While society may seem more acceptable of LGBTQ communities, this is not the case for many queer people who are recognized as minorities in the country. Queer people of color face different issues.
In the Latinx community, the term Machismo is a well known term and is used to define hyper masculine, aggressive traits of a Latino man and gives these men a stereotypical role that many try to accommodate. Those Latinx individuals who come out to their families step out of the roles defined by machismo and especially traditional faith-based religions. In “Is Gay Marriage Anti-Black?,” Kenyon Farrow describes how the issue of gay marriage seems to be influenced by notions of Christian Rights. Take, for instance, the music industry. Mainstream entertainment shows us that a “strong black man" has a "family” and since a gay man cannot have a kid, they are not part of this community. Farrow analyzes various lyrics in where certain artists promote homophobia, like in the case of “Where the Hood At?” The song includes lyrics saying that “‘faggots’ will never be part of the “hood” because he is not a real man” (Farrow, p 3) which indicates how socially isolated these individuals’ are in their own culture. It is also important that women who identify as LGBTQ are also not considered “real women” because they do not fulfill their traditional “roles” either.
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Alongside the homophobia of the music industry, the the Christian Right has also promoted an anti-gay culture. This group's influences includes the wealthy white gay community who treat the black gay community as inferior. Meanwhile, many black Christian ministers do not support gay marriage at all and on the contrary support same-sex marriages. However, it is important to point out that certain ministers will talk against same-sex marriage in order to receive certain funds provided by the Christian Right wing organizations. This demonstrates the influence of the Christian Right wing. We have to note that even with same-sex marriages, people of color will continue to be at a disadvantage since they will continuously be oppressed due to the way their families are portrayed as dysfunctional. In other words, the issue of same-sex marriage is in reality racist since those in the black community and any individual who are of color and not white will receive the short end of the stick, even with policies and laws that “protect” them.
Since I tend to look at Christianity and the LGBTQ community, Farrow helped me have a better understanding of where the concept of not welcoming the LGBTQ community of color comes from. It demonstrates how much more complicated this issue and much more complex the issue is as well. This issue of same-sex marriage is not only a religious, sexuality or gender issue but also involves race and politics as well. |
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