Comments on: Gay is the New Black?

By: laura

laura — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:51:47 +0000

well put. i got so mad at those comparisons. LGBTQI communities have soooooo much work to do. A friend of mine pointed out that maybe a positive aspect of the passage of prop 8 is that it gives LGBTQI communities an opportunity to take a good honest look at where we are in our movement(s). If this is not any indication of how divided along racial, class, and gendered lines (not to mention ability and many other isms) our community is, I don’t know what is.

By: trish

trish — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:33:49 +0000

i love your words, narinda! plus i get the extra bonus of hearing you speak in a british accent as i read

By: Chanda

Chanda — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:50:06 +0000

Narinda, I like your way of putting it.

By: Narinda

Narinda — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:55:13 +0000

I think that it is definitely relevant to draw parallels between anti-miscegenation laws and gay marriage– we can’t forget that this is not the first time people have worked to gain the right to marry, that there is a precedent to changing marriage laws. It is useful to remind people that this has happened in our recent history: it wasn’t until 1967 that all anti-miscegenation laws were deemed unconstitutional. “Separate is not equal” is another argument that has been used against Prop 8, based on the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

We just need to remember that these are examples and models for “the cause” and avoid language that makes it sound like we think it replaces any of the ongoing struggles, e.g., racism.

By: nancy

nancy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:04:26 +0000

I *absolutely* agree — I also think it absurd to to imply that racism isn’t still a palpable and vigorous force in America and around the world. (As is homophobia.)

I wasn’t implying the statement “gay is the new black” draws that connection with miscegenation. It was a tangential idea up for debate, because I do think there are pitfalls (as well as benefits) in drawing comparisons between different forms of oppression in particular historical moments (not the least of which is the ‘pissing contest’ to which you refer).

Thanks for your thoughts -

By: Chanda

Chanda — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:14:36 +0000

I think when Deval Patrick sought to end the Massachusetts law that prevented people who were from out of state and from places where their marriages were illegal from getting married in Mass, the connection with miscegenation was aptly made. Barring gays from getting married is the same as barring Blacks from getting married during slavery and barring interracial marriages until the late 60s.

That said, I don’t think saying “Gay is the new Black” really draws that connection. What it does is minimize the ongoing experience of racism that Blacks (amongst others), gay and straight, experience daily. “Gay is the new black” suggests that Blackness is no longer an issue, which is total bullshit (there is no other word for it, really). Anyone who thinks that homophobia manifesting in a way that racism no longer does indicates that homophobia has overtaken racism as a problem needs to take a course on logic! They also need to spend a day in the shoes of a person who experiences racism regularly.

And what about this competition for who has it worse? It’s crazy.

By: nancy

nancy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:38:33 +0000

Thanks for this excellent piece — I think you are right on point.
I’m curious though what you (and other readers) think about drawing comparisons between miscegenation and gay marriage in order to further ‘the cause’? Is it ignorant to think that such a comparison is not only apt, but useful? (And I mean useful to all people, not as a way to target language at a particular population.)

By: Chanda

Chanda — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:25:44 +0000

Thanks for covering this important story! Shame on the racists who are setting back civil rights for everyone.

By: R.John

R.John — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:09:42 +0000

Black is the new Jew.
and
Jew is the new Gay.

and we are back at the beginning.