I’ve never understood racism, or homophobia, or religious hatred. I’m smart enough to recognize it, although like “homophobia” ignorance of race is often mistaken for racism. Sometimes we ourselves are so emerged in, and -ism, an idea or way of life we refuse to see that while it may be all consuming to us, it’s not to those who don’t share our lives or beliefs. Like my straight friends don’t always understand the struggles of being gay, I don’t always understand or recognize the every day struggles of my black friends. Am I a racist? No, I’m just not black. While I’m not disinterested or uncaring, I have a life with my own problems that consume a lot of my time. If I seem so, then tell me so. Don’t throw down a gauntlet because I don’t understand every nuance of a life I don’t live.

That said, there is something I have wondered at. I’ve lived, and partied, all around the world. One thing I have noticed everywhere is what seems, to me. to be a self ostracization of gay men from the rest of the “community.” Whenever I’ve been in a multicultural city, people are usually represented pretty well by population percentages. Asians, Latinos, Turkish, Arab, Indian…. Everyone except blacks. Whether here in he states, Canada, South America, Europe, Australia, the orient… I KNOW there are black gay men out there, but you wouldn’t know it by their representation. There’s even a club here in Miami that has two dance floors, one with house music and one with more Hip Hop. There are always white guys in the hip hop side, rarely ever and black men in the house side.

There is the very real possibility, and quite understandably since sexuality starts with the onset of puberty for many, that race is more ingrained in many of us than sexuality, and dropping the fetters of one to embrace and include oneself in another, is just too much for many people. Maybe we’re not keeping you out, but you are not allowing yourself to come in.

But to any white person who still believes that racism against blacks is over, they need look no further than the birther movement for evidence black suffering is alive and well.

I don’t see any conflict. Activists who want to focus on the additional suffering of black gays, can do so, and activists who what to focus only on homosexuality should be allowed to do so.

What is wrong, is when black activists demand all activists speak about the additional suffering of blacks, or if not, are racists. I can see why activists would only want them to focus on homosexuality only, just to focus attention on gay issues of all gays. Black gays are not excluded from this activism because of their skin color; they are included. Equating a homosexuality only approach to activism as racist because the additional suffering of blacks is not discussed is absolutely wrong. It is just as wrong as when black gay activists acts as apologists for the additional percentage of homophobia among members of the black community, making excuses for their hatred of gays.

Racism against blacks is very real, but it is not racist for gay activists to to be gay activists, instead of adding other characteristics to mix.

How do we bring that many opposing groups into one LGBT tent. There is an answer and you are going to hate it.:
Hard work

An unGODly amount of person restraint.
Free and open debate even when it hurts.
Lots of tears and emotional pain.
Tolerance and open minds on all sides of the table.
The will to break with someone you were taught to hate and who has learned to hate you just as much.
Don’t blame-Don’t fault.

How we call ourselves a community when we are as divided as this nation. How can we ever rally in to one voice ever do is form a cacophony?

IN short, the BEST way to start talking to and not AT each other and really listen each is saying and not listen for a shut the discussion.

“White Privilege” what a joke!

I for one do not feel that Im superior to you just for being white. I do, however, feel that I am surperior to you because I am willing to enter dialogue and learn and grow about what stands in the way of our “community” feeling equal to one another. How can we over come this race issue? How will “people of color” (POC) feel more included in the issues that we fight for? Is it that there are not enough POC speaking at the march? Thats the same crap from some woman posting last week that the final nail in the coffin for not going was because there “were not enought female speakers”. Are you freaking kidding me? So then call your favorite female or POC activist and urge them to get involved. Quit bitching about it and throwing the towel in when you haven’t done anything to turn it around. Im sure there were plenty of opportunities for your female and POC speakers to speak up and say they want to present at the rally.

In the words of a commentor who posted on this dudes article on Queerty…C-ya. If you can’t be constructive when things are seeming quite destructive, then good luck to ya. Maybe you will decide to re-join the fight when you realize that there are “whites” who don’t feel surperior to your ethnicity, or anyone elses for that matter.

I’ll be honest: I have NO idea how to talk about race, but I do feel that it’s an important conversation to engage in. Even if I’m not black. Heh. And that’s exactly why I have no idea how to talk about it. I don’t see black people as really ultimately being any different from white people, but then again, I don’t see homosexuality as being that far away from heterosexuality. It’s all expression, right? It’s all genetics (with race), right? (Not getting into the debate about the roots of sexual preference. Just not gonna do it.) I have always thought of racism and homophobia as excuses for people to hate each other. It is often so much easier to claim that someone’s race or sexual preference is what makes you hate them when it is in fact a poor behavior or bad attitude (among other things). So how do you separate the individual from the group? Or how do you highlight the struggle of the individual in light of a group mentality?

For whatever it’s worth, I stopped thinking of the struggle for sexual equality as the same as racial equality once I sat back and considered history. There have never been Gays Only public utilities and facilities, GLBT people were not legally traded as slaves for decades, and -most important of all- GLBT people can hide their preference from everyone including themselves, but race is physically and visually evident at every moment in a person’s life.

I will concede that GLBT people of color have an added struggle: overcoming ages-old racism on top of sexual prejudice. But I don’t think that race is where it ends OR begins; ethnicity and culture are not always unquestionably tied to race, but are equally important factors to consider in a discussion such as this. I’m not racially Italian, but I *am* ethnically Italian. And Italians like homosexuality about as much as black folks do. Heh. Take that however you will.

How is it even possible to talk about the struggle of racial or sexual groups without using broad strokes? I’m not trying to be a jerk in asking such a question, but I do wonder about that as this is a conversation we as a people have been engaging in for decades. Progress has been made, but we’re still talking in terms of black and white and I can’t help but wonder what progress even means. What do you as a black man want from me as a white man? What would you say to me about race and sexuality, as a black guy to a white one? I admit I’m a bit naive about this subject; I missed the boat on the global south theory… color is SOOOOOO much prettier than white!