Opinion
Who's afraid of gender bending Morehouse men?
| 9:00 AM on 10/12/2010 | |
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Sociologist Mignon Moore points out that sexuality has always challenged who and what we define as desirable within the black community. Black LGBT communities have placed strong emphasis on carrying oneself properly to avoid discrimination. More recently, the voices and realities of being black and LGBT have become increasingly visible, but the mandates of proper comportment remain and mean many LGBT brothers and sisters are locked out portions of our community or forced to avoid them for their safety and sanity. This kind of exclusion is what breeds the climate that brothers in the article talk about. The maintenance of spaces that are hostile towards openly gay blacks means we have fewer spaces for the development of all black people.
The Vibe article profiles three students and their desire to build on the tradition of Morehouse but are faced with rejection by both "straight" and "gay" communities. It is far from a census of the experiences of students at Morehouse, rather it sheds light on a silenced group of students who were targeted by a school-wide appropriate attire policy implemented in 2009. The barring of women's clothing and accessories was a lightening rod for media attention. In response, the college administration affirmed the non-homophobic nature of the policy by suggesting Safe Space, a student organization purposed with creating "a safe and respecting campus that openly addresses the issues of homophobia and sexuality," supported the dress code. But as Michael J. Brewer points out, transgender people are often stigmatized and ostracized even within the gay community. No community comes endowed with a natural lack of prejudices; creating fear and hate free spaces is ongoing work.
HBCUs remain under attack and must be defended. But an article about the experiences of discrimination that our brothers experience within a college community is not an attack. In fact, it is a service. If there is anger to be felt, it should be directed at the teasing, chastisement, and harassment that so many same gender-loving, gender-bending, and gay people endure daily. There are no simple solutions to the issues facing Morehouse, our schools, or our community, but it has always been black people's ability to redefine family and community that allowed us to survive atrocities like slavery and Jim Crow and succeed. Our schools can be the vanguard of developing all black people, but only if we start from a place of love and community - not fearWho's afraid of gender bending Morehouse men?
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