The Black Queer Experience discussion

well stated

I think it is a very complex issue for the black lgbt community--the carving out of our own identity while still remaining relevant and apart of the mainstream lgbt culture that is in and of itself still a counter culture in society. I think those of us who live in gay friendly/tolerant cities and communities forget that in 99% of this country, we are still considered at best an underground society and at worst a perverse consequence of lax moral leanings of the country. I think that being black and gay in this society actually gives you a "triple consciousness" because, you're gay, black and trying to figure out your place as an American...it's very confusing and tiring..I often find myself at odds with the mainstream lgbt movement because it is so clearly an upper class white male movement--the issue of marriage rights being paramount--I get that...what i don't get is there is no focus on the very basic needs of most of the lgbt community in this country such as being able to walk down the street without being harassed or beaten just for being who you are...I'm starting to rant, lol. I would really like to see a more grass roots movement of lgbt peoples of color because we are the communities mainly dealing with these issues of basic survival in our communities. marriage equality is obviously important but if we can't even walk down the street safely, being allowed by the govt to marry seems meaningless.

It surprises me that no one entered this discussion.

I find this very poignant for the time that it was written, but I wonder if, as our President, you have evolved on the issue of marriage. Though my partner of 23 years and I have never needed government validation of our relationship, it would be nice to make the decision not to marry as opposed to not being allowed to do so because something as arbitrary as sexual orientation. But in addressing the title of the discussion, I’ve often been at a loss over the concept of dualism within the context of the lgbt community. For me, a gay man of mixed race (African-American, Indian and Polish) and in a relationship with a Caucasian man, having to walk in many cultures is a given. When I look at the gay community as a whole, I see a microcosm representative of a larger American community. I mean that African-Americans are no less underrepresented within the gay community than they are as part of American community as a whole. I think that the lgbt movement is a “white” movement because it has been allowed to be defined that way. As the NAACP brought and continue to bring African-American issue to the forefront of the national conversation, so we to should organize and vocalize our concerns and thoughts and bring them to national lgbt conversation. If we allow them to speak for us then we can’t fault them for not say what we want to hear.