Exploring African American Homophobia: First in a Series

Article 1: The Myth of "Incompatibility" and South Africa's Example

I'll start with a provocative (and true) statement: The only people who deny the existence of rampant homophobia in the black community are guilt-ridden, politically correct white liberals. A case in point is the fall-out after Proposition 8 passed. While it is true that blacks - who comprise only 6% of California's population - should not exclusively shoulder the blame for that shameful event (something that white liberals vigorously reminded us of in the days after the election), that does not change the fact that 70% of African Americans voted "Yes on 8", while Hispanics were split, and Asians and whites narrowly rejected it. In Florida, a virtually identical percentage of blacks voted "Yes" on Amendment 2. In Arkansas, about 55% of blacks voted "Yes" on Initiative 1, denying LGBT couples the right to adopt children. Opinion polling has shown that on issues of LGBT equality, a large chunk of the African American community maintains outdated viewpoints that are nearly identical to those held by rural Evangelical whites.

The idealistic white liberals may be willing to incessantly defend the black community from "racist" criticism on this issue, but I certainly am not. As a certain author would say, "A is A." Reality is not up to the whims of our volition and desires. The validity of a fact has absolutely nothing to do with its "pleasantness" or "political correctness", and the facts on this issue are most certainly neither pleasant nor politically correct. And the only way that we can begin to change this reality is by addressing it in a serious manner, not through an endless act of excuses and apologies for unacceptable and discriminatory behavior on the part of far too many African Americans who each and every day work with gay colleagues, socialize with gay friends, enjoy entertainment created by gay artists, and even may be living with gay children whom they have frightened deep into the closet.

Periodically over the course of this Spring, I would like to explore in moderate detail the roots, embodiment, and consequences of homophobia among blacks in America. I will readily admit that I am not the best equipped person to explore this particular issue. I have no substantial training in sociology, cannot claim to approach the issue from a purely objective viewpoint, and have remarkably few black friends - indeed, next to none - in my innermost social circle. The black church, an integral element of this discussion, has never held any importance in my life, and my attitude gradient regarding that institution ranges from suspicious acknowledgment at the best to antipathy at the worst. I am, however, both black and gay; those are two out of the three primary minority "hats" that shape my life and inform virtually all of my actions and decisions. Consequently, I feel somewhat obligated to present my thoughts on the complicated intersection of race and sexual orientation, and I will attempt to do my best at this task over the coming months.
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To commence this endeavor, I'd like to address one of the most frequently raised and pernicious lies, used by black social conservatives not only here in the USA but all over the world. It goes something like this:

"Homosexuality is not innate to the Black race, nor is it compatible with our way of life; it has been introduced to our people through the nefarious influence of the [insert other race here] man." In the case of the USA, it is argued that homosexuality is a "white thing."

On a superficial, cursory glance this argument seems to hold at least some validity. The Advocate isn't exactly full of black people. Most gay clubs, particularly outside of the Southeast, display a frightening lack of diversity. Quick: Name a gay black male celebrity. I have worn the "token black person" hat many times before, and I've recently had to find that item in my drawer to wear as the sole African American member - and a co-founder - of the LGBT group for the Heinz College here at Carnegie Mellon. And on at least two occasions just before doing the you-know-what, I've had white guys make a remark along the lines of "well this is interesting, I've never really been with a black guy before..." (On a side note, I'll address real and perceived racism among LGBT Americans in a later post.)

I've actually heard particularly religious African Americans raise this point in person, almost with the conviction of it being an established cultural fact or being taken directly from the Bible. I usually address them by rattling off a list of the countries where gay marriage is legal:

"Let's see: Canada, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Norway, the US states of Connecticut and Massachussets, and, oh yea, South Africa."

South Africa? The South Africa that is 80% black?

That one comes as a surprise to many people. When I was a baby in the late 80's the place was still so socially backwards that it made Alabama seem like a bastion of progress and justice. And now, gay marriage is legal there? How did that happen? And how could it possibly happen if homosexuality is "incompatible" with being black?

Back in 2006 I wrote an article entitled "A Promising Future: International Trends in Gay Rights." One of the countries that I looked at was South Africa, and here is what I wrote then regarding the development of a vibrant gay rights movement in that country (note that the article was written in April 2006, about half a year before same-sex marriage became legal in South Africa.)
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Excerpt from "A Promising Future: International Trends in Gay Rights" (c) 2006, Adam Harpool

Less than two decades ago, the government of South Africa maintained one of the most repressive systems of segregation to be seen in the modern world; under apartheid, basic civil and human rights were denied to the indigenous Black African citizens that comprise well over seventy percent of the nation's population (Byrn 2002.) In 1968 the country came close to criminalizing homosexuality among Blacks by adding a clause to the apartheid code's Immorality Act; those in charge of the White government, however, generally believed that homosexuality was "foreign" to African culture, a "disease...brought about by the arrival of wealthy Jewish and English men in South Africa", and that too few Blacks were gay to even worry with such legislation (Croucher 2002:317.) Despite the bleak and oppressive human rights record of government in South Africa throughout nearly the entire Twentieth Century, apartheid was abandoned in 1994 and today the country is considered the most liberal on the African continent (Byrn 2002.) In terms of gay rights, the country has actually become more progressive than the United States; after an extensive series of court battles, the country is now apparently on the verge of becoming only the fifth in the world to extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples (Byrn 2002.) By closely studying how South Africa rapidly transitioned from an oppressive society to one of the most progressive nations in the world, we can gain a greater appreciation for the transformative role that general political liberalization plays in the gay rights movement.

Though homosexuality was never explicitly illegal under South Africa's long-standing apartheid system, rather noticeable social taboos did exist regarding gay lifestyles and culture, and there were certainly no types of "gay liberation" movements in place until the later end of the century (Croucher 2002.) As they do in many countries, gays existed and went about their lives under a deep veil of secrecy. However, by the beginning of the 1980's the overall social climate in the country began to change. The Gay Association of South Africa (GASA), the country's first national gay advocacy organization, was formed in Johannesburgh in 1982 (Croucher 2002.) GASA's mission was to promote an environment of understanding for the gay lifestyle, but it doomed itself from its onset by explicitly deciding to avoid any type of political lobbying; thus, it essentially evolved into a social group for White, middle to upper-class gay men. The organization had extremely few Black members and when one of them, Simon Nkoli, was put on trial for participating in an anti-apartheid protest, GASA essentially kicked him out and refused to support him (Croucher 2002.) Members of the international gay rights movement were both baffled and outraged that GASA activists in South Africa refused to acknowledge the link between the anti-apartheid struggle and the gay liberation movement; when the International Lesbian and Gay Alliance (ILGA), the world's premier gay rights group, met in Copenhagen in 1986 it denounced GASA as a "racist...support organization without political aspirations" (Croucher 2002:318), and one year later GASA was expelled from the ILGA. After that, the group effectively melted into obscurity.

As the world of the Reagan Era began to demand an end to the apartheid system, more politically oriented groups developed; one of the more prominent ones was Gays and Lesbians of the Witwatersrand (GLOW), which grew to become the country's most politically outspoken gay rights group. Unlike GASA, the majority Black racial makeup of GLOW closely reflected the actual racial composition of South Africa. Faced with a large, militant group of indigenous gay Black Africans, Afrikaners who once claimed that homosexuality was "foreign" to the culture of South Africa were proven wrong. GLOW made the highly beneficial choice early on to ally itself with the social democratic African National Congress (ANC), the organization that is today the ruling political party of South Africa; thus, GLOW's activists were in a key position to lobby the government on gay liberation issues, which they generally were highly effective in doing. At the same time, more and more South Africans began to perceive the connection between the struggle against apartheid and the struggle for gay rights; the common slogan became "none will be free until all are free" (Croucher 2002:320.) When the ANC did gain political power, one of its first acts was to formally recognize gay rights. South Africa's constitution, ratified in 1996, is now considered the world's most progressive political code and included explicit protection for gay rights; the "equality clause" essentially bans discrimination against any group by establishing that "the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including...sexual orientation." As The New York Times reported, the attitude of liberated South Africans became "apartheid's gone, anything goes" (Croucher 2002:321.)

Given the highly progressive attitude towards gay rights taken by the new South African government, it may be somewhat surprising that throughout the 1990's, the same-sex marriage debate never acquired much national attention; other problems, such as a fiscally unstable government, high AIDS rates, and widespread poverty among the newly enfranchised Black citizens understandably diverted most of the nation's political attention (Byrn 2002.) However, in the last several years this has changed. In 2000, a same-sex couple filed a lawsuit claiming that they had been unconstitutionally denied marriage rights; they won the initial case as well as two subsequent appeals, landing the case in the Supreme Court of South Africa, which on December 1, 2005 ruled that any provisions outlawing same-sex marriage are in direct violation of the South African Constitution and must be abolished within one year (Wines 2005.) Thus, it appears that by the end of this year same-sex marriage will become a reality in South Africa, a severe contrast to the state of the country just twenty-five years ago...
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Gay marriage became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006. It is still the only country on the African continent to have achieved full LGBT equality.

In battling homophobia in the African American community, we must relentlessly work to destroy the invalid claim that being gay is not a "natural" way of life for blacks. Homosexuality and transsexuality are just as prevalent in the black community as in any other group, and the ultimate proof is the full recognition of LGBT rights by a country that is 80% black and less than 10% European white.

But invalidating this myth is only a start. We must then move to embrace the rich history of homosexuality in black culture. How many college-educated blacks, let alone black high school students, know that Langston Hughes was gay? That little tidbit is virtually never mentioned when discussing his work, something that is hardly coincidental. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan? Angela Davis? Alvin Ailey? All LGBT. The last time that I checked, nobody was attempting to revoke their "black cards."

I'd like to close my initial post on this topic with a pertinent quote, and one that is often downplayed or ignored by black social conservatives. It highlights one of the worst, most hypocritical elements of black homophobia - the fact that African Americans ourselves, as a historically maligned and marginalized group, should be the stewards of social progress, not active resistors to such change. And I think you'll agree that the woman who made this beautiful quote is more than qualified to speak to this point:

"Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement...many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions. Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood..."
- Coretta Scott King