Racism in the LGBT community

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Racism in the LGBT community is defined as racial prejudice between gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons.

Because the LGBT community spans all ethnicities, races, and cultures, it is realistically improbable for racism to be entirely absent therein. The importance of racial tolerance and diversity, especially in a community which already receives so much discrimination from homophobia, has been publicly stressed by many LGBT celebrities.

Many people have and express a preference about the race of their sexual partners; this is not typically considered racism. Rather, racism within the GLBT community is much the same as racism outside it.

Contents

[edit] In daily life

Examples:

  • According to a survey conducted of LGBT African-Americans in nine U.S. cities in 2000, a third of respondents reported negative experiences in predominantly white LGBT organizations and with white LGBT persons in bars and clubs.[1]
  • In 2005, Les Natali, the owner of a gay bar named Badlands located in San Francisco, was criticized by the city's Human Rights Commission who determine that 13 instances of racial discrimination by the staff occurred. Examples include refusal for entry by African-Americans, white patrons being served first even though African-Americans were first in line among others.[2]
  • In 2006, there were reports of some verbal attacks on gay Latinos by gay whites in The Castro district of San Francisco. John Mendoza, a protest organizer against racism in the Castro, said he was told by a gay white male to "go back to Mexico, you fucking wetback, where you belong".[3]
  • In 1992, police discovered that Jeffrey Dahmer, a gay, white man killed 16 men. The grand majority of the victims were African-American men. [1] Some have wondered if the victims were targeted due to their race or if the killer would have been caught faster if more white men had been his victims.

[edit] In the media

Examples:

  • Gay drag queen Chuck Knipp has been criticized by anti-racism advocated (both gay and straight) for his character, Shirley Q. Liquor. Knipp performs his act in blackface, and makes comments about blacks and black culture which some people consider offensive. Several protests have been made, in which Knipp had to cancel several of his shows.[4]
  • Some LGBT media outlets have been criticized for not putting a racially diverse representation of gays and lesbians in their works, like magazines such as The Advocate and gay-themed television shows such as Queer as Folk.[5][6] However, recent shows such as LOGO's Noah's Arc are working to put more gay people of color in their media.
  • The late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe produced a work called The Black Book which many gay, African-American artists have called fetishistic, racist, and demeaning. [2][3][4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Walking the Walk. hrc. Retrieved on 29 January 2007.
  2. ^ Gay racism in the Castro. Keithboykin. Retrieved on 29 January 2007.
  3. ^ Latinos stage Castro rally against racism. BayAreaReporter. Retrieved on 7 December 2006.
  4. ^ protests close. Keithboykin.com.
  5. ^ Frontiersnewsmagazine.com. James Bohling. Retrieved on 30 January 2007.
  6. ^ Where are the black gay couples in the media?. Keithboykin. Retrieved on 29 January 2007.

[edit] See also

James Baldwin (writer)

[edit] External links