This Web Page: United States (Part B) - General "Of Color" Issues -  Universities / Colleges - The Arts / Films / Books - Initiatives.
	United States (Part A) - African-American - Latin American - Asian American.
	Other Countries - United Kingdom - France - Australia - Canada - South Africa.
	Jackson's "That's What Rice Queens Study." White Racism / Its Negative Effects & Associated Masculinity (or lack of masculinity / effeminacy) Issues.
	Introduction / Contents.

United States

Same script, different cast: Bridging the gay racial gap - by Keith Boykin, 2000.

For the first time, the Human Rights Campaign is contacting LGBT leaders of color to ask for their help on a new "landmark diversity initiative." It's about time they finally got around to this, but it's still too little, too late...

So how do white organizations change if people of color don't help them out? In reality, blacks and other people of color have already provided the help, and now the white community needs to do the serious work of paying attention...

For many people of color, it's too late in the day for white organizations to expect sympathy. Mandy Carter, a veteran black lesbian progressive activist, says "the less skeptical side of me would say there needs to be the bridge builders, but my days of bridge building are getting damn near over."

...They've got a point. At this stage in the process, the responsibility to educate white people rests squarely with white people, not with people of color...
 

Whose feminism is it anyway? The Unspoken Racism of the Trans Inclusion Debate (Emi Koyama, PDF Download: Web Page from which to download file.) From the web Site: Eminism.org, the official web site for Emi Koyama, the activist/author/academic working on intersex, sex workers' rights, (queer) domestic violence, genderqueer, anti-racism, and other issues.

In the trans and feminist communities, everyone has an opinion or two about Michigan Womyn's Music Festival and its "womyn-born-womyn" policy. But have you noticed how everybody invokes "feminism" as the reason for their wildly varying positions? Emi takes apart the racist attitudes that are present in most sides of the controversy and urges white transsexual activists to allign themselves with women of color instead of trying to appease white women's racism.
 

Queer As [White] Folk or “Queer Ass Folk”: Take Your Pick (Blackstripe)

Most of those flaws of a first season show could be forgiven if it weren’t for QAF’s other three intertwined sins. First is it’s most obvious: the lack of color. QAF’s cast is lily white in a metropolitan  and integrated city; not only is this as absurd as NBC’s regular roster of urban sitcoms in which there are no Black, Latino or Asian characters, but the only time so far that a person of color has been featured on QAF he turned out to be a non-English speaking Asian prostitute played as a joke! Now that’s insensitivity! Second, all of the characters are roughly from the same economic background or have similar financial means. One of the unique aspects of the British version of QUEER AS FOLK was it’s working class setting, which had various characters deal with working class issues; the American version is a veritable Gap-meets-Ralph-Lauren-Polo ad. Finally and most unforgivable of all from a purely critical standpoint is QUEER AS FOLK’s setting: Pittsburgh...
 

Anniversary gives journalists a chance to reflect, too. (2002)

"Dahir said he has always taken solace knowing that the gay community would be there for acceptance. However, Dahir said that after the terrorist attacks, he wrote about his experience of being an Arab-American in the United States and was shocked to receive negative and hateful responses from the LGBT community. "I've always assumed that the gay community was a safe haven," Dahir said. "But I don't feel that way anymore. A bond has been broken that I feel will never be repaired." Dahir said the LGBT community knows what discrimination and hatred feel like, and he assumed its members would not be among those who jumped to conclusions that all Arab-Americans were to blame for the attacks..."
 

Gay Conservatives: Pulling the Movement to the Right - by Surina Khan (Political Research Associates): (27)

Though the gay community is generally considered to be liberal by most people, it is in fact quite complex and consists of different factions... Both racism and internalized homophobia have long plagued the gay community. As the gay liberation movement matures, both these themes have become more subtle and more complex. Internalized homophobia has become more subtle as many gay people come out of the closet, but are not ready to own the more explicit sexual aspects of gay culture. Racism has become less acceptable as the profile of gay people of color has risen within the movement, and the particular nature of their dual oppression (with the addition of sexism in the case of lesbians of color) is better understood by the dominant white gay community. Yet racism persists among many white gay men and lesbians and has deadly consequences when the movement does not respond with equal fury to the death of men of color as it does to the death of white men. The increase in the rate of HIV infection among African American men, and the epidemic of anti-gay violence, often against men of color, are examples.
 

National Women’s Studies Association 21st Annual Conference - June 14-18, 2000 - Call for Presentations for the NWSA Lesbian Caucus Institute:

Topics: We invite submissions that may cover one topic or related topics. Suggested topics include the following: 1) the roots of homophobia, 2) the intersections of homophobia, sexual harassment, and school violence, 3) racism in the lesbian community...
 

Gay City’s John Leonard - by Matt Nagle (Seattle Gay News, March 2, 2001)

Over the next six years, Leonard, the Gay City staff and countless volunteers created public forums that took risks and came out shining. The key to Gay City’s success: focusing holistically on self-esteem and the underlying issues that cause risky sexual behavior... "Pride and Prejudice" pulled the sheet off of racism in the Gay community. [Note: Additional information about the "Pride and Prejudice" forum was not located.]
 

Queers of Color by Chester Day (2000)

Since my freshman year, I have been an active member of both the queer and Asian-American communities. Like many other people of color, I feel comfortable identifying as both "queer" and "Asian-American" here at Stanford [University]... Dis-orientation is a common experience for queer people of color here at Stanford. When ethnic groups "orient" us, we often feel like the only non-heterosexual in the community. At their conferences, dinners, and parties, compulsory heterosexuality erases our identities and ignores our issues. When queer groups "orient" us, we often feel like the only non-white person in the community. At their workshops, socials, and dances, whiteness marks us as "Other", renders us invisible, and commodifies us as exotic. Two communities claim us and reject us simultaneously because of racism and homophobia. The gay community and the ethnic communities welcome you on paper, but exclude you in person - that is the ultimate dis-orientation... As queer people of color we are not helpless victims - we have agency and bear some responsibility for the state of our marginalization. Actively crossing boundaries and forcing the LGBCC and ethnic community centers to accept us in their midst is part of our ongoing struggle to make Stanford safe for queer people of color.
 

No Comparative Context: Historical and literary perspectives on lesbians of color raising children by Canéla A. Jaramillo (1998-9) First presented as a paper to the Being Queer! Reading Queer! Conference University of Colorado at Boulder. Publuished in "Standards: The International Journal of Multicultural Studies, Vol 6(2).

Embedded in the feminist training grounds of "women's literature" is an examination of the social and political constructions of gender: of the ways in which dominant perspectives continue to codify "normative" standards for female behavior... What has not yet been fully examined, by extension, is the appearance of  lesbianism, or same-sex relations, within the iconography of motherhood. And, to trouble the equation further still, what is not considered in the few studies of queer families is the issue of race... Morales' study is comprehensive in detailing the many challenges to sane living for queers of color: that there is a common perception among queers of color of living in three worlds -- the ethnic culture, the gay community, and the dominant White culture; that queers of color experience racism within both the predominantly White straight and gay societies; that straight communities of color studied have been exceptionally homophobic; that queers of color are both visible and invisible minorities; and that queers of color, like their straight counterparts, have high percentages of unemployment, lower wages, and both social and political underrepresentation, as compared to the White gays and lesbians in their chosen communities. Morales does not, however, address the dynamics of queer families of color. For that, we turn to literature....
 

Under the Rainbow: Racial Tension in Cincinnati's Gay and Lesbian Community  by Kathy Y. Wilson (City Beat, January 31 - February 6, 2002)

That rainbow flag is a liar. Scenario 1: A couple of black lesbians stood at the door to Bullfishes, the plaid-shirt-lumberjack-girl bar on Hamilton Avenue in Northside. The black women were clearly of legal drinking age. The white woman working the door carded them anyway But not the white women before or after them... Scenario 3: Black gays and lesbians, seemingly powerless and apathetic, do little to combat overt racism... Like other cities its size, Cincinnati suffers from a permissive brand of racism and classism that's trickled down and poisoned other factions within its communities to  the point of intolerance... "Sisters were tired of giving their money to Europeans," says S. Bryant, another co-founder and Hicks' life partner. "Sisters were tired of being disrespected at places like Bullfishes."  ...When asked for their perceptions of Cincinnati's gay/ lesbian community, Hicks sums it up in one word: "Separated. Separate, but not equal, definitely." ...Despite current appearances to the contrary, the gay and lesbian community here can also be issue-oriented. That is, should the need arise. But it's often too little, too late...
 

Gay Iranians in Los Angeles and Struggle to Come Out (2001).

As an Iranian gay man in Los Angeles, I interact with many communities including: the gay male and lesbian community, the Iranian community, and the American society at large. Each community is rigidly defined and strongly independent. These communities expect me to conform to their manner of living and adapt to their ideas, which is like visiting three different worlds each time I interact with them. I have experienced discrimination within each of these communities, and being a minority within a minority makes one more vulnerable to discrimination.
 

Race and Homosexuality - Advice by CapitalGay Magazine: (19)

Lesbians and gay men of colour also have to deal with trying to fit into the gay and lesbian community in the face of racism and discrimination... In major cities, there are support groups for gay African Americans, gay Latinos, and gay Asians. But for the most part, ethnic and visible minority homosexuals find themselves in a predominantly white, middle-class gay and lesbian community.

 It is wrongly believed that the lesbian and gay community with its on-going experience of stigma and discrimination is racially tolerant. The reality is that visible minorities experience discrimination in the gay and lesbian community. Consequently, gay and lesbian visible minorities carry double minority status which often results in low self-esteem, inadequate coping mechanisms and substance abuse. Gay men and lesbians of colour and ethnic-minorities face a greater challenge than their counterparts in mainstream North American society.
 

Racism in Gay Culture - by Hoa Tat. (91)

"...with all the prejudice that homosexuals face in  society, you would think that this group would be one of the most open minded. Unfortunately this is not the case. The gay community still suffers from one of the oldest forms of discrimination; racism... Some places where prejudice takes place are bars and night clubs. Many times, colored gays and lesbians are hassled even before entering... This sort of discrimination is only a small part of a larger problem. There is a notion that colored gay males are less attractive then Caucasians gay males... Racism is a problem that crawls in the shadow of the gay community. It does not receive a lot of attention...
 

Glama-rous N/A- by Mark J Huisman - Houston Voice (2000) [ ]

But the three-time GLAMA winner also reiterated her belief that the gay community has racial barriers to break down. "The community is so racially diverse, so economically diverse, so artistically diverse. It's just really difficult. Because I deal with that in my every day life. I even remember going to coming out meetings in New York and there was racism then. There is racism in the gay community today. But we can fix that. We can all broaden our minds. We really can all love each other. We at least have to try," Ndgeocello said.
 

Racism in Queer America - at colorq.org: [62]

Racism in the US gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered "community" is nothing new. In the 1950s, African American gays and lesbians were not welcome in white-run gay bars and clubs. In the PC 90s, however, this topic of racism within an oppressed minority has been blithely avoided in mainstream glbt dialogues. Whether whites want to talk about this or not, let's hear what people of color have to say... The reason why it was so hard for white queers to believe queers of color exist was that they could not see people of color as individuals. People of color are always seen as part of a group...  There were quite a few white lesbians working in my international non-profit organization. They were so into that exotic Asian woman thing. These women would actually get involved sexually with the Asian sex workers they were supposed to help and even start living together... I didn't think that was professional.

Racism in Queer CyberSpace: My Personal Experience in the Gay.Com Chatrooms - by Prateek Chaudhary, Nov. 2000. - Racism in Queer CyberSpace: Arjun's response to Prateek's article, Nov. 2000.

Prateek Chaudhary: However, my experience in the local chatrooms has been very different. A few nights ago, I logged on into the Austin1 chatroom, where some people were in the midst of a conversation in the main room. The topic: Indians. Several men were making fun of stereotypical desi accents (think Apu from the “Simpsons”) and the convenience store-owning stereotype of South Asians. One man said that all Indians cared and talked about were Bollywood films. Another man referred to Indians as “mean” and “dotheads”. This drew laughter from others in the room. Wearing my race politics badge at all times... It’s important to note that all of these men were not white; Latinos were also poking jokes. One guy tried to defend me, but he was ignored as well.

These incidents made me feel helpless, vulnerable, and marginalized. Behind the anonymity of their computers I did not know the identity of these individuals, and could do nothing. It’s disappointing that these racist attitudes still exist in the year 2000. We definitely have a long and bumpy road ahead of us, if we wish to eliminate racism from the queer community...

Furthermore, if these comments were made about African Americans, I am sure that the room would have been in an uproar. Why is it that jokes and racist comments about Asians were tolerated? I expect comments like this from white people, but what is most disturbing is that other people of color (Latinos) were also kissing white ass, and participating in all of this.

I sincerely hope that this incident generates discussion on the topic of white supremacy in the queer community. The white queer community MUST realize that in order to achieve their goals of equality, they must put an end to hypocrisy and cater to the needs of people of color and construct a more racially inclusive queer movement...

Arjun:  In a subversive and twisted way, we become party to the racism because we infuse gayness/queerness with ideals for which there is no compelling and cohesive reason. Why should we expect the gay community to be any more sensitive to POC issues than we should expect the homosexual Nazis to be more sensitive to Semitic issues?

...My point about the white gaze is that we often do not rid ourselves of our own internalized racism and other baggage when we experience and react to racial hostility. Also, I find that race issues and negative race relations are rampant within the POC community, however, these are not as often addressed. People are more likely to talk about how white people are racist, and how white people do this and that. How do south asians perceive african-americans?

...I do agree with you that it is not our burden to educate the white man about POC issues. However, my question is -- why is it the white man's need/burden? Why should asians feel that the white community *must* reach out? Do we as asians have a strong need for white men to reach out to us and help us? What if they don't reach out? Are we comfortable in our own strength to be able to tell ourselves that we don't *need* them to reach out to us?
 

Queers in the non-European World - at colorq.org: (61)

Today, many European American queers assume that non-whites, particularly women, cannot be queer. Queerness is a proud assertion of individual identity, a privilege that whites, consciously or not, ascribe only to themselves. People of color are not seen as individuals, only as part of a culture of otherness, devoid of personalized identity. By inference, they cannot be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. Even when Euro-Am glbts "accept" their counterparts of color, non-white glbt are often seen as "not-real-queers", unlike white glbt which are the "real" glbt. Exceptions are usually made for queers of color who fit white expectations of interracial power dynamics, e.g. the submissive bottom Asian gay male paired with a dominant white male.
 

"Invisibility" Of People Of Color In GLB Community Discussed At QPI Forum - by Harry McCann (1995). (29)

San Diego - On Thursday October 19 at The Center, Alex Gardner, Tony Valenzuela, Jimmy Lovett Jr. and the Queer Policy Institute held an open forum on racism... He literally pointed to a recent issue of the Gay and Lesbian Times as an example of what he termed "the invisibility, in the Queer community, of people of color." The paper had a collage of pictures to illustrate the issue's central theme: pornography. "It is just white men, again." ...The Gay and Lesbian community, it was agreed was probably no less prejudiced than society at large. This was a great awakening for many upon their arrival in the Gay and Lesbian community. Said one person, "I thought, 'this is finally it, I can relax. Everyone will like me here.' But I felt real sense of betrayal." She expressed more dissatisfaction with the bias that exists in the community... Many other people of color spoke and offered opinions of how racism could be overcome... Several thought it unlikely that racism would ever be eradicated. The feeling of not being seen or heard by society in general, by the people in the city of San Diego, and by the Gay and Lesbian community in San Diego was widespread among the people of color who spoke.
 

Gay & Lesbian Philosophy - Lectures F 1996, Part 3:

Double Minority Queers... We have stressed the extent to which subcultures insulate one from the alienation of being a marginalized, stigmatized, or despised minority. So the question becomes one of whether there is any subculture for the racial/ethnic minority gay? In particular how do the gay and lesbian subcultures accommodate, welcome racial and ethnic minorities? That is how racist are the gay and lesbian subcultures compared to the dominant culture. I know of no good data on this, so I grasp at threads that have emerged throughout the semester to hazard some guesses...

The problem is as Shepard notes, "How to determine how much is racial and how much is sexual when the two are so entwined that they are in practice identical" (p. 52). For Shepard here is describing tastes in men, what one does or doesn't find erotic or attractive in another. Sexual responses are highly specific and idiosyncratic. Look at the personal ads in any gay publication. For every characteristic that one says no to (e.g., "No fats,  fems, or redheads") others will be advertising for precisely those characteristics. For some race is eroticised (as it is for Shepard) for others, race is neutral, for others race can be a turn-off. Just like being hairy or smooth, tall or short, etc. can be. So if one rejects a person as a sexual partner, is one thereby being racist? Any more than to reject redheads is to be Haircolorist? Here there is relevant an important cultural lesson, central to the gay subculture, one of the great benefits of promiscuity:...

Any evaluation of racism issues within the gay subculture have to be interpreted in light of these cultural facts. And that makes it very difficult to determine just how racist the gay subculture is or is not. When I was in College I recall someone claiming that "The only true racial integration is mattress-level integration." This suggests that one measure of the absence of racism in a social group is the extent to which its member have engaged in interracial sex...
 

Women Resource Center Newsletter Selections, University of California, Berkeley (1999): (64)

1) The queer community (in its public guise) is mostly comprised of white leaders addressing white issues under the guise of "diversity." This same queer community often ignores the ways racism in and outside the community affect queer men and women of color.  2) calling queers of color lobbying for their own space "reverse racists" is symptomatic of the very white racism that queers of color are trying to overcome. The fact that queers of color concerns are met with resistance and denial by whites, who then deny them a space to voice their issues, is what racism in the queer community looks like.  If future conference organizers want to live up the word "diversity," they should provide a wider variety of workshops for queer students of color.
 

Queer in Montana: Part II by Bruce Amsbary (Seattle Gay News, January 19, 2001)

There should be no surprise that, like Seattle, racism thrives in Montana, even in the Lesbian, Gay community, who you would think should no better. Lee Iron Pipe, the member of the Blackfoot Tribe told me that he and another Native friend experienced a level of racism in the Gay community which has lead them to keep it at a distance...
 

Out On A Limb N/A - by David Rothenberg: [49]

Racism in the gay community is a swept-under-the-rug topic. At least in the white segment of this divided community... After Stonewall, it was assumed, falsely so, that there would be a great awareness of racial hostilities. Expectations were perhaps too high... We learned that many folks brought their mainstream baggage into gay activism. Racial fears and stereotypes created a division in the gay community and lessened its effectiveness

Chelsea’s Eighth Avenue in Manhattan evolved as a gay boulevard for mostly white gay males. It was a gradual reaction to Christopher Street being peopled with an increasing number of blacks and Latinos. It has been a fascinating and distressing sociological migration, the gay equivalent of white flight to the suburbs. This is hardly noted or discussed among white-dominated gay groups.
 

Reflecting on a Colorful Conference: (65)

Rina: What do you think is the most important issue facing queer minorities? K'haria rai zen: Oh wow. Homophobia in their communities that lead to a  lack of non-white role-models for queer youth and racism in the queer community. You don't get accepted at home because you're queer, but when you seek out acceptance in the queer community, you're unwelcome there too. You often feel as if you're the only one.
 

Cypher in the Snow:

Badass and Free 7". Seven queer women, including ex members of the Gr'ups, perform two songs with such unorthodox instrumentation as trumpet and banjo. The lyrics are also great -- "Militia" is about having a lesbian militia, and "She's Not" is about racism in the lesbian community.
 

Queers confront biases during Coming Out Week - by Robin Huiras (Minnesota Daily, October 12, 1998): (69)

Reich said people often have to choose an identity in situations where they belong to more than one community; there isn't one place to go. One of the objectives of the week is to confront racism in the queer community by allowing the leaders of the community to point out and talk about the problem.
 

Racism between Queers of Color (From colorq.org):

The 4 individual incidents described above illustrate how racial attitudes in the queer "community" strongly parallel mainstream prejudices. Like many straight white and black Americans, some African American homosexuals assume Latinos and Asians to be foreigners until proven otherwise.

Like many straight Asians, many queer Asians limit themselves to white and Asian partners. Like many straight Asians, some queer Asians try to distance themselves from other Asians in order to fit in with whites. Like many straight Asians, some queer Asians internalize white people's judgments on black people, a process can take place outside the United States, as widely exported as white American culture is.

More from colorq.org: - White dykes congratulated on birth of baby while black lesbian new moms ignored (May, 2000). -  Asians ignored in GLBT Cyber Communities.
 

The Baiting Game - by Stephen H. Miller (Independent Gay Forum): [41]

HRC has strongly supported affirmative action — including race- and gender-based preferences — as part of its legislative agenda. It's even a criterion they use to rate the politicians they'll support. And while most of speakers at the MMOW rally seemed to have been selected as representatives of their respective racial and ethnic minorities, many voiced their solidarity with MMOW critics and used their speaking time to attack the white majority attendees for their lack of commitment to diversity (that is, their racism). .. But is the LGBT movement really as racist (or sexist, or "classist") as we're so often told?... The study concludes that one solution to helping America bridge its racial divide would be open, honest conversations across racial, political, ethnic, and gender lines. There's merit in that. But endless denunciation of gay white racism doesn't foster such conversations; it merely shuts them down."
 

To The Editor of the Phila. Gay News N/A - by Arnold Jackson, 1998.

As an African-American gay male, I feel I must challenge some of the remarks made by Andrew Park, co-chair of this year's Lambda Awards Nominating Committee. These remarks appeared in the 3/27 - 4/2/98 edition of PGN...

These issues highlight the differences in perspective among the city's white gay mainstream and gay people of color.  There is a chasm between the races as wide as the Grand Canyon.  I have always contended that racism is not everybody's problem.  It is a white problem because people of color did not create it and we cannot be asked to help "fix" it.  It is the responsibility of whites in power — gay, straight and otherwise — to be willing to admit their racism and cease and desist racist practices and policies.  Until that occurs, I'm afraid the chasm will only widen. (Other writings by Arnold Jackson: 1957-1998)
 

HIV/STD Prevention and Young Men Who Have Sex with Men. - Alternate Link -  [80]

Programs should address racism in the gay, white community while simultaneously supporting YMSM of color as they deal with decisions regarding sexuality, gay identity, culture, and race / ethnicity. YMSM also need safe environments for sharing their experiences.

"Creating Change":  The Color Line - by Dale Carpenter (1999)

On Saturday, November 13, I showed up for a conference workshop provocatively entitled, "Challenging Issues of Race, Class, and Gender Within the Movement: How to Work With Our Allies Without Killing Them First." The conference guidebook promised that the workshop would address "the links among economic, social, and cultural attacks on People of Color within the LGBT movement." As about 20 men and women of various races gathered, one of the workshop co-chairs announced that the program guide had mistakenly omitted a notice that this session was to be for "people of color" only — one of several sessions so designated at the conference. Hearing this, the approximately six white women and men present got up from their chairs and walked silently out of the room.  
 

IASSCS International Conference: Sex & Secrecy, June 2003): Abstract: Word 97 Download.

Presenting author: Niels Teunis
Title: Racism in the San Francisco gay community: An experimental ethnography to create new visibility to an old problem.

This paper will describe the outcome of an experimental ethnography of a theater production that attempts to investigate the non-verbal, physical expressions of racism in the San Francisco Gay Community by means of theatrical techniques...

 Racism in the gay community has in itself been documented by several essayists, film makers and fiction writers. These document the experiences of men of color with racism in the gay community and provide an immediate reference point for other men of color. These records are on the other hand difficult to access for men who do not share these experiences, white men in particular, so that they provide little reference for self-reflection of these men.

 One major hindrance to recognition across racial lines is the fact that so much racism is expressed in subtle non-verbal ways that are nevertheless unmistakable to those on the receiving end. Overt verbal expressions of racism are a rarity in modern day San Francisco. But the question is how to effectively and convincingly demonstrate what the effects of subtle or not so subtle non-verbal expressions of racism are. That is the reason why this theater project has been organized.
 

"The Challenges Facing Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women in the U.S.: Coming Out, Coming Together, Moving Forward" - by Trinity A. Ordona (1990).
 

University / College Issues

Clearly the roots of racism and heterosexism are not independent, but rather intimately connected. Any recognition of racism must necessarily recognize sexism and homophobia at the same time. Any liberation movement that does not do so denies the complexity of its oppression, and is doomed to failure in its struggle against the oppression as a result.

But current conventional wisdom insists that the struggles against various oppressions must not be combined. As a result, Queers of Color are often marginalized within groups that are already marginalized. We are forced to fight racism and homophobia in society at large, as well as racism within the queer community, and homophobia within communities of color. We must face a
constant onslaught of multiple oppressions, coming from all directions at once. What is lacking, and blatantly so, is a safe space in the University community where Queers of Color are marginalized no further, and are free to discuss and address issues and concerns that are unique to our situation.
 

Queers of Color by Chester Day (Stanford University, 2000): [71]

Since my freshman year, I have been an active member of both the queer and Asian-American communities. Like many other people of color, I feel comfortable identifying as both "queer" and "Asian-American" here at Stanford. However, my Stanford experience has taught me that the racism and homophobia in American society at large still operate on our campus to make many queer people of color uncomfortable with their sexuality or racial identity. These perceptions of exclusion and marginalization are not shared equally by all queer people of color. In fact, many people in Q&A experience the queer community as welcoming, and are more concerned about the homophobia of our ethnic community. However, that fact does not erase the need to address the reality of racism and homophobia as overlapping systems of discrimination. That process begins with our
dis-orientation... When queer groups "orient" us, we often feel like the only non-white person in the community. At their workshops, socials, and dances, whiteness marks us as "Other", renders us invisible, and commodifies us as exotic... Two communities claim us and reject us simultaneously because of racism and homophobia. The gay community and the ethnic communities welcome you on paper, but exclude you in person - that is the ultimate dis-orientation.
 

Students "Whisper" About Diversity Issues N/A - by Wendy Yu (The Dartmouth, Connecticut) [46]

Affirmative Action Office intern senior Cara Fuller transformed Collis Porch into a controversial talk show set Tuesday afternoon in a presentation mysteriously named "Whispers." ...Fuller, who had been organizing the event for a term and a half, said she wanted to bring together diversified people from different parts of campus to address issues of homophobia in communities of color and racism in the queer community. "We're whispering about these issues, but people are not talking about them out loud," she said, explaining the title of the presentation.
 

Pride Week has some shameful gaps by Erica Waples (Yale Herald, March 3, 2001)

I finally decided to talk about an issue that is not just a gay issue, but one that plagues all people: silence and oppression. Understanding the ways that silence and oppression work involves hearing what is not spoken and seeing what is not visible. Take a look at the posters for Pride Week and the schedule of events. Notice that only one event features a (token) person of color. And although there is a panel and a film series that focus on issues of race, the rest of Pride Week is white... The face of pride is white, usually male, and associated with a person from an upper-middle class upbringing. The issues that have become prominent within the LGBT/queer movement are therefore organized around a singular form of oppression - homophobia... Why is it that we don't see more brown faces put forward as representing gayness? And why aren't welfare reform, the prison-industrial complex, the HIV/AIDS destruction of communities of color, and police brutality put forward as gay issues? Why do we hear about the murder of Matthew Shepard, a white gay male from the Midwest, but not about the murder of Amanda Milan, a black transgender woman from New York City? By looking at what's left out, we are able to see the ways that oppression works within our "progressive" movements...With deep pride, I can say that I am a black queer dyke from a working-poor background. As a person who faces multiple oppressions, I do not identify much with Pride Week and the larger LGBT movement...
 

Strategizing for a Racially Inclusive Bi / Queer movement - by Trikone-Tejas N/A, University of Texas:

Panel-discussion presented at the BiNet South/Central Regional Conference, Austin, Texas on Oct 14, 2000 - Summary: Our goals were to address the current lack of racial / ethnic diversity in mainstream queer social / support groups and political movements at local and national levels. Some of the issues we raised were (i) reasons for lack of diversity (ii) how to overcome barriers to diversification (iii) who should do the work of diversifying these groups (iv) limits to "multiculturalism" initiatives that do not explicitly acknowledge  white-privilege and work on unlearning racism (v) resources for groups interested in diversifying their membership.
 

Statement of Purpose, Manifesto - Queers of Color -  Columbia University (April 17, 1995): [72]

As Queers of Color, we are forced to straddle a history of division. Historically speaking, the struggle for racial equality has been heterosexist in its vision, and the queer liberation movement has been predominantly Euro-centric in its scope... Any recognition of racism must necessarily recognize sexism and homophobia at the same time. Any liberation movement that does not do so denies the complexity of its oppression, and is doomed to failure in its struggle against the oppression as a result.

But current conventional wisdom insists that the struggles against various oppressions must not be combined. As a result, Queers of Color are often marginalized within groups that are already marginalized. We are forced to fight racism and homophobia in society at large, as well as racism within the queer community, and homophobia within communities of color. We must face a constant onslaught of multiple oppressions, coming from all directions at once. What is lacking, and blatantly so, is a safe space in the University community where Queers of Color are marginalized no further, and are free to discuss and address issues and concerns that are unique to our situation.
 

Antioch College Queer Center - Ohio (1999): [70]

Maria Luisa (Papusa) Molina, an activist from Oakland, CA, will be on campus for a two week residency. In addition to presenting workshops and discussions for each UIG (Union of Independent Groups) she will also work with the faculty and union. The workshop for the Queer Center will focus on racism and sexism within the queer community (March 7, from 7- 9 p.m.). There will also be two events for the whole campus.
 

Strategic Plan of GLBTCCC at University of California, Santa Cruz (1999-2002): [67]

Acknowledge/address racism in the Queer community: Who: Resource Center and Concerns Committee. When: short (NCBI workshop) to long term. Resource: $ and personal commitment.
 

Psychology 444: Psychology of the Lesbian & Gay Experience N/A (Chapman University):

Course Objectives: ...5. To debate controversial contemporary issues related to the gay/lesbian experience such as outing, choices vs. no choice of sexual orientation, older/younger generations, homophobia and antilesbian/antigay violence, racism in the gay community, the psychosocial impact of HIV/AIDS, etc... Major Study Units: ...4 c. Issue:  Racism within the gay/lesbian community.
 

Minority homosexuals invisible to their world N/A: Gay men and women in Canada's ethnic communities feel surrounded by homophobia, marginalized by gay culture - by Paulette Peirol (1997): [12]

As a student at York University in Toronto, Jamaican-born Mr. Riggs joined a gay, lesbian and bisexual group, but quickly became disillusioned with it. "There was a general ignorance of where I was coming from," he said. "It just wasn't being addressed. What I've been coming to recognize is that the gay community is really very white."
 

Just how supportive is the GLBT community? by Katie M. Thoennes (The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, October 10, 1997)

UMass celebrated National Coming Out Week recently. While there were many benefits, there were also some drawbacks to the week's events. At every event I went to, I realized that almost all of the participants were white. As a member of the Pride Alliance steering committee, I see very few faces of people of color in our leadership, our activities, or our constituency. This is a problem that I can no longer remain silent about... From UMass to mainstream images of gay people, almost all the faces are white. Yet I know full well that gay people come from all cultures, creeds and colors that have ever and will ever exist.Almost all of the people who spoke at the NCOD Rally, coffee house and panel discussion were white. From Pride Alliance meetings to our steering committee, from Ellen to Roseanne, from movies such as Jeffrey to In and Out, I am surrounded by a sea of white people. I am not only upset by this, I am embarrassed: not because I am white, but because of the lack of diversity in the gay community... As time moves on, I realize that not having an answer is never a reason to be silent. I am frustrated to see racism in the gay community. I am angry that my GLBT friends of color are often isolated and tokenized...
 

Exploring the rainbow at Saint Cloud, Minnesota -  by Katherinne Bardales, The Daily Illini, February 28, 2000: [68]

This year's Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Transgender College Conference (MBLTCC) was held at Saint Cloud University in Minnesota from Feb. 18-20. The conference focused on expanding activism beyond the fight against homophobia to include racism and internalized homophobia within the queer community. For those who aren't aware, people of color who are LGBT have been struggling to get their presence and issues at the forefront of queer conferences and events. Yet, because the queer community is predominantly white, minority problems are often not addressed or even welcomed at functions. The same goes for transgendered people: transsexuals and transvestites.
 

LGBT People of Color: A Roundtable Discussion N/A - by Kate Kleba (The OutRider: A Newsletter Exploring Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equity, Vol 1-4, 1999 - Penn State University). [3]

JOSE: Being an ethnic minority person comes into play everyday, it's something that I can't hide. In the gay community, most of the people I see are White Caucasian males. Being an ethnic minority generally, I know I¹m going to be a minority in the gay community too. I think the gay community tends to be very judgmental: it's bad enough that the world judges us [people of color], and they tend not to have positive images of us for the most part. And then when you're in your own community, in the gay community, they display the same things over and over sometimes... JOSE: I think there is racism in the gay community, and it's just the same as racism in the non-gay community. I know this one guy who said he would only date White guys. And so I asked him why...maybe he had a bad experience or something. But no, he just said he only wants to date White guys. I deal with this stuff in my non-gay world, so why do I have to deal with that in my gay world, my personal life?  ...ALENA: I wouldn¹t agree that there's as much blatant racism in the gay community as there is in society as a whole, but one thing that I kind of noticed, and I don't think this is intentional, but most of the activities that I've seen in the gay community seem to be geared toward white males... Q: What do you think about the involvement of people of color in the gay community?  JOSE: They're [people of color] not as active as I would like for them to be...I know my friends and I talk about this, why is there such a lack of involvement within the community.
 

Strategic Plan of GLBTCCC at University of California, Santa Cruz (1999-2002) N/A:  [67]

Acknowledge/address racism in the Queer community: Who: Resource Center and Concerns Committee. When: short (NCBI workshop) to long term. Resource: $ and personal commitment.
 

ISU Alliance: 143 Ways (and Counting) to Dismantle Heteropatriarchy -  by A.D. Selha - Iowa State University:

This list was first compiled in 1994 for a BGLAD workshop on political activism and has been distributed on various other occasions. These are meant to be fun, light-hearted acts which can make a big day-by-day difference... Take responsibility to educate others about racism, ableism, sexism, etc. It is not women's responsibility to educate against sexism. It is not the Hispanic community's responsibility to educate against racism. Educate yourselves and then educate others... Make and distribute pamphlets on queer related issues such as lesbians and breast cancer, homophobia, benefits of being an ally, same-gender domestic violence, racism in the queer community, transgender 101, etc.
 

Queers confront biases during Coming Out Week - by Robin Huiras (The Minnesota Daily, Oct. 12, 1998 - University of Minnesota):

The keynote speaker for the week, she will discuss interlocking oppression: the way overlapping identifications -- such as a person's color, race, sexuality and religion -- can create a complicated web of oppression. Reich said people often have to choose an identity in situations where they belong to more than one community; there isn't one place to go. One of the objectives of the week is to confront racism in the queer community by allowing the leaders of the community to point out and talk about the problem.
 

Working with Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual International Students in the United States: - by Nadine Kato. International Educator, Vol. 8 (1). Fall / Winter, 1999. [78]

Culture differences do not disappear in the GLB community, of course. Among my survey respondents, an Italian man, an Indian man, and a Taiwanese woman describe themselves as outsiders, even among the GLB community, based on the fact that they are from different cultures. For some, their core values or their views on what it means to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual differ significantly from those of the GLB student population, and GLB groups in the United States are not communities in which they feel comfortable.

For international students in the GLB community, the term racism does not necessarily refer to the sort of overt problems that we typically associate with racism, such as name-calling or cross-burning, but instead refers to more subtle forms, described here by a male Malaysian undergraduate:

In Minnesota, cross-racial relationships ... are relatively rare. Most white people are not attracted to minorities, especially those around college age. For me, that created a sense of racial embarrassment that persisted for a while.... That has been hardest for me to adjust [to].... It's not outright racism, because people have multiracial friends, it's only [that] attraction across racial lines is absent or very much reduced.

One woman from Taiwan expresses her disappointment and disillusionment that racism exists "even in queer society," and quotes Audre Lorde's ironic question in her 1982 book, Zami: "Of course, gay people weren't racists. After all, didn't they know what it was like to be oppressed?" Racism does exist within the gay community, and some respondents perceive it to be a large problem.
 

LGBT Campus Organizing: A Comprehensive Manual: Especially Chapters 1 - Defining Your Group (3-20), Chapter 2 - Building Your Group (21-54), and Chapter 3, and Managing Your Group (55-78), all by Felice Yeskel, Ed. D. - Produced by NGLTF (The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force), 1995/6.  All six chapters are individually available as PDF downloads and deal with diversity issues, including race / ethnic diversity.

The Arts / Films / Books

Book Review "Dual Identities of Black Gays the Subject of New Book," (Alternate Link) One More River to Cross: Black & Gay in America (Keith Boykin, 1996) - by Bernard Tarver, Blackstipe Magazine N/A, 1998:

Illustrating the difficulty faced as a Black gay man trying to navigate in two worlds, Boykin draws from his own experiences upon coming out. "I had felt so liberated when I first came out that I began to immerse myself in the so-called gay lifestyle, slowly, unknowingly, destructively and absorbing characteristics of a culture that devalued me because of my color. I later learned how white gays had excluded African Americans, denying them entry to nightclubs, ignoring their contributions to the gay political movement, and reinforcing straight society's stereotypes and prejudices."
 

One more river to cross: black and gay in America N/A - by Keith Boykin (1996).

From a book review: "A graduate of Harvard Law School, Boykin has worked as a special assistant to President Clinton for press relations and is currently Executive Director of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum. Here, based on his personal experiences, he offers an articulate perspective on the "double jeopardy" of simultaneously identifying as a member of two marginalized groups. Boykin describes the commonalities of oppression as well as the artificial wedges often driven between the two overlapping groups. He describes racism in gay communities and homophobia in African American communities..."
 

"The Evolution of a Woman N/A" (White Print on White) - Interview by Susan Moll (Rockrgrl Magazine) (Alternate Link):

Singer/songwriter Magdalen Hsu-Li... GN: Do you experience racism in the queer community?  MHL: Yes I have...bi women tend to get shit for dating men and not strictly women.... I tend to be very compassionate to the GLBT communities despite it... I feel we learn to treat others by how we are treated...and queer people have been treated terribly in our society. Nowadays queer people are treated more humanely but they still do not have basic human rights.
 

Cypher in the Snow:

Badass and Free 7". Seven queer women, including ex members of the Gr'ups, perform two songs with such unorthodox instrumentation as trumpet and banjo. The lyrics are also great -- "Militia" is about having a lesbian militia, and "She's Not" is about racism in the lesbian community.
 

The Color of Sex - by Karl Bruce Knapper (San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film festival, 1999): [73]

Despite the quantum leap that queer filmmaking has taken over the last decade, there are still some subjects which have proven difficult, if not impossible, for queer filmmakers to address adequately. Chief among these is the complicated and taboo-laden convergence of race and sexuality in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities... The vast majority of white queer filmmakers either ignore the experiences of people of color altogether in their work, or get those experiences incredibly and sometimes horribly wrong. Conversely, too many queer filmmakers of color get bogged down trying to tackle too many issues in a single film or video, when even one of the multitude of concerns complicating their lives would be more than enough to try to deal with effectively... The candid discussion of race and sexuality in the queer community will not necessarily be easy, or free of danger. It's a venture fraught with much peril. The trust and understanding necessary for such a discussion is not readily apparent in the lesbian and gay community, and the potential for the discussion to get off-track, become sidelined in tangential triviality, or get bogged down by residual ignorance, fear and/or hostility is certainly all too present and possible. It will take remarkable courage and fortitude to embark upon these discussions, but the alternative is even more daunting as it will doom the queer community to a seemingly endless re-run of the current discourse on race and sexuality.
 

Queer Performance Art - by Kyle Young (OutSmart Magazine, article not online anymore.): [14]

The Queer Artist Collective (QuAC) is a new concept in gay activism, especially for Houston. The group of 20-something performance artists are charged to "fearlessly be themselves."  ...The artists have been preparing for the last several months by writing about issues important to them. Wagan says that he has been struggling with racism in the gay community. Through spoken word, music and video, Wagon will explore the issue with the audience.
 

Luis Alfaro's Life Goes into the Theater - by Patti Hartigan (The Boston Globe, 1998) [4]

March 27, 1998 -- When performance artist Luis Alfaro talks about his life's calling... Alfaro has conducted drama workshops with gang members in his native Los Angeles and commissioned dramas for the tony Mark Taper Forum... As a gay Chicano, his work addresses homophobia in the Latino community and racism in the gay community. But labels and issue-speak aside, Alfaro is really a poet of the people.
 

Sager Symposium to focus on sexuality, race (March 2002):

The topics of race and sexuality will surface throughout the week. There will be a discussion panel on March 26 involving queer people of color from around Philadelphia. Following the dialogue, there will be an open discussion whose topics may include “the intersection of race and sexuality in the local and national community, racism in the gay community, and homophobia in communities of color,” according to publicity materials.
 

African American Theatre and Drama:

Fierce Love, refigures black masculinity to include homosexuality.  With humor, parody, and pathos, Fierce Love contests the homophobia present in the black community, the racism in the gay community, and the essentialized images of black masculinity that exclude a gay presence.  Fierce Love explodes the concept that black and gay are dichotomous identities.
 

Racism Issues in Queer Films

• Anthem (1990) - Riggs, Marlon
• Bare (1991) - Tien
• BD Women (1994) - Blackman, Inge
• Cholo Joto (1993) - Robles, Augie
• Cities of Lust (1993) - Ferrera-Balanquet, Raul
• Color Purple, The (1985) - Steven Spielberg
• Complicated Flesh (1993) - Dunye, Cheryl, and Kristina Deutsch
• Cunanan's Conundrum (1998) - Gaffney, Stuart
• Double the Trouble, Twice the Fun (1992) - Parmar, Pratibha
• Double Trouble (1991) - Aynes, Tony
• Fated to Be Queer (1992) - Bautista, Pablo
• I've Never (1992) - Jennings, Pamela
• Infidel (1989) - Saalfield, Catherine
• Life (1999) - Demme, Ted
• London Kills Me (1991) - Hanif Kureishi
• Maybe I Can Give You Sex ? Part One (1992) - Bruning, Jurgen, and Rune Layumas
• Maybe I Can Give You Sex ? Part Two (1992) - Layumas, Rune, and Jurgen Bruning
• Memory Tracks (1996) - Ajalon, Jamika
• Memsahib Rita (1994) - Parmar, Pratibha
• Moffie Called Simon, A (1986) - Greyson, John
• My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) - Frears, Stephen
• My Sweet Peony (1994) - Lee, Karin
• Night Visions (1989) - Bociurkiw, Marusia
• Occupied Territories (1993) - Baum, Jennifer
• Orientations (1984) - Fung, Richard
• Our House: Lesbians and Gays in the Hood (1992) - Not Channel Zero / Black Planet Productions
• Parallel Sons (1995) - Young, John G.
• Passion of Remembrance, The (1986) - Sankofa Black Film Workshop
• Queers Are Not Enough (1992)
• Reframing AIDS (1987) - Parmar, Pratibha
• Romper Stomper (1992) - Geoffrey Wright
• Sari Red (1988) - Parmar, Pratibha
• Shasta Woman (1992) - Mason, Crystal
• Silence . . . Broken (1993) - Simmons, Aishah Shahidah
• Skin Complex (1992) - Lennhoff, Stephen
• Skin Flick (1999) - LaBruce, Bruce
• Splash (1990) - Harris, Thomas Allen
• The Singing Nun (1966) - Koster, Henry
• Toc Storee (1991) - Ma, Ming-Yuen S.

When Democracy Works (1996) - Saalfield, Catherin

Initiatives

How to Fight Racism in the LGBT Community - by Kathy Belge.

You would think that because gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people experience discrimination that racism would not exist within the community. Unfortunately, this is not so. Racism exists in the LGBT community just as it does in other parts of American and European culture. These tips will help you understand and fight racism in the LGBT community.

Advocates for Youth's Youth of Color Initiative. - Tips and Strategies for Meeting the Needs of GLBTQ Youth of Color.

Resources for GLBT Youth of Color - Safe Schools Coalition

Hawai'ian GLBT Resources:

Na Mamo O Hawai`i (Hawai`ian Lesbian and Gay Activists), (808) 595-0402. This group is dedicated to fighting racism in the Gay Community AND homophobia in the Hawai`ian Community.

LGBTPM's Advocacy and Support Group for Queer People of Color  (2007)

Queer People of Color (QPOC) frequently feel as if they must choose between their ethnic community and the LGBT community because they experience discrimination within both. For both religious and cultural reasons, ethnic minorities are less accepting of sexual orientations other than heterosexuals and the coming out process of QPOC often differs greatly from most LGBT people. The families of QPOC face unique challenges as well, with language and cultural barriers preventing support from resources for parents, like PFLAG. Even within the LGBT community, which should be most accepting of QPOC based on their sexual orientation, QPOC often feel marginalized. It is not uncommon for QPOC to report feeling invisible within the one community they wish to be a part of. At its most extreme form, this discrimination has lead to increasing rates of HIV infection among young gay Asian and African American men who engage in high-risk behavior in order feel accepted by the predominately white gay community. Although LGBTPM cannot easily change attitudes within ethnic communities, we are dedicated to ensuring QPOC medical students feel completely accepted within our LGBT community and that unique health issues of QPOC patients are addressed by physicians.

They Don't Want To Cruise Your Type: Gay Men of Color and the Racial Politics of Exclusion - by Chong-suk Han (2007).

Despite the civil rights dialogue used by the gay community, many 'gay' organizations and members of the 'gay' community continue to exclude men of color from leadership positions and 'gay' establishments, thus continuing to add to the notion that 'gay' equals 'white'...

Building Anti-racist GSAs  (2006)

GSA organizers from around the Bay Area came up with these ideas about why many GSAs are disproportionately white:... Here are some broad strategies that GSAs can use to address these issues and build diverse, anti-racist organizations:...

Racism [not equal to] homophobia - by Richard Goldstein (2006)

In the glory days of gay liberation our movement was blessed with strong support from African-American leaders. That's still the case, but on the ground the bond may be fraying. One Gallup survey shows a growing antipathy among blacks toward gay rights. There are many reasons for this shift. One of them stems from the perception that queers have hogged the civil rights limelight. I think that's largely true, through no fault of ours. The troubling fact is that the sound and fury over issues such as same-sex marriage provides an excuse to divert attention from racism. To add insult to injury, some LGBT leaders act as if their struggle is comparable to that of blacks... There's a feeling among some white gays that blacks ought to be tolerant of stigmatized sexualities merely because they are black. And there's a belief in some black-nationalist circles that homosexuality is essentially a white perversion. Racism underlies both convictions, and for that reason they won't be easy to overcome. But we have to give it a shot, not just because it's right but because it's necessary to our progress.

LGBTQ Racial Equity Campaign  - by LGBT Funders (2005)

Extensive research shows that racial inequities persist in every indicator of well-being, including health and wellness, school readiness, economic success and civic participation, among many others. Further, funding for LGBTQ people of color has been woefully inadequate, which profoundly impacts the health of these organizations and, ultimately, the effectiveness of our broader movements for social change. Let’s begin redressing these inequities.

Embracing Cultural and Sexual Diversity in the BGLT Community - by The Canadian Mental Health Association (2004).

Conference to address issues of race, ethnicity, and sexuality in “mainstream” Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Trans (BGLT) community.

Queer People of Color Coalition:

QPOCC started out last fall, 2004, as a "Committee to Create a More Hospitable Climate for LGBT People of Color" on campus.

Racism Haunts Queer and Christian Communities - by Irene Monroe (2003)

Racism continues to be one of those nagging problems that we must grapple with. As part of an ongoing dialogue that sometimes appears to get better, talks concerning race in America never succeed at making people of color feel secure or making the problem seem curable. That's because every time the political tide changes, the racial gains made during one political season often are reconsidered if not reversed in the other... In WOW's effort to be inclusive of all people within the Body of Christ, it decided to confront the issue of racism by looking at itself. The Coordinating Committee put out this statement: "Over the course of the last two years, the WOW 2003 Coordinating Committee has been challenged in confronting racism. We confess that as a committee, we talked a lot about working on racism and maintaining our diversity as a committee, but there always seemed to be more urgent items on our agenda. In fact, it has only been in the past nine months that we began to deal with racism as a part of our committee work. We have learned a lot about ourselves and about our movement." ... s a nagging problem that seems to never go away, racism must be the issue we wrestle with in our attempts to do social justice work on behalf of all LGBT people - churched and unchurched, Christian and non-Christian. But for LGBT Christian activists especially, it is important that in our proclamation to create the beloved community as depicted in the Gospel of John in the New Testament, we not fail at being inclusive - because the thorn of racism impinges on our movement.

EGALE to consult with queers on the intersection of race and sexual orientation and the implications of intersectional oppression.(2002)

Consultation: The Intersectionalities of Race and Sexual Orientation. (2001)

Racism in Queer Communities: What Can White People Do? @ Harvey Milk Institute (2001).

Harvey Milk Institute presents: RACISM IN QUEER COMMUNITIES: WHAT CAN WHITE PEOPLE DO? Rachel Lanzerotti & Michael Mayer 2 Mon, Nov 19 & 26; 6:30-9:30 pm and Sat Dec 1; Noon-4:30 pm Location: Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, 4235 19th St @ Collingwood $25-$50 Sliding Scale To register, contact Harvey Milk Institute: http://www.harveymilk.org
 

How Race Inter-plays with Trans - by Yosenio Lewis (April, 2000)

... he started a group that addresses these very issues and asks participants to "go there" and be uncomfortable. he just put up a website that describes the group Transmen's Alliance Against Racism (http://hometown.aol.com/tmkennard/). i'm really proud of tom for taking this step and not letting what could easily be an ignored phenomenon escape his attention. the group is not perfect, a lot of mistakes and assumptions are made, but it is one of the first places i have been where ftms, mtfs, partners, family, friends and allies of all races/ethnicities/classes/ages gather and agree to address the difficult issues with honesty and grace.
 

Confronting Racism - Elimination of White Supremacy essential to Coalition, Church, and Society. (Address to  the National Gathering (of the UCCL/GC) plenary on July 1, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. Originally printed in WAVES, the national newsletter of the United Church of Christ Coalition for Lesbian/ Gay/ Bisexual/ Transgender Concerns, September 1997, Vol. XXIV, No. 3.) - by Mistinguette Smith Malone:

Sections Quoted on Other Web Page.

White lesbigay communities are equally, if not more, racist than straight white groups. I can tell you today which bars still charge a Black tax, have “Black” nights, have unofficial and often unspoken quotas about how many people of color can be admitted at once before the place begins to “tilt.” White lesbian & gay organizations still shamelessly engage in tokenism for window dressing...

All forms of oppression are interdependent and interrelated. People of color are disproportionately poor in this country. The kinds of class privilege that we have institutionalized as gay men and lesbians is very alienating to people of color...

Even as we begin to build alliances, the very language we use is often racist and ethnocentric. When we use the phrase “people of color” we should always ask ourselves “Who are we talking about?” Not all people of color are the same... In our increasinglymulticultural cities, culturally/linguistically appropriate materials rarely are available that target gay, lesbian and bisexual people of color...

My last recommendation is probably the most difficult. This recommendations comes from years of experience, and reflects the observations of people of color and white antiracist activists. It is to Shut Up and Listen to people of color. This may be harder than you think. Remember the guilt I invited you to lay aside when I opened? You may find that it, or its cousins, come back to visit when you start to listen to people of color...
 

White Anti-Racists: They Battle Bigotry from the Inside Out (2002).

"Their first workshop will target New York City gay and lesbian groups because most of the trainers identify themselves as "queer" — a term they use to encompass gay, lesbian and transgendered people. "We're trying to challenge the queer movement," Lee said. "Or lack thereof." Lee described how the gay and lesbian community is divided along race and class lines, which she said undermines their power as a collective political force. For example, she believes racial differences spark the current turf war between the young gay and transgendered people of color who flock to the West Village streets to socialize, and the older, mostly white residents who routinely call the police to kick them out."
 

14th Creating Change Pre-Conference Institutes: People of Color Institute Part I - In the Beginning - & - People of Color Organizing Institute Part II - The New Beginning (November 7-11, 2001).

Dismantling Racism for White People  Racism will be eradicated if and when white people commit themselves to its end. This participatory workshop explores the ways racism impacts all our lives and helps us move from guilt to action...  Building Our House: Dismantling Institutional Racism If we are to dislodge the "permanence of racism" from our movement, we cannot leave untouched the leadership,  cultural character, and the organizational structure of our institutions and organizations. To make structural change we will need to commit resources and to demand a high degree of integrity from our leadership. Change will require a plan.
 

Strategizing for a Racially Inclusive Bi / Queer movement - by Trikone-Tejas N/A, University of Texas:

Panel-discussion presented at the BiNet South/Central Regional Conference, Austin, Texas on Oct 14, 2000 - Summary: Our goals were to address the current lack of racial / ethnic diversity in mainstream queer social / support groups and political movements at local and national levels. Some of the issues we raised were (i) reasons for lack of diversity (ii) how to overcome barriers to diversification (iii) who should do the work of diversifying these groups (iv) limits to "multiculturalism" initiatives that do not explicitly acknowledge  white-privilege and work on unlearning racism (v) resources for groups interested in diversifying their membership.

It was an intense discussion, and we concluded that bi/queer movements would continue to have low racial/ethnic diversity if we organize solely around sexual orientation and fail to incorporate a broader anti-oppression agenda that includes race, class and gender.

Resources: Links to many articles are given.
 

12 Annual UCLGBTA Conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2001)

Session V: Sunday, 11:15 am-12:15 pm -  INTERSECTIONS: "Breaking the Silence: Discussing Racial Issues in the Queer Community" (part 1 of 2) - Race has nothing to do with the Queer movement. Queer representation is as diverse as it needs to be. It should just be a QUEER movement. What do you think of these problematic statements? By discussing race, power, privilege, and other issues in our communities, and then bringing it to the Queer community as a whole, we shall delve into the silence and the barriers which segregate the Queer movement and then discuss proactive solutions. This interactive workshop and discussion will challenge participants to make new discoveries about themselves, others, society, and the Queer community. Open to all conference attendees. Attendence at both sessions of this workshop is strongly recommended for a full understanding of the workshop material.
 

Welcome to  The Color Triangle:

The Color Triangle-a Chicago-based anti-racism project established in June of 1997-is a coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations, agencies, individuals, and businesses. We are dedicated to ending racism in Chicago's LGBT communities.

The Objectives of The Color Triangle are N/A: (1) To raise the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community's consciousness of race and racism (systemic and interpersonal) and how it connects with other oppressions. (2) To acknowledge the presence of racism and how it affects our interpersonal relationships and our organizations. (3) To develop concrete plans and activities on how to minimize community  tensions, maximize cooperation and representation of diversity, and to build upon examples of success.

Anti-Racist Resource List N/A. - Internet Resources N/A (Under construction, none available. Site was created in 1997, but it seem that authors lost interest.)
 

Gay Press Ponders The Future - by Bill Sullivan and Jesse Dorris (2000)

Boston's Beacon Press imprint Bluestreak has been publishing extraordinary books by women like Octavia Butler, Sonya Sanchez, and Gayl Jones; Painted Leaf has committed themselves to gay Latino and Latina authors who face both the homophobia of the Latino community and the racism of the gay community. Still more needs to be done.

Festival Focus: The Color of Sex - by Karl Bruce Knapper (1999)

Despite the quantum leap that queer filmmaking has taken over the last decade, there are still some subjects which have proven difficult, if not impossible, for queer filmmakers to address adequately. Chief among these is the complicated and taboo-laden convergence of race and sexuality in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities...  Lesbian and gay people of color are perpetually engaged in a never- ending struggle to dispute the unsolicited and unwelcome identities foisted upon them by an oppressive mainstream culture... The vast majority of white queer filmmakers either ignore the experiences of people of color altogether in their work, or get those experiences incredibly and sometimes horribly wrong. Conversely, too many queer filmmakers of color get bogged down trying to tackle too many issues in a single film or video, when even one of the multitude of concerns complicating their lives would be more than enough to try to deal with effectively... There are an endless number of issues revolving around race and sexuality that are also begging to be addressed. What about interracial relationships (both platonic and sexual) between non-white lesbians and gays? Or the impact racism and homophobia have had on intra-racial relationships within various queer communities of color? Or the effect that class/socio-economic status has on the dynamics of lesbian and gay interracial and intra-racial relationships? What about a frank and no-holds-barred discussion of the dynamics of racial fetishism? Or the impossibility of politically correcting sexual desire? These are just a few of the diverse range of intriguing areas of investigation/exploration just waiting to be embarked upon by queer filmmakers.

Reflecting on a Colorful Conference:  - by Steven Huang, Stephanie Marrs, Rina Borromeo, K'haria rai zen, Ilana Tannenbaum (1999).

Rina: What do you think is the most important issue facing queer minorities? K'haria rai zen: Oh wow. Homophobia in their communities that lead to a lack of non-white role-models for queer youth and racism in the queer community. You don't get accepted at home because you're queer, but when you seek out acceptance in the queer community, you're unwelcome there too. You often feel as if you're the only one.
 

What's unique about racism and anti-semitism in lesbigaytrans communities? - by Christine Robinson (The Touchstone, Summer, 1997):

Racism and anti-Semitism operate in LesBiGayTrans communities in ways that are both the same and different from heterosexual society. What is unique about racism and anti-Semitism in our queer communities and what can we do about it?

...1.  Do not privilege sexual orientation or gender identity over race, ethnicity, class, religion, culture or nationality... 2.  Challenge "outter than thou" sentiment in LesBiGayTrans communities... 3.  Learn about how heterosexism, monosexism and gender discrimination operate in all racial, ethnic and cultural groups, not just in white society...

What's Not Unique about Racism and Anti-Semitism in LesBiGayTrans Communities? Unlearning racism and anti-Semitism is hard work and requires daily commitment to both self-reflection and action.

Creating Consciousness: Beginning with the Self... From Consciousness to Action: What You Can Do... Resources.
 

Waking Up To Common Ground (Alternate Link)- by Kenya Briggs:

There is common ground between the African American and the lesbian/gay/bisexual communities of this society. Both have been and continue to be disenfranchised by a largely monolithic power structure. Both suffer the burden of stereotypical labels which suggest that they are less than human and are not worthy of dignity. Both are compelled to demand equal rights based on the humiliating argument that they cannot help the ways in which they differ from straight, white males. Perhaps most importantly, both share a common population -- lesbians, gays and bisexuals of African descent. However, today it seems that the differences between these two groups have become more
apparent than their commonalties. To understand why, we must examine several factors: history, politics, the dynamics of racism in the lesbian/gay/bisexual community and homophobia in the African American community, and the impact of right-wing manipulation on two groups which right wingers have historically regarded as "the enemy"...
 

Working with Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual International Students in the United States - by Nadine Kato. International Educator, Vol. 8 (1). Fall / Winter, 1999. [78]

The personal emotions attached to the topic of homosexuality, and possibly a fear of controversy, lead many university support staff to remain silent on the subject. This silence leaves gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) students wondering to whom they can comfortably divulge their identity and discuss related concerns. The silence can prevent international GLB students from seeking help when they most need it.
 

The Men and Women of Connecticut—Creating a Better Future - Part 3 N/A - by Lauren Incognito (Metroline, Aug. 2000): [82]

“We need to discourage racism in the gay community. Gay issues are so different than race issues. With racism, we only talk about it. We need to have a real movement to stop it,” Linear said. Part of that movement has begun. Through the Connecticut Coalition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Civil Rights, of which Linear at one time served as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, “Diversity Project 2000” has gotten underway. In an on-going effort to end the disenfranchisement and discord that exists between many cultures and races, Diversity Project 2000 focuses on bridging those gaps by unifying not only multiple cultures, but also the elderly, the young, the working class/poor and people with disabilities.

Queer and Questioning Asians/Pacific Islanders of Stanford  (1999-2001)

Asians and Pacific Islanders at Stanford have often lacked visibility within the LGBTQ community, and conversely, LGBTQ members and issues have often been invisible within the API community. With this queer Asian group, we hope to promote racial and ethnic diversity within the larger gay community as well as combat homophobia among Asian-Americans.
 

Racial and Gender Identity Development in White Male Multicultural Educators and Facilitators: Toward Individual Processes of Self-development -  by Paul Gorski,  University of Virginia, April 1998: [83]

For Steve, being gay has influenced the course of both his white and male identity development. As a member of an oppressed group, Steve's experiences brought him to understand systemic issues surrounding discrimination. He had experienced the feeling of "being on the outside of the perception of what was going on." As a result, through personal experience, Steve developed an appreciation for the "dual realities" that people of color must live with and the privilege that came with not having to do so. Meanwhile, racism within the gay community continues to entangle identity issues for Steve who has dedicated his work and education toward ending discrimination...

Though Steve lived in a diverse area, he also demonstrated an early unawareness of the significance of racial differences by assuming that the experiences of his African American friends coincided with his own experiences. Steve focused on his similarities with people, "filtering" his "understanding of race and racism through the lens of class." Still, because Steve maintained friendships with people of color, he also maintained the possibility of developing a better understanding of his role as a white person in the dynamics of a cross-racial relationship (Helms, 1984). Then, as he became more aware of the significance of difference regarding sexual orientation, he was able to develop a greater awareness of and sympathy for the significance of racial differences for his friends of color...

A review of the literature on white identity and the experience of white people in multicultural education produced a number of observations regarding white people, our identity development, and our multicultural teaching practices. Among these observations were the denial of our whiteness (Powell, 1996; Scheurich, 1993; Katz and Ivey, 1977), color-blindness (Powell, 1996; Terry, 1970; Frankenberg, 1993; Helms, 1993), lack of understanding of systemic or institutional racism (Powell, 1996; Lawrence, 1997; Kluegel and Smith, 1986; Giroux, 1997; Sleeter, 1996), and the acceptance of unexamined white privilege (McIntosh, 1988; McIntyre, 1997; Kivel, 1996). Helms (1984), pulling from these observations in a sample of pre-service educators, developed a linear model of white identity development to describe a progression of resolutions of these issues toward the development of a positive white identity...
 

LGBT Campus Organizing: A Comprehensive Manual: Especially Chapters 1 - Defining Your Group (3-20), Chapter 2 - Building Your Group (21-54), and Chapter 3, and Managing Your Group (55-78), all by Felice Yeskel, Ed. D. - Produced by NGLTF (The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force), 1995/6.  All six chapters are individually available as PDF downloads and deal with diversity issues, including race / ethnic diversity.
 

Just how supportive is the GLBT community? - by Katie M. Thoennes (The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, University of Massachusetts, Oct. 16, 1997): [84]

UMass celebrated National Coming Out Week recently. While  there were many benefits, there were also some drawbacks to the week's events. At every event I went to, I realized that almost all of the participants were white. As a member of the Pride Alliance steering committee, I see very few faces of people of color in our leadership, our activities, or our constituency. This is a problem that I can no longer remain silent about...

There are many important messages to take away from this. Mostly, I take away questions. Why is the out community at UMass mostly white? Why is the history of queer people of color so hidden? What privileges do I carry in the GLBT community as a white person? What racism do I still have to confront within myself? I do not hold the answers to all of these questions...

Furthermore, while I shout out, I must also look inside. Racism has seeped into me from my family, the television and the society at large. My continual job is to seek out those messages inside me and dismantle them. Oppression will not end until I challenge it within myself. Homophobia will not end until others check themselves...

Working with Communities of Color: The Asian And Pacific Islander Experience In Oregon:  - by Lynn Nakamoto, Asian & Pacific Islander Lesbians and Gays.

"Lesbians and gay men of color have always been involved in the lesbian and gay movement and the struggles of people of color in this country. This reality stands in sharp contrast with the relative isolation of white gays and lesbians from communities of color, Japanese Americans or African Americans, for example. Increasingly, however, sexual minority communities and racial and ethnic minority communities are recognizing, and must recognize, that cooperative efforts are necessary and will benefit everyone over the long run..." 

Multicultural Counseling - by F. Kenneth Freedman.

Quoted on another web page.
 

More thoughts on why system of white privilege is wrong.- by Robert William Jensen. A version of this essay ran in the Perspective section of the Baltimore Sun on July 4, 1999. - White Privilege Shapes The U.S. - by Robert William Jensen, first appeared in the Baltimore Sun, July 19, 1998.

White people, whether overtly racist or not, benefit from living in a world mostly run by white people that has been built on the land and the backs of non-white people... My voice gets heard in large part because I am a white man with a Ph.D. who holds a professional job with status. In most settings, I speak with the assumption that people not only will listen, but will take me seriously. I speak with the assumption that my motives will not be challenged; I can rely on the perception of me as a neutral authority, someone whose observations can be trusted. Every time I open my mouth, I draw on, and in some ways reinforce, my privilege, which is in large part tied to race...

There is much to say beyond those short responses, but for now I am more interested in one common assumption that all these correspondents made, that my comments on race and affirmative action were motivated by "white liberal guilt." The problem is, they got two out of the three terms wrong. I am white, but I'm not a liberal. In political terms, I'm a radical; I don't think liberalism offers real solutions because it doesn't attack the systems of power and structures of illegitimate authority that are the root cause of oppression, be it based on race, gender, sexuality, or class. These systems of oppression, which are enmeshed and interlocking, require radical solutions...

That exchange led me to rethink the way I talk about race and racism with students. It drove home to me the importance of confronting the dirty secret that we white people carry around with us everyday: In a world of white privilege, some of what we have is unearned. I think much of both the fear and anger that comes up around discussions of affirmative action has its roots in that secret. So these days, my goal is to talk openly and honestly about white supremacy and white privilege.

The Dynamics of Color and LVA: Lesbians in the Visual Arts  

Community-based groups have thrived on the West Coast. A multi-cultural group of lesbian artists, curators, and commentators has gathered under the umbrella of San Francisco based LVA: Lesbians in the Visual Arts, established in 1990. Photographer and LVA founding director Happy/L.A. Hyder (b. 1947) uses her self-awareness as an American of Lebanese ancestry to encourage diverse participation."

From the Publisher ... "Colorful ... Not Colorblind N/A" - by Tracy Baim (Outlines, Oct. 1, 1997): [85]

As local writer Tiffani Frazier said during Saturday's town meeting on racism in the gay and lesbian community, "We need a world that is colorful, not colorblind." We want to keep our great diversity, not try to force each person to be just like everyone else...

As so many people said on Saturday, we must each be committed first and foremost to eliminating racism in our own lives. That means not stereotyping any one group of people ("All Black people are ... " or "All Asian people are," or even "All white people are ...). It also means making sure white people know that racism is their [our] problem, too...

What are simple steps to reducing racism in the gay, lesbian, bi and trans communities? How can we make our community the model for the rest of the country, the rest of the world? The dialogue which started last Saturday must continue. Organizers will release recommendations and set future meetings. For now, how about some simple steps:...
 

Men of All Colors Together / New York:

Men of All Colors/New York (MACT/NY) is a multiracial, multicultural organization of gay and bisexual men committed to addressing and combating racism and discrimination in the lesbian and gay male community, and to providing a supportive environment for non-oppressive multiracial relating among gay men.
 

Queer Performance Art - by Kyle Young (OutSmart Magazine, article not online anymore.): (14)

The Queer Artist Collective (QuAC) is a new concept in gay activism, especially for Houston. The group of 20-something performance artists are charged to "fearlessly be themselves."  ...The artists have been preparing for the last several months by writing about issues important to them. Wagan says that he has been struggling with racism in the gay community. Through spoken word, music and video, Wagon will explore the issue with the audience.
 

Young Women's Program - Young Tongues (San Francisco City University):

The Young Women's Program at LYRIC, also known as Young Tongues, is a place for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning women 23 and younger to meet other young queer women, volunteer in their community, and hook up to different things going on. Most of the activities are facilitated by young queer women. The weekly rap group is co-facilitated by two young women, and the topics discussed range from coming out to racism in the queer community.
 

Strategic Plan of GLBTCCC at University of California, Santa Cruz (1999-2002): [67]

Acknowledge/address racism in the Queer community: Who: Resource Center and Concerns Committee. When: short (NCBI workshop) to long term. Resource: $ and personal commitment.
 

Queer PAPI Porn: Gay Asian Erotica - edited by Joel Tan: [58]

Queer PAPI Porn marks a milestone in gay literature: the first-ever collection of gay male erotica by Pilipinos, Asians, and Pacific Islanders... Given the racial stereotypes of Asian gay sexualitythat Asian gay men are feminine, physically diminutive, and submissive it seems important to depict real, unsanitized, images of gay Pilipino, Asian, Pacific Islander sex. I want to wrap humanity a body, a character, and a history around the objects of my desire as a response to the racism in the gay community and the homophobia in our own ethnic communities.
 

Radio show is out there for gay community  - by Sara Burrows (News-Star / Booster, June 23, '99): [51]

LesBiGay efforts have also been directed at dealing with problems of racism in the gay community.
 

Gay Men's Multi-Ethnic Association Of South Florida:

South Florida's only social group for professional gay men from all ethnic backgrounds.We are truly multi-ethnic because, as we all know, Life simply isn't a 'black and white' issue. Don't be thrown by our name, this group is more about bringing people together than it is about ethnicity. We want people to know that it's ok to come and be a part of it all no matter who you are or where you're from... Our Mission: To encourage free association and to allow for the expression of ideas that promote friendship, healthy relationships and the spirit of charity among gay men of all ethnic groups.

Coalition Building Among People of Color  - 1993

A discussion with Angela Y. Davis and Elizabeth Martínez... How can different people of color come together to build a coalition when their communities have different needs?...