Over the weekend CNN's Don Lemon moderated a brief panel discussion on homosexuality in the black community during a special presentation on "Black Men In The Age of Obama." The discussion served as a precursor to Lemon's upcoming Gay In America series.
Much of the discussion, unfortunately, centered around the down low and the effect the deceptive behavior is having on the health of black women. Nothing new here. However, Lemmon injects a harsh dose of reality when speaking about a closeted black gay man who refuses to come out for fear of losing his family.
Transcript via Pam's House Blend
Lemon:I was researching something for a story I was doing as part of our Gay in America series, and there was one young man at work who said -- I said, well, do you know anyone who is on the down low who I can interview about what have you? And he said, no one, I couldn't tell you. He said, I am. And I said, why can't you -- why won't you just come out? He said, because my sisters won't love me. They won't accept me. My family won't love me. My family won't accept me. And I say, so you walk around working, pretend that you're straight? And he said, yeah, I have to do that in order to survive. What is that drama?
That drama is the reality for so many black LGBT's who are willing to sacrifice their authenticity, self-esteem, mental, physical, & spiritual health in order to remain bonded to their blood rather than risk losing them by telling the truth. Does anyone else have a problem with this?
After profiling both the black and latino communities it's only appropriate that CNN examines one of the last minorities still fighting for equal treatment under the law. Loldarian.com was contacted earlier this year regarding Gay In America and the producers seem committed to including black LGBT's in the story. Let's hope this is still the case because we sure weren't represented on this panel.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Get into the video below:
0 comments:
Post a Comment