Photo: Wootang01
Possibly the most under-represented and consistently devalued group in American society is black gay males.
That’s part of what makes this photo essay at ColorLines.com so stunning and rare:
Historically, the Afro American gay male and couple has largely been defined by everyone but themselves. Afro American gay men are ignored into nonexistence in parts of black culture and are basically second class citizens in gay culture. The black church which has historically played a fundamental role in protesting against civil injustices toward its parishioners has been want to deny its gay members their right to live a life free and open without prejudice. Despite public projections of a “rainbow” community living together in harmonious co-habitation, openly active and passive prejudices exist in the larger gay community against gay Afro Americans.
Historian Trent Kelly developed an incredible photo essay of black male couples over the last 140 years from pictures that would seem almost impossible to find. It’s amazing to see photos dating back to the 1920s, and beyond that to the Civil War.
He makes another important historical and contextual point under a comic postcard from the 1930′s:
Same-sex relationships in Africa is nothing new as anthropological and ethnographical observations predating European colonialism reveal. There once was a time when same-sex behavior was accepted as part of the larger arc of human expression and not frowned upon. Same-sex behavior could be accepted and even valued in Africa’s many ethnic tribes. Under the intellectual and Judo-Christian influences of a Europe claiming to have only the best interest of the people always in mind, much of this acceptance and valuation disappeared. One of the myriad reasons used for colonial domination was the so-called immorality of the land’s people—-e.g. evidence of homosexuality.
Be sure to take the time to check out Kelly’s full archive here.
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About the author
Christine Garvin is a health writer who holds an MA in Holistic Health Education and is a certified Nutrition Educator. She writes for and edits the holistic health site, Living Holistically, and co-edits Confronting Love. She spends entirely too many hours on the computer each day, but squeezes in dancing hip-hop and bhangra and doing yoga as much as possible. An avid traveler, she lives just outside of Asheville, NC where new-age-meets-Billy-Graham. Follow her on Twitter @livingwholesoul or on her FB page.
