Is Gay the New Black?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 1:37am

Segment of Sam Harris on Tyra

[Q]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 2:00am

Gotta give big props to Tyra for getting in the mix.

[Hulmeman]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 4:41am

Why am I hearing this "you have a choice" argument suddenly? I did what was natural to me. Same as when I picked up a pencil (or crayon!!!) it went into my right hand - it was natural to me.

Not that I would change my nature. I've had a ball as a gay man, a few heartaches along the way, but thats life in general not just my life.

Why would I want to change natural?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 5:44am

Suddenly? That is nothing new. I love that the blonde that suggested just being celebate would mean you were no longer gay. Um.....just because I haven't had sex means I'm not straight? A lack of SEX doesnt' mean an absence of sexuality or sexual orientation.

I'm not sure that I like the statement (Gay being the new black.) and I can certainly understand the black community beign against it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 7:28am

Tyra Banks is one of the most self-centered, ignorant beeyotches that ever hogged a camera. There, I said it.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 12:13pm

Dramamama, right after Prop 8 passed I heard the same information that Sam did. That it was minorities who had voted for Prop 8. And my reaction was pretty similar to his. IMHO, it's the people who fought for their rights who should be the most likely to want to help someone else.

While it's not the same I think this is not the different from the civil rights movement. Let us hope this will never escalate to the violence of that era.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 12:30pm

I HATE that the Blonde Republican said that to the boy! "As a heterosexual woman, I know how important sex is" or something like that. It was very insulting, because she was basically saying "I know how important a penis is" to him!

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 1:12pm

Tyra is a cheapskate

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 1:20pm

Bravo to Sam!

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 2:54pm

As a black gay man, I am tired of the comparisons and don't like the term of Gay being the new Black. There are similarities, of course, but gays now, and for a long time, have more rights than blacks did back then. And I am glad Sam Harris backed off of the black community vote on Prop. 8. And yes, religion does have a lot to do with it in the black community. I have a great family that didn't bat an eye when I came out to them. They actually already suspected and supported me. (I knid of hate that word "support"!) But I know my family and I know that a lot of them would have issues with gay marriage. And I have no problem with that. It is what they believe and what they think is traditional. And if I were to get married, they wouldn't shun me, but for those members that don't belive in gay marriage, I am sure they would tell me.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 3:05pm

Choosing to be gay seems like a very odd choice to make in a society that stigmatizes homosexuality and denies gays of basic rights.

Oh well. I guess I'll never understand the thought process you homos went through.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 10:17pm

Are you kidding? I have no idea why anybody wouldn't choose to be gay.

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 11:06pm

Face it ladies, you can choose to be Born-Again Christian and stupid (or ignorant if you're overly sensitive) but you cannot choose to be gay and ever-so-smart. Those are born, not made
.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 11:11pm

Might a less-offensive way of phrasing the question be "Is homophobia the new racism?"

[Amaranth9]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 11:15pm

Eris0303, I know a lot of people heard the same story, but that story really is an unfair representation of the facts. Of course there is some truth to it, with religion playing a factor, but I think the story was manipulated a lot by the media to create a conflict. From the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute:

% of Voters Race/Ethnicity % Voted "Yes" on Prop 8
(68%) White 49
(7%) African American 58
(14%) Latino/Hispanic 59
(7%) Asian 48

There are higher levels of support for prop 8 in the Black and Latino populations, but look at their percentage of the voting population. There is much less support for it than was initially reported. This study found that age, religiosity and political ideology had more to do with the way people voted.

What makes me sad is that kind of story in the media completely erases LGBTQ folks of color. Apparently the NAACP also was against prop 8, but they weren't contacted by the campaign until a few days before the vote. I think in this case the LGBTQ movement has some things it could learn from the feminist movement and what it went through with third-world/third wave feminism.
Interesting Prop 8 Study

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/10/09 at 11:40pm

Broomstick Boy, I know several people who chose to be gay, they happen all to be women, but it doesn't mean they didn't make a conscious decision. The sooner we realize the "I was born this way, it's not my fault!" defense just plays right into the homophobes game plan ("See? It's a miserable life! You should get ex-gay counseling!") the better we'll all be.

Let's put it this way: People get to be with whomever they want to be with, regardless of gender, as long as there's consent. Choice or not.

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 5/11/09 at 1:11am

I was being sarcastic on my last post.

I don't believe you're born gay, but I don't believe it's a choice either.

I believe you're born bisexual, in a matter of speaking, and eventually you gravitate in one direction or the other. The choice is to accept it, whichever your preference and the fact that you can't control or choose your sexuality.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/11/09 at 1:47am

I think we are born gay; that it's in our DNA. We don't choose it, but we do choose to accept it and "be" it.

[binau]

Posted: 5/11/09 at 6:45am

Was it compulsory to vote for or against Prop 8?

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/11/09 at 11:52am

Since compulsory basically means what most people are doing, then it would be voting for proposition 8.

I didn't know that the passing of it didn't annull marriages prior to the date.
I guess it means that Ellen is still legally married, right?

[binau]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:15am

"Since compulsory basically means what most people are doing, then it would be voting for proposition 8. "

What? I meant compulsory as in required.

i.e. were you required to vote for/against Prop 8?

It's just if it's not required, then it seems silly since the only people that will vote will probably be the ones who have strong views on the subject.

[Jilani]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:11pm

I didn't know that the passing of it didn't annull marriages prior to the date.
I guess it means that Ellen is still legally married, right?

That question hasn't been answered yet - it's actually one of the issues that the California Supreme Court will be ruling on in the near future.