Before the “homosexual agenda” became the latest term adopted by your awful Facebook friends, it was thought to only be popular among conservative Christians and every now and again, thrown about by the Hotep community. Unfortunately, the myth seems to be growing its wings.
According to your country cousin, gays are invading and performing a coup d’etat on Black masculinity. They argue that “Empire” and Jussie Smollett’s portrayal of Jamal as the ‘prodigal son’ is a validation of him and his “sin,” while Luscious proudly parades around like the Devil himself. Within that awful thing they call a comments section, some have reportedly stopped watching the series because of the amount of sex scenes showcased between Jamal and his boyfriend. Meanwhile, I could play a drinking game and die with the amount of times Hakeem can be found without his shirt or his pants.
If the argument’s not valid on television, it’s argued about hip-hop. Billboard v. Young Thug may have actually been the biggest beef of 2015 (sorry, Meek Mill. Another L for you), thanks to him only selling 19,000 copies of his debut album, Barter 6 and he’s primarily known for his bouts with Lil’ Wayne, The Game and whatever woman seems to enter his life, but according to the Hotep gods, his influence is vast. Thug’s choice of fashion is a statement that being a “cross-dresser” (because people who watched Jerry Springer seem to refer to anyone regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation as such) is a valid lifestyle choice for a Black man.
Jamal on “Empire” is only one of a few Black gay men on network television however, a place where they are more commonly regulated to overly effeminate, exaggerated characterizations of themselves who hold the protagonist’s handbag. Slowly, reality television had advanced far beyond the sitcoms and television shows thanks to Big Freedia, Love & Hip Hop and The Prancing Elites. This fear or danger of something lurking beneath and crafting a show where a gay Olivia Pope-like character is sleeping with a Barack Obama-wannabe President on ABC is as far as the moon in occurring any time soon. I’d bet my money on a Shabba Ranks & Rihanna collabo first.
And while, Young Thug’s fashion may certainly be a statement, he’s not waving a flag anytime soon to assist us. There’s plenty of rappers who still portray that rugged, thug-like aesthetic that you straight men desire so much. That true hip-hop trade and shit.
And stop mentioning Odell Beckham. Let that man dance and be merry.
Clearly, this would be nothing to address if it was just your average Hotep kid arguing to his Ankh. But it’s not anymore. It’s your neighbor, it’s your co-worker, sometimes it’s even a person you admire. People like Umar Johnson, Boyce Watkins and Tariq Nasheed have used their influence and perceived intelligence and relation to Black people to bring the idea of a gay agenda to the forefront. The celebration of gay marriage becoming legal in America last Summer has been shown as a “win” for the entire community, undermining the fact that for many of us Black gay men, we can’t even afford a Ring Pop to propose to someone with.
The argument for these haters is that they are not homophobic. They can accept that people can live lives as they want to or “choose to.” However, when it becomes something that is pushed as the new normal, it’s a threat to kids due to the incessant promiscuity gay men appear to have and the amount of children born to single mothers who aren’t being raised to be “real men.”
But oh don’t let Lil’ Redbone Smollett and Young Thuggery fool you. We are still hiding in closets, that haven’t even been thought to be opened. Meanwhile, Chris Brown is still being as misogynistic as ever and Future is still promoting codeine he doesn’t use. Your favorite shows and sports have only started to acknowledge that gay people exist, but only in particular lenses and doing particular activities. Very rarely does a gay man kiss someone on television, very rarely do you see a Black gay man on television dating someone who looks similar to him and while acceptance of sexual orientation and gender fluidity is becoming mainstream in some regions of America, it’s not enough to exist. We have to be able to actually live.
My partner likened these ashy Black men in fear of this “agenda” to a child being fed a large plate of meat and for once, getting a few pieces of broccoli, and because of it, throwing a temper tantrum. “There’s still plenty of meat on the plate to get high blood pressure with, son!,” my Brooklyn baby proclaimed. The Ashy Larry Brigade will still continue to exist. It will continue to thrive and be praised and given shows by Oprah Winfrey to speak to women and star in hit films and perform on awards shows.
Accepting Laverne Cox as the woman and actress she is and not taking her down or misgendering her because she doesn’t fit into the context of a hero isn’t going to change your Black masculinity. Her acknowledgement of her identity and pride in herself that helps to mentor those like her is not threatening to you thrusting your ego around for 365 days. You can actually accept her and still be perceived as a man. You can do and accept two things at once, guys. Plenty of people twerk in college and graduate with stellar grades. That was my sole mission for the first two years of college.
So, the next time your cousin shares that awful Young Thug meme or speaks loud and wrong on how gays are infiltrating the kids into thinking it’s a suitable lifestyle, remind them that regardless of if their son plays with Barbies or Hot Wheels or hears more August Alsina than Frank Ocean, he could still be reading a bitch for shading Beyoncé on the playground like everyone else.
The tea has been served.
