Dear Black People: Homophobia is Our Problem, Too.

I am sitting here, fresh out of a visit to the ER for a bad medicine reaction, and with a headache that makes me super cranky, so Femi isn’t going to mince words here.  If you don’t like swearing, leave now.

So the move Dear White People is out, and since move theaters make me twitchy, I’m waiting for it to go to streaming (Netflix, HuluPlus?  Make this shit happen).  I want to see this movie so bad, because the previews were so on point.

Also, it made racists mad, and I love making the foolish angry with the truth.

Speaking of the foolish, Ashley Miller, awesome blogger and my ukulele hero,  went to a viewing and observed some seriously assbackwards reactions by a group of football players from Morehouse (WARNING: Spoilers for the movie ahead):

There are three main plots in “Dear White People,” and one of them focuses on a black gay kid named Lionel, played by “Everybody Hates Chris” star Tyler James Williams, who doesn’t fit in with any group — not with gay kids, not with white kids, and not with black kids, who have historically treated him with homophobia and cruelty.  His story is about the toxic effect of homophobia in the black community.  In addition to the heterosexual romances involving all the other characters, there is also a budding romance between Lionel and another man.  The initial hints at this romance did not win the Morehouse College Football Team’s approval.  They started saying homophobic things every time Lionel was onscreen.  When Lionel had a same-sex kiss, the team went into a frenzy — everyone turned on their phones and said they weren’t looking, they started yelling, “What kind of movie is this?”  Several of them walked out, others started yelling at anyone on their team for looking at the screen when the kiss happened, “Man, you looked at that, I saw you!”  “What is this gay shit?”  “Some of y’all didn’t turn your heads away!”

It was nauseating.  But it got worse.

Lionel has a major heroic moment toward the end of the film in which he breaks up a racist party being held by an entitled white jerk, who is, more or less, the antagonist of the film, and who verbally and sexually harassed Lionel over his sexuality throughout the film.  The racist white guy tackles Lionel and pins him down.  In retaliation, Lionel kisses him (this freaked out the audience again), but the racist white guy responds by punching Lionel repeatedly in the face.

They cheered.  This room full of black men who attend Dr. King’s alma mater.  They cheered for the racist white guy because the black man he was being allowed to beat without repercussion was a faggot.

This would make any fair-minded person dedicated to equality upset.  Too bad the folks streaming onto her blog seem to lack any sense of fair-mindedness or irony.  Because Miller is white, they immediately turn on the fake rivers of tears of oppression while ignoring the very real problem of homophobia in the black community.  Which is still a problem, just in case you didn’t get the memo.

Fam, listen. Read those comments.  See the same tired ass homophobic BS dragged out.  See the excuses of “what do you expect?”.  See the deflections. See the motherfuckers trying to make their discomfort everyone else’s problem.

This is our motherfucking dirty laundry these young men exposed in public, and Miller isn’t some click-baiting racist for pointing it out. I’m glad she pointed it out, because if one person was uncomfortable with that display of ignorance, there had to be plenty in that audience who felt the same way.

My field of fucks is empty for anyone trying to justify this.  I don’t care if seeing two men kiss makes you all squirmy.  GET THE FUCK OVER IT.  TURN AWAY. Don’t ruin the fucking experience for the other people who PAID the same fucking money to see this movie without a bunch of grown men acting like children seeing their parents kiss while being presented with a bowl of boiled greens.

What do I expect from a bunch of young men raised in this day and age where queer people exist, some brave enough to exist in public whether a bunch of whiny throwbacks are comfy with it or not?

Better.  This is the alma fucking mater of Dr. “Injustice Anywhere is Injustice Everywhere” Martin Luther King, Jr.  The man who marched next to a gay black man.

Hell, these young men are failing themselves.  I can’t just blame the college, they’re adults who should know better. These particular Morehouse Men showed their asses that night and did not represent their college in a good light.  And their defenders want to ignore that. And it’s shameful as hell that these sad fucks can’t get over themselves and realize we Queers of Color aren’t going anywhere and are getting more representation, never mind their precious fee-fees.

These defenders are real fuckbrained pieces of work, spewing tired-ass lines that would make the Westboro Baptist Church say, “That is some basic shit. Get a new script, posers.”

  • “Gay people are shoving their lifestyle down our throat” (calm down, drama, no one’s shoving anything into you)
  • “Men in feminine clothing aren’t men” (femme men would disagree with you, and don’t require your say-so to exist)
  • “The masculine environment of sports has an effect on their homophobia” (So? Do better.  Be better. And I’m sure Michael Sam might say different)
  •  ” I am in no way condoning homophobia, but [Some fuckshit that actually condones or excuses homophobia]” (“I’m not ‘blah’, but” is tired. Just be a bigot already)
  • “I agree that gays should have equal rights, but they make me so uncomfortable that I feel the need to say so as if my discomfort matters because I’m a fucking child.” (’nuff said here)
  • “Is there no way to respectfully disagree with you queers being outwardly queer in my visual range?” (NOPE. There is no respectful way to tell me I shouldn’t exist)

And the irony of this?  The character in that movie is there to explore *fanfare* homophobia in the Black community. This movie don’ told on your asses, and the reaction shows just why this is still a problem.

And seriously, find some better shit to worry about.  Two dudes or two ladies, or two people whose gender identity you can’t figure out kissing is not the end of the fucking world.

Deal, fam. My rights don’t hinge on YOUR comfort, so quit bringing that basic shit in OUR faces.

And if you can’t deal, at least have the good sense to keep your nasty bigoted nonsense out of the circles of decent people.

 

(And before some shit gets smeared on my comments, allow me to direct you to my policy, mostly the rule about NOT BORING ME. Homophobic excuses are booooooring! If you’re gonna waste your time commenting, try to at least come up with some new shit, or you will get mocked and blocked)

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Dear Black People: Homophobia is Our Problem, Too.
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2 thoughts on “Dear Black People: Homophobia is Our Problem, Too.

  1. 1

    This was a righteous rant.
    I especially loved this:

    Better. This is the alma fucking mater of Dr. “Injustice Anywhere is Injustice Everywhere” Martin Luther King, Jr. The man who marched next to a gay black man.

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