had "nothing to do with those who fought for the rights of oppressed people?" Our people, having come from all walks of life, some of whom were of African descent, have for decades openly demanded equality for all persons, knowing that without equality for all, there is equality for none.
"Our" people too have fought, have struggled, have died…and all the while, the LGBT community has embraced those who had been turned away from their cultures of origin for being gay or lesbian, including (but certainly not only) those who had come from the African American community.
Such is the nature of the LGBT community, my friends. When the culture of origin has slammed the door in the face of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person, that person comes to us. Our door may be a bit tarnished, and dare I say that it doesn't quite hang "straight" on its hinges…but it's open.
Each year, in commemoration of Hate Crimes Awareness Week, PRIZM and the GLBT & Allies Resource Center place the somber tombstones bearing the names of victims of hate crimes across campus. Each tombstone clearly lists the cultural identity of the victim.
Racism killed some, other "isms" killed others, and some were murdered because of homophobia, but in any case, they all died at the hands of oppressors. I repeat, they all died. We include them in the Hate Crimes display sponsored by the LGBT community on campus because they belong there, not because they were all LGBT, but because they were the victims of the same nihilistic hydra of oppression that seeks to devour us all.
It uses a head of racism to ravage racial minorities, and another head of homophobia to ravage the LGBT minority, but the heads are attached to the same malevolent creature. The beast has many heads, my friends, and it is as insatiable as it is clever. When we all fight it at once, it becomes frightened…but it knows how to encourage us to divide our ranks, to squander our resources on inter-minority and intra-minority infighting, and ultimately to contribute to our own destruction.
Look closely at the realities of LGBT culture and politics, and one can plainly see that along with racial minorities, women, and many other targeted groups, we have long been and will always be part of the Civil Rights Movement. Accordingly, the considerable overlap between LGBT culture and many other cultures, including African descent culture, will remain an important reality, the acknowledgement of which is critical to any true progress toward equality and civil rights.
In closing, I note that the opinion piece implied that within our culture, sexuality is irrelevant with regard to an individual's contributions or perspectives. If this is true, then why did the St. Louis American, in covering the controversy surrounding my decision to bring the Blacklist to campus, find it necessary to mention that I had identified myself as gay? Curious, isn't it?
Michael Rankins, is the Director for the GLBT & Allies Resource Center and an Assistant Director for the Office of Student Life.
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