Racism in Predominantly White Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Communities

As with other minorities within minorities, gay Asians face hostility from their own community and from the gay scene they turn to for help... Like gay Christians, gay Tories or even gay football supporters, Rajvir faces ignorance whichever way he turns. Makes you feel proud doesn't it?

It was this double edged sword that prompted him to launch a new youth group that offers an alternative to the scene for Asian people coming out. He wanted to provide an environment where the specific problems faced by gay Asians would be understood. "Other people rarely even think about at lot of these issues," he says, "issues like arranged marriages, the religious and cultural problems concerning homosexuality and the racist gay scene."

This study aims to explore the expression of racism within the gay community. Particular attention will be paid to the experience of using gay venues and services by Black and South Asian gay men, and other men who have sex with men. This focus aims to highlight both the ways in which racism inhibits access to services and the attempts of service providers to address the problem.

Is racism rampant on London's gay scene? According to four white gay men who prefer to date black men, it is. Listening to their stories suggests that although the gay community has had a long history of opression, very little has been learnt. Do those men who expose a worrying and hypocritical current which is widespread on the gay scene, or are their experiences exceptional, and unrepresentitive of the norm? Gary Kelly, who was brought up in Glasgow and moved to London in 1981, had always dated white men. His sexual preference was only called into question when, in 1998 at the age of 35, he began dating black men. With much anger he recalls this period.... 32 year old Jonathon Weeb from Norwich moved to London in his twenties was also aware of a prevailing racism on the scene there. "I noticed that some white men didn't even like black gay men going to the gay clubs..." When listening to these men, one gets the feeling that they have all felt like outsiders in the gay community before they began dating black men. If this is true then the term "gay community" is a misnomer... For those of you who do not know, chocoholic is a modern derogatory term, much like dinge queen, for a gay white male attracted to black homosexuals... When people call me a dinge queen, they're saying I go out with dirty people. Gay people don't like to be labelled and stereotyped yet we white gay people do more labelling than any other group in the world. Dinge queen, rice queen, curry queen..." The stories we have heard are speclative, anectodal reflections from a handful of men in a city with a gay population nearing a million, so they cannot be read as definitive...

Sex and race have a sullied history with roots in the oppression of darker-skinned peoples by Europeans. Racism is an inescapable feature of most cultures (not only white ones) and sex can be used as a tool to exercise power over one race by another. Sexual racism has various forms, varying from a repulsion for people of colour sexually, to an attitude that regards them as ‘exotic’ conquests. Specifically, the stereotype of black men as being well-endowed and having a virility that is semi-animalistic is just as common among white gay men as it is in white society at large; black gay men are therefore presumed to be ‘active’ by many of those who would bed them. (Opposition to this attitude has led in some cases to the automatic criticism of any representation of black gay men in an active sexual role.) Similarly, prevalent stereotypes of south east Asian gay men are also based on sexual objectification; viewing them as inherently ‘passive’ (an attitude related to the
heterosexual stereotypes of south east Asian women).

David McAlmont: "" 'I thought when I first came out, the gay community would be an enlightened one. But racism's rife in the gay community. Going into bars with a white person and buying drinks and watching your change handed back to the white person you're with. Queens that say they don't sleep with black people. White men who are exclusively into black men. It rears its ugly head all the time'."

In the Pink paper for August 27th is a letter from a guy who has found in his words 'unrepentant anti asian antagonism' on the gay scene. He claims to have been called a 'paki' an 'aotola' and a 'dirty arab'... I'm not saying it does not exist, just that my experience is pretty positive. I am not poor but I am not rich, I'm just an average guy like most people of most races living in this city. Perhaps the writer should try some new places to hang out.

“Within the black and Asian communities there is a general assumption of homosexuality being a white experience and this is intensified by a similar assumption within the lesbian and gay community,” said a Blackliners spokesman... “They sometimes face direct and subtle forms of racism and discrimination from both their own and white communities, and from HIV organisations, said a spokesman from the project. Blackliners, which is based in Brixton, has launched a program targeted at black and Asian men. It offers counselling not only for HIV and AIDS, but also for problems they face with discrimination, sexually or racially... It was the UK’s first festival of Asian lesbian and gay art. Its contributing artists hope it will be able to influence attitudes towards gay Asians in their own community on the issue of homosexuality in the UK, as well as in South Asia.

Being Asian in a predominantly Anglo environment is often difficult enough, but for an Asian gay man the pressures of being accepted are even harsher. Arthur Chen shares his experience about being a double minority in London.

I came to the making of videos and films from a background in political activism and cultural practice, not from film or art school, writes Pratibha Parmar... When my family, like many other Indian families, arrived in the UK in the mid-60s, anti-black feelings were running high, and Paki-bashing’ was a popular sport amongst white youths. It was in the school playground that I first encountered myself as an undesirable alien, objectified in the frame of ‘otherness’. All those of us perceived as ‘marginal’, ‘peripheral’ and the ‘other’ know what it is like to be defined by someone else's reality - and often someone else’s psychosis. I do not speak from a position of marginalisation - but more crucially from the resistance to that marginalisation. As a filmmaker, it is important for me to reflect on the process through which I constantly negotiate the borderlines between shifting territories . . . between the margin and the centre . . . between inclusion and exclusion . . between visibility and invisibility. For, example, as lesbians and gays of colour, we have had to constantly negotiate and challenge the racism of the white gay community, and at the same time confront the homophobia of communities of colour.

Conference notes: 4) that the Macpherson Report acknowledged what black communities have always known - that racism and other forms of discrimination are institutionalised within Britain; 5) that lesbians, black lesbians and gay men and disabled lesbians and gay men face layers of oppression and as such are more often the targets of hatred...

Conference applauds UNISON’s support for the anti-racist football campaign ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ which is starting to have an impact on racism in football.

[Note: Other references to racism are made, but none with respect to 'institutionalized racism' also existing in gay and lesbian communities and that related issues should maybe be addressed.]

National UNISON Conference: Black and disabled lesbian and gay members -
UNISON is committed to fair representation in all its structures and work. To make sure the concerns of black and disabled lesbian and gay members reach the conference agenda, there will be national pre-meetings for these two groups. A national meeting of disabled lesbian and gay members will be held on 8 September and a national meeting of black lesbian and gay members will be on 9 September 2000.

"True Colours" is a two week programme of events focussing on how Irish society can be more inclusive of ethnic minorities including Travellers and refugees and asylum seekers.
Event: "Racism in the Lesbian Community", Seminar examining intersection of racism and homophobia - Organisation: Cairde Corcaigh - Contact: Orla Egan 021-316449 - Venue: 14 George's Quay Cork. November 20, 1999.

‘You would have to be blind not to see examples of racism on our streets every day.’

That racism exists in gay communities comes as a surprise to those who assume that a people who experience prejudice and discrimination will not discriminate against other groups. This is far from the truth. Racism in gay culture takes many forms: from the physical and sexual stereotyping of men of African and Asian descent to the failure to recognise and take into account the life-experiences of individuals and communities who have been discriminated against.

The term is also more loosely used - particularly as the derogatory word ‘racist’ - to describe any negative or destructive action precipitated by prejudice against another person’s race or colour. In this sense, it is stripped of its political meanings derived from shared histories of oppression and becomes an adjective of antipathy used by anybody, regardless of their power-status. Thus it is possible for a black man to be racist if he attacks a white man y because he is white.

"Black gay men do encounter racism in the gay community very similar to black men in the heterosexual community," asserts Quinones of stereotypes and prejudice and a responsibility the gay scene has yet to face. "It's interesting to note that many black gay men want white partners for the same reasons that black straight men do: because they see it almost as a prize. And many gay white men - or those I've met - hold equally stereotypical views of black men: that they have huge dicks and fuck like donkeys!"

France

Le malaise face au racisme larvé qui s'exprime dans certains cercles gays est aussi fréquemment évoqué. "On se trouve en permanence confronté à un rejet ou à la fascination exotique de notre spécificité maghrébine", explique un medecin membre de l'association qui dit ne pas supporter" le cartésianisme et la rigidité" de la communauté homosexuelle française. Certains affirment se sentir "pris au piège du tout sexuel et utilitaire, avec l'image de l'Arabe inferieur...Etre utilisé comme objet sexuel dans une société frustrée, n'est, en aucun cas, une forme de reconnaissance."

La place qui leur est accordee dans la fantasmatique est inversement proportionnelle a la reconnaissance sociale qui leur est refusée. A l'heure ou resurgit un discours qui fleure son Gobineau sur l'inegalite des races, comment peut-on être black ou beur et homosexuel ? Enquete sur une minorité dans une minorité...

L’Arabe, c’est une autre civilisation, redoutable: l’Islam. Autant de clichés mal digérés gisant dans des profondeurs si infréquentables que même les bonnes intentions ont du mal à faire disparaître. Voyons la langue, cette autre vitrine. On ne dit plus “nègre” - et Dieu merci. On ne dit plus “noir”, mais “black”. Est-ce parce qu’on choisit un mot anglais qui recouvre la même notion que l’on se lave de toute accusation de racisme ?

La langue, qui est censée nommer la réalité, s’acharne ici à la recouvrir et à la rendre plus lointaine encore, en prétendant rendre bienveillant celui qui parle. Ne pas être raciste, ce n’est pas dire “black” au lieu de “noir” - le procédé serait bien grossier et trop facile. La même chose vaut pour le mot “beur”, trouvaille de Djemila, l’une des figures de la nuit des années 80, verlan trafiqué du mot “arabe”. C’est vrai que dans “arabe”, se profilent tous les clichés du Sarrasin et tout l’univers déplaisant évoqué plus haut et qu’il est sans doute plus rassurant d’utiliser d’autres mots.

Ainsi, lorsque je dis “black”, j’évacue tout un pan de la question : le noir n’est plus noir, puisqu’il est black et moi, je ne suis donc plus raciste. Et en disant “beur”, j’ai nié toute une spécificité et anéanti toute une civilisation. J’ai blanchi le noir comme on se blanchit d’un soupçon et j’ai européanisé l’Arabe. Belle victoire...

Australia:

A Sociological Analysis of Gay Racism and Its Affect on
Asian Men in HIV Social Research in Australia.
Unpublished Thesis, Dept of Sociology,
School of Social Sciences and Humanities,
Murdoch University, 2000
by
Carl Gopalkrishnan (Home Page)

Page for Thesis Download. - Or: Download Directly as PDF Files!
Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and his Afterthoughts.
More Information about the Gay Racism Situation In Autralia

AVP calls for local action to address racism & sexual racism

The AVP marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Sunday 21st March 2004) by calling for local GLBT action to address racism
and sexual racism which Co-Convenors Jilll Wood & Greg Adkins said "excludes people & forces some of our brothers & sisters to be invisible - almost like forcing them back into a closet all over again".

Over and out: anti-gay Malaysian culture sent doctor to Sydney - by Brigid Delaney, Sidney Morning Herald, March 6, 2004

He says Asian gay males face prejudices on a number of levels. "Many gays in Asian countries lead a double life because there is no visibility of a gay scene. And in Australia, there is prejudice in the gay scene itself towards a lot of Asian men. They are treated as being submissive and there is quite a bit of racism." Dr Mahat hopes to counter this through projects run by the Asian Marching Boys. "It's not just dancing on a float," he said. "We have fund-raising and social events to support Asian gays in Sydney and promote their visibility. There are many of us. We no longer want to be a hidden community."

Wayne King: A Life in Progress: Interview - by Crusader Hillis (Screaming Hyena, August, 1998): [5]

Wayne King's book Black Hours describes his life as a boy in Ipswich, one of 14 children, and his growth into adulthood... "I was seventeen when Charles Perkins was doing his freedom rides throughout the New South Wales outback towns. We had always known there was racism, and when this was brought to the fore, all these people were sitting behind their walls at home in total denial, saying 'isn't this bad, tut, tut. But it's not us." ...Wayne King encountered as much racism in the gay community as in the general community, which he describes as a "double whammy for me as a gay man and as an Aboriginal... "Growing up gay was a dreadful time for me. The [gay] community was smaller, but in some ways it was more nurturing. Your sexuality is a part of who you are. To deny a part of you the whole cannot be healthy. It was easier for me to come to terms with being gay than with being Aboriginal...

Un-Ghosting the Gay Asian Male - by David Lim, Amida Magazine, 5(2), April / May. 1999: [53]

In this scheme of things, I can hardly be more ‘Other’ as a Gay Asian Male (GAM) in Australia’s mainstream gay community (unless perhaps if I were a paraplegic refugee GAM with zero spending power). So ‘Other’ in fact that the GAM is - fractionally depending on how closely he approximates the western representation of masculinity - almost always immediately marginalised... But more often than not, it is a ‘ghosting’ sort of racism that reduces the GAM into a nonentity. Made invisible on the basis of colour alone, the GAM has few options but to hover like a dejected ghost at the margins of the predominantly white middle-class gay community... Similarly, if just about a whole brainwashed gay community is convinced of your inherent inferiority and then treats you accordingly, your self-image is bound to be at least a little affected... Honestly, GAMs do not need to cope with the extra hell of racial discrimination on top of having to deal with study stress, loneliness, dietary problems and a whole load of other predicaments that overseas students often encounter. And they certainly do not need the potential humiliation of being turned into ghost lovers and underground concubines by Gay White Men (GWMs) whose racist social response to GAMs can be the direct opposite of their private response... “I want to have sex with you. But it has to be discreet.” In truth, the GWM is thinking: “I really find you attractive, but I can’t allow my friends to find out about our ‘relationship’ lest they think less of me.” ...Regardless of whether or not multiculturalism is a benign phase of white supremacy, I am not going to be grateful for the scraps left on the table.

Within the gay community, stereotypical thinking can be quite problematic such as the common belief that Asian men are passive and feminine. Cultural ignorance and Anglocentrism are problematic... Many NESB MSM also experience racism within the gay community: "This man cornered me in the toilet and demanded I suck his dick, when I said no he punched me in the face and told me to fuck off and go back to my commie homeland where all you nips belonged." ...On occasion, the racism may become overt with some men, particularly Asians, being the subject of minor physical assaults and threats of physical intimidation...

Objectification and exoticisation are also concerns... 3. A power dynamic exists between Caucasian and non-Caucasian men in the Australian gay community, which is detrimental to the social and sexual situations many Asian gay men are in. 4. This leaves many Asian gay men with fewer options regarding sexual partners and behaviours and/or less able to be assertive than many Caucasian men.

Addressing issues of Aboriginal gayness means challenging reductive framings of Aboriginality without co-opting the struggles named from within. It means supporting Aboriginal gay men across the site of the struggle. It means doing work on racism in the gay community. These are challenges for educators at all levels of schooling and in all aspects of adult education. These are challenges that must be met by teacher educators...

Gay Aboriginal men, Aboriginal men who identify as homosexual, are beginning to tell their stories. Through an analysis of the intersections of race and sexuality, and through the personal stories, gay Aboriginal men are empowered to confront racism in the gay community and homophobia in the Aboriginal community. There is a challenge to confront the invisibility of Aboriginal men who are gay, for as Black American Joseph Beam writes: "Very clearly, gay male means: white, middle-class, youthful, and probably butch; there is no room for Black gay men within the confines of this gay pentagon. There are many reasons for such Black gay invisibility. Hard words come to mind: power, racism, conspiracy, oppression, and privilege - each deserving a full-fledged discussion in gay history books yet unwritten." (Beam 1986, pp. 14-15)

It remains a general fact that there is a racially exclusive image of gay reality... Michael and all the other Aboriginal and Tones Strait Islander interviewees and informants spoke about their experience of racism and sense of exclusion in the Sydney gay community... It would be nice to go to a gay dinner party without sitting there and explaining the fuckin' Aboriginal culture to them . . . you know . . . go and fucking find out yourself. They always put that Aboriginal thing first before you become a 'friend' or a 'person'. You know you're Aboriginal first and then you're whoever you are... ust because you are gay doesn't mean that you are not racist . . . it is something I learned about when it came to the crunch . . . I've come across a lot of racism within the gay community...

The racism in the Sydney gay community was an issue with most of the Aboriginal interviewees. Although recently some steps have been taken by gay community bodies to combat this, and Aboriginal gays and lesbians themselves have increasingly raised their profile in community events, it remains an issue that requires further gay community response. Many interviewees felt that apart from the racism they experienced 'on the ground', there was a general failure on the part of gay community organisations to promote dialogue and confront their concerns. Some felt that any initiatives had to start with an acceptance of a culturally appropriate 'Aboriginal way' of doing things.

A special 1999 issue of the "Journal of Homosexuality" reports on GLBT people of colour in Australia. References to racism (in some cases, in the abstract) are made in many of the papers published in Volume 36(3/4) of the journal. All papers published are listed below. Also published as the book, Multicultural Queer: Australian Narratives - by Hawworth Press:

Dong TB (1999). Multicultural queer: Australian narratives. Foreword. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 1-28. (No Abstract)

Sullivan G, Jackson PA (1999). Introduction: ethnic minorities and the lesbian and gay community. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 1-28. (No Abstract)

Chuang K (1999). Using chopsticks to eat steak. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 29-41. (Abstract) ""Rice queens," "small dicks," and "Asian take-aways," are just a few of the stereotypes that Asian gay men are faced with in Sydney's gay culture. Even though the author grew up in and quickly assimilated to the general Australian society, he felt like an outsider when he came out and moved into the gay community, where race-based sexual perceptions appear to dominate. This article is a personal exploration of how one Asian gay man came to find a place for himself within the predominantly white-oriented gay community. For the benefit of linguistically challenged readers, a glossary of Australian terms is provided at the end of this very serious article."

Ridge D, Hee A, Minichiello V (1999). "Asian" men on the scene: challenges to "gay communities". Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 43-68. (Abstract) "This article examines common assumptions behind the notion of "gay community," contrasting these views with the experiences of homosexual men originating from Southeast Asia on the commercial gay scene in Melbourne, Australia... While all men who look for a place to belong on the scene generally feel pressure to assimilate to a predominantly white middle-class gay culture, Southeast Asian men generally had more cultural distance to cover. Men who are not well assimilated face exclusion, invisibility and discrimination.

Sanitioso R (1999). A social psychological perspective on HIV/AIDS and gay or homosexually active Asian men. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 69-85. (Abstract) "the existence of stereotypes of Asians in the gay communities and their consequences on individual Asians"

Ayres T (1999). China doll - the experience of being a gay Chinese Australian. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 87-97. (Abstract) "This article is a stylized blend of personal history and polemical essay which investigates the relationship between race and sexuality. What starts out as a history of the narrator's experience of being a "banana"-yellow (Chinese) on the outside and white (Caucasian) on the inside-becomes a complex exploration of the various ways in which male homosexual desire is constructed and how race is both included and excluded from western constructions of homosexuality."

Chua LY (1999). The cinematic representation of Asian homosexuality in The Wedding Banquet. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 99-112. (Abstract) "Over the last decade, there has been an increasing number of western films which represent both homosexuals and Asian people. However, the homosexuals depicted in these films are often white, and the Asians are almost always heterosexual."

Goldflam A (1999). Queerer than queer: reflections of a Kike dyke. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 113-34. (Abstract) "racist policies in queer venues"

Yue A (1999). Interface: reflections of an ethnic toygirl. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 135-42. (Abstract)

Burstin HE (1999). Looking out, looking in: anti-semitism and racism in lesbian communities. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 143-57. (Abstract) "This article is based on a speech which I gave at the "Sappho Was A Wog Grrrl" conference organized by the Interlesbian group in Melbourne in 1995. I discuss how racism and anti-Semitism are reflected in lesbian communities, examining issues of privilege, invisibility and exclusion from both personal and community perspectives." [Note: Reference to this conference were not avialable on the Internet.]

Kizinska R (1999). A love letter from NADIA (non-anglo dykes in Australia). Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 159-68. (Abstract) "This article is a revised version of a paper I presented at the "Sappho Was A Wog Grrrl" conference in Melbourne, 22 October 1995, which was organized by "Interlesbian," a Melbourne-based political and support group for lesbians from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds (NESB)."

Duruz A (1999). Sister outsider, or "just another thing I am": intersections of cultural and sexual identities in Australia. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 169-82. (Abstract)

Pallotta-Chiarolli M (1999). Diary entries from the "teachers' professional development playground": multiculturalism meets multisexualities in Australian education..Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 183-205. (Abstract)

Offord B, Cantrell L (1999). Unfixed in a fixated world: identity, sexuality, race and culture. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(3-4): 207-20. (Abstract)

Canada

van der Meide, Wayne (2001). The Intersection of Sexual Orientation & Race: Considering the Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (GLBT) People of Colour & Two-Spirited People. (A Research Paper prepared for EGALE Canada) (Full Text) Excerpts.

van der Meide, Wayne (2001). Carrefour De L’orientation Sexuelle Et De L’Origine Ethnique. : Comprendre La Vie Des Personnes Gaies, Lesbiennes, Bisexuelles, Transsexuelles Et Transgenres (GLBTT) De Couleur Ainsi Que Bi-Spirituelles. (Document de recherche préparé pour ÉGALE Canada) Rapport complet.

van der Meide, Wayne (2001). La Intersección de la Orientación Sexual y la Raza: Considerando las Experiencias de Personas Gays, Lesbianas, Bisexuales y Transgénero (“GLBT”) de Color y de Personas de Doble Espíritu. (Documento de Investigación Preparado por EGALE Canadá.) Informe completo.

van der Meide, Wayne (2002). The Intersections Of Sexual Orientation, Race, Religion, Ethnicity And Heritage Languages: The State Of Research. (A Literature Review & Research Backgrounder Prepared for: Canadian Heritage, Multiculturalism Program.) PDF Download. Excerpts.

Conerly maintains that many 'African-American lesbigays' experience conflict between their two identities because 'they perceive racism among white lesbigays and homophobia among heterosexual blacks' (1996: 136).⁽²⁾ As a consequence, many black gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals do not feel fully accepted in either community. Moreover, the conflict between their identities is often intensified by a lack of overlap - or sometimes by an overt antagonism - between 'mostly white lesbigay cultures' and 'mostly heterosexual black cultures' (1996: 137). Conerly explains that this separation leaves black gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals in a dilemma: they may choose to move between the two cultures (and thus between their identities) or to choose a primary affiliation with either culture (thus emphasizing one identity at the expense of the other).⁽³⁾

Andy Quan: Inspiration comes in different forms and at different times. For many of the stories in Calendar Boy, they are simply about observing and understanding the world, finding my place in it, and telling my story since others weren't telling it. Many stories were written to tackle not only prejudice within the gay community, but to tackle simplicity. To counter all the ways that society expects individuals to either be all the same, or to remain with a particular identity or construct. So, I want to raise issues that people might not have thought about--racism in gay culture, sexual prejudice--in a way that makes people look at how we form communities, how we identify ourselves and how we value ourselves.

I also want to shape gay culture so that it is not a uniformly gay white urban existence dripping in camp and Bette Davis movies. I don't think being gay or straight is a particularly "natural" thing. We learn how to act accord ing to the codes of the worlds we line in. So, I want those elements too, not just a celebration of a gay culture, but a challenge to it as well: how do we make it more diverse, more accepting. I also want to show a particularly gay or gay Asian experience and let people place that within universal stories--friendship, jealousy, loneliness.

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

...Rahim Chunara is a Muslim who was raised in East Africa and moved to Canada when he was in his teens... "It wasn't until I moved to Canada that I was able to put it into a context," he said. Yet even then, he found that minorities were not represented in the gay and lesbian press, and gays were not represented in the ethnic press.

Moreover, as people of colour in Canada, ACMSM has to deal with the systematic racism in the general society and gay community. For example, in North American gay media, positive gay Asian images are usually under represented. However, when it is presented, Asian men are portrayed in a stereotype, such as subserviant and helpless. This myth is very harmful because if an individual internalizes these messages, it will prevent him from asking what he needs when negotiating safer sex with his partner...

This month's rant has four key premises: (1) racism is a pernicious problem, (2) the voices of those affected by prejudice need to be heard, (3) white folks must also participate honestly in the healing dialogue, and (4) I can most helpfully elaborate on premise number 3. Race prejudice is one of the greatest obstacles to a true community of queer folk. Sadly, our collectivity can be as marred by discrimination, stereotyping and outright hatred as society at large. Same-sex community gets formed--or thwarted--largely on the basis of erotic desire; racism needs to be tackled here,
on the level of our core libidinal scripts... Erotic disinterest in an entire race reveals the deep psychic imprint of prejudice; the good news is that sexual racism can be unlearned. The link between racialized eroticism and more blatant forms of racism have recently been brought home for me, in light of my young black friend's experience. "Damien" is 19 and Caribbean and looking for a boyfriend. He wasn't having much luck going out to the bars..

What about support from the gay community? Now you would think that other gay people, being oppressed and all, would be open-minded and accepting, right? Wrong. Here's where it gets ugly. Although there are lots of wonderful queer people out there, I've probably experienced the most racism from the gay community. I've heard some of the most amazing things like Asian men were never meant to be fashionable, they are ugly, they're all too skinny, Asian women rule but Asian men suck, they all have bad breath, they should go back to their own country, they are too passive, their dicks are too small. They say this to my face, not meaning to hurt me, but to say "you're different." The last time I heard something like that it began with, "I'm not homophobic, but...."

I don't like the clubs, which really limits my options in terms of meeting other queer people. A friend of mine told me to try the Internet, and I did-for two days before I found out that the only way I could get any decent conversation was to describe myself as white and hung like a horse. If I mentioned the word "Asian" it was like, oops sorry gotta wash my hair. The worst thing is, it's never talked about because it's uncomfortable for gay people to admit that as oppressed people, they themselves can be oppressors.

It gets worse. Most of my gay Asian friends refuse to date anyone who is Asian; they have fallen into the same trap. When I was single, my friends attributed it to me being Asian. If you were white, you'd have men all over you. Asian gay men can literally be called a brotherhood, since nobody dates each other. When I asked for an image of a perfect man, I got all kinds of shapes and sizes, but only one colour-white. Having a white boyfriend, they don't have to look into a mirror, reminding them of what they are. They try to pull a Michael Jackson, but they do it to their minds. The Asian identity is being bleached. I myself have not been immune to this kind of thinking. When I first came out, I learned very quickly that being white was an advantage. The benefit to that advantage was just trying to find people to talk to, just for support. Everyone wants beautiful friends I guess, and I just wasn't it.

Bombarded by the ideal image of beauty, thanks to GQ and the plethora of other "fashion guides," I hated the way I looked, I hated my hair, my nose, my eyes, and my skin. It took years of deprogramming to get the "white was better" idea out of my head, and I had to do that by myself because there aren't a lot of people out there who are gay and Asian and proud.

As a result of all this, I never felt like I fit in anywhere. I am a minority within a minority. But my situation has allowed me to see more points of view than just one, to see three-dimensionally. I can see that if we don't acknowledge the diversity of the queer community, then the queer community will follow the pattern of another much larger group that were once (and in some places still are) oppressed themselves and now seek to homogenise their own following. I cannot be homogenised. Acknowledging that humans are diverse is why we need Queer Awareness Week.

"Then there's the notion that gay men are so much less racist because they "know what it's like to be oppressed." Yeah. Right. That's like assuming all people of colour are queer-friendly. There are plenty of gay men who think that racism's not so bad as homophobia. Whatever. Let's not compare the size of our oppressions, shall we? That's rather divisive.

I'm not trying to say that all gay white men are racist or misogynist. What I am saying is that the community is fragmented, not because the marginalised want to fragment the community, but because they've been marginalised by it. All the major gay organisations are white and run events mostly for those who are white. All the advertising towards the queer community is directed at the men in that community. Women, disabled, people of colour, we're all invisible in our own community.

And you're all thinking to yourself: "Why the hell is he on his high-horse?" Well, it's because I'm sick of people saying that the gay community is so tolerant and inclusive when it patently isn't. I say this not because I want to jump up and down and talk about the sky falling. I say this because something needs to change.

South Africa:

The aim of this article is to provide us with and opportunity to reflect on some of the issues we have since discarded and believed to have been dealt with and hence no longer a priority. Simply, to promote a healthy discussion of homophobia and racism... For many black lesbians and gay men, an article of this kind is long overdue. Black lesbians and gay men have been put in the position of challenging both homophobia and racism within communities that are meant to provide support, nurturing and love. All too often individual black lesbians and gay men have complained about particular examples of racism or homophobia and have been subjected to personal attack and ridicule. One should be praised for being brave, but instead black lesbians and gay men find themselves fighting on two fronts and being shot by both sides... There is a belief that "homosexuality is a white disease". It is not an overstatement to say that many members of the black community think that black lesbians and gay men have "caught" this disease from white people. Thinking that homosexuality is a "white thing" is partially based on the fact that most of the images of lesbians and gay men in the media are white...

Racism in the white lesbian and gay communities.. Despite frequent calls by black lesbians and gay men to have our issues recognised, too often they have been ignored, and if taken into consideration at all, they have been marginalised. This racism is all too apparent in both the political and cultural activities of the lesbian and gay community... When black lesbians and gay men turn to the lesbian and gay community, they are often met with racism from their white counterparts. They may be met with white lesbians and gay men who do not understand their cultural background, find them sexually "exotic", cannot be bothered to spell their names properly and have no understanding of how racism has affected their lives. In extreme cases, they are not made to feel welcome at cultural or political gatherings... This means that often black workers are put in the position of always having to prove that they are worthy of the job. They have to be better than their white counterparts. This is because racist attitudes in white people tell them that black people are stupid, lazy and generally inferior. Since the advent of equal opportunities and affirmative action, many white people assume that black people are only employed because they are black... Recommendations... Many lesbian and gay organisations and groups are not welcoming to black lesbians and gay men. These groups should look whether black lesbians and gay men are represented in all levels of the organisation, as users, volunteers, workers and management members. If black people are not there then they should find out why they are not participating.

Almost ten years after South Africa adopted a constitution considered to be the most gay-friendly in the world, there is still a huge divide between official legal rights and the dangerous homophobia some people face daily, particularly in black African communities. Indeed, while white gay and lesbian South Africans have created burgeoning communities that rival gay life in Europe or America, black South Africans find that a mix of prejudice, tribalism, economics and geography continue to deprive them of being part of the new gay South Africa, and of seizing the benefits of their remarkable constitution... Now, she says, her family is quietly supportive, but never actually speaks about her being a lesbian. Kheswa is thankful even for that subdued support. The prevailing attitude, she says, "is that homosexuality is not African, that it is a white thing." Many men believe that raping a lesbian will "cure" her, says Kheswa. Male rape is also a danger, she reports, and says that Soweto's gay and lesbian community has suffered 5 rapes in the past two months. However, few gays or lesbians report rapes or beatings because "the attitude of the police is that we either provoked it or we deserve it."

While white gay and lesbian South Africans fight for things like parental rights and marriage rights, black gay and lesbian South Africans are still struggling for the basics. The top two issues for black gays and lesbians, says Kheswa, are physical safety and finding comfortable places to meet socially. While Johannesburg has a plethora of gay bars and gay-friendly restaurants, most of those venues are hard for black gays and lesbians to frequent. Just getting to them is a chore... She also said that many bars ask blacks for their "membership cards." When they can't produce these non-existent ID's, they are denied entrance. "There is still a lot of racism against blacks from whites," she says. "Black and white gays live in two different worlds. It's almost as if there is gay apartheid." Even white gay and lesbian activists acknowledge the divide. Evert Knoesen of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Project concedes that integrating whites and blacks in the community "remains a big issue."

And Nodi Murphy, the director of Out in Africa, South Africa's gay and lesbian film festival, concedes that the audience for the film festival is "largely male, and almost exclusively white." She attributes that to economics and transportation issues, but says she is "working on reaching out" to black gays and lesbians by packaging groups of films and sending them to local communities where they might be shown, even possibly without charge. A significant stumbling block, she says, is that many local black gay and lesbian communities don't have a place to show the films... Most gay and lesbian people socialize in their homes at private parties, says Kheswa. In all of Soweto there is only one "gay-friendly" establishment, a place called Wandee's... "For the first few years after apartheid, there was a huge push forward," she says. "But now, I worry that we [in the black gay and lesbian community] have stagnated. We can't afford to be content with things. We still have so much more to do."

South Africa's gays are enjoying a new era of freedom in cities 10 years after the end of apartheid, but black and coloured homosexuals in townships and villages are still victims of discrimination and hate attacks... the lot of poorer homosexuals had not changed much.... how gay rights in South Africa translate into real life for people living in rural areas and townships. "Many black people are accused of being un-African and are victimised when it is found out they are gay. Life has not changed much for them in the past decade." ...However, the new legislation does not translate into reality for many. Dawn Betteridge, a member of the Triangle Project, which provides counselling to gays, said most hate attacks take place in rural areas and townships and are never reported... However, the well-heeled urbanites are basking in their new freedom... In stark contrast to its neighbours, Namibia and Zimbabwe, whose leaders have accused homosexuals of being "worse than pigs" and "un-African", South Africa has actively tried try to attract gay tourists to its shores... "About 10 percent of tourists who visit Cape Tours are gay and the city actively encourages this," she said. "Gay people know they are welcome here and that they can have a peaceful visit."

February 17, 2003: The lightning of racism within the black and white LGBT community struck right to my heart this afternoon... The black and white LGBT community has successfully pretended to solve the problem of racism by convincing black LGBT people they are just the same as white people. Just because there are some mixed-race couples does not mean that blacks and whites are equal in the community. In social spaces black LGBT people still suffer today and are constantly working to assert themselves in the Apartland. Even though racism was made illegal, it still exists in the mouths and minds of people in our community. Black queer people are completely discriminated against, not only by whites but by other non-whites in social spaces, and on top of that we are hated by the straight black majority which rules the country...

In the absence of our own spaces, black queer, gay and lesbian people have to conform to white gay stereotypes or to go to straight clubs - either way they cannot express themselves as black and gay. We have only just begun to deal with the issue of racism and hatred but there are other issues in the black gay community too. Gay and lesbian people continue to be beaten, abused and stripped of their rights. Other gay and lesbian people who think they've "made it" support that abuse and champion hatred against black queers by spending their money with the racist clubs. Many of the laws have changed so that, legally, it is not permissible to discriminate against anyone on the basis of race in South Africa. Racism among LGBT people still exists however and despite what the law says, can I really make the police force them to let me in? ...

I am very tired of my so-called "rainbow community" deserting others in need. The moral of the story? There is no light at the end of the tunnel of racism. There is no "making it." So listen up you white snobbish queens, you Pink Agenda book editors, you religious mis-leader's, you safe sex educating campaigns, you elitists, you prudes, you traitors, you homophobic politicians and you white racist bar owners.

As long as one person is discriminated against because of the colour of his/her skin in this LGBT rainbow flying flag, that you carry on Pride, as long as a black young gay man is being turned away at Venom or any gay club for that matter; as long as lesbian women are being raped, beaten or oppressed in this so-called "new" South Africa, the struggle is not over.

As long as we cling to our dompas club membership cards for affirmation, we have not "made it" and we are not free, don't let history repeat itself and remember, what goes around comes around.

Nel completely disagrees. "Networking is not happening," he says, and puts it down to "total racism in the gay community".

The black and white LGBT community has successfully pretended to solve the problem of racism by convincing black LGBT people they are just the same as white people. Just because there are some mixed-race couples does not mean that blacks and whites are equal in the community. In social spaces black LGBT people still suffer today and are constantly working to assert themselves in the Apartland. Even though racism was made illegal, it still exists in the mouths and minds of people in our community. Black queer people are completely discriminated against, not only by whites but by other non-whites in social spaces, and on top of that we are hated by the straight black majority which rules the country...

Networking is not happening not because of "total racism in the gay community" (that word again), but simply because there is little or no desire on the part of gay white South Africans to embrace (literally or metaphorically) their black brothers and sisters.

Sisters of any type, incidentally, as the majority of gay men have little or nothing in common with gay women. If this is racism and homophobia, then I suspect we are all more than a little racist and homophobic. Sad, but nonetheless true, I fear. Incidentally, I suspect that a majority of gay people take wholly for granted our constitutional protection, for which so few fought so hard.

Racism in the gay community is not a new problem and in the mid 1980s South Africa was kicked out of the International Gay and Lesbian Organisation (Ilga) for that reason. Simon Nkoli stepped forward as the mediator and South Africa was allowed back into the global organisation in the early 1990s... It was however not until the forming of the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE) in the early 1990s, however, that a truly non-racial, non-sexist queer organisation was born. The NCGLE still largely relies on foreign donors to survive and has found very little support among the economically powerful white gay community. The local white community remains deeply racist.

The existence of racism, sexism and homophobia in society has meant that the experiences of black lesbians are rarely articulated. The 'herstory' of lesbians which has been uncovered, recorded and celebrated is predominantly about white middle class women. It is important for black lesbians to begin documenting their own contribution to the movement before it is lost. In South Africa it is an important one, albeit invisible at present due to an inherited past of racism and homophobia.

The lesbian community encompasses many minorities, complicating still further a question of identity. Many African lesbians have concluded that they must subordinate their lesbian identity to their racial or ethnic loyalty; other still feel unwelcome in white lesbian communities. Working class lesbians often do not identify with the ideological and feminist preoccupations of their middle class sisters...

Moreover, a problem for African lesbians is the issue of racism in the lesbian community itself. Black lesbians are oppressed on both an institutional and personal level. The racism which comes from other lesbians is often the hardest to deal with. White lesbians, regardless of whether or not they define themselves as feminists or socialists, often cling to the privileges they have due to being white. This racism is present everywhere: at political gatherings, nightclubs and even in the bedroom. White lesbians often have the same racist stereotypes of black women as the rest of the white population. In the gay community in Pretoria there have been incidents of racism at clubs and at conferences where white people tend to dominate discussion. Many organisations that are meant to represent lesbians essentially ignore black issues. In South Africa this is changing rapidly, although there are still a disproportionate number of white lesbians represented. This was evident in the focus group done for this research - with only 20% of the group being black. Often black lesbians do not feel comfortable speaking up in a predominantly white group, and often experience problems of language and translation as well. Because the focus group was held in English, black respondents were expected to express themselves in a second - or third - language. This definitely places restrictions on the degree to which black lesbians can participate.

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

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