Something I've noticed since joining the forum is the apparent lack of gay men and women of color being represented. At least within the older demographics. Of course, I'm only going by the few members who have shown their pictures, or disclosed background information, but it plays out in person, too. Within events, groups, and public meeting spaces, it's overwhelmingly white. Anyway, I've a few theories on why this might be, which could be unfounded, but totally open to criticism. Perhaps many of these cultures stress family and community even more than the general US one, so just thinking of and doing something like coming out to yourself, others, and identifying as something else is completely off limits. In many Hispanic, Asian, African, and Native cultures, this is the way it goes, usually. Another idea is the one that homosexuality is a "Western" invention, and seen as a tool of oppression. You see this scenario played out in propaganda all across Sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, and it wouldn't surprise me to see it happening in North Korea. Even in the States, certain minority groups have members who are adamant it's a "tool" used against them, and something to fight to the bitter end. Of course, religion usually plays a heavy part, too. Finally, I think a few gay men and women of color might feel lonely within LGBT spaces, along with misunderstood and unwanted, so they'll stick with their own communities, whether it be gay or straight. Again, this is changing with the younger crowd, and I occasionally see a few faces when my friends and I visit bars/night clubs, parades, and events, so it's not totally black-and-white. Perhaps it was different in the past? This thread serves two major purposes: to discuss this phenomenon, and to potentially encourage and draw out any who might fall into one of those racially/ethnically marginalized groups, because that would be so inspiring to me, and a few others, I'm sure. Anyone is encourage to participate, but please, no attacks. This is merely an observation, and something that has piqued my curiosity for some time. Thanks!
Alright, I'm just going to assume they don't exist (here), and sulk in a corner somewhere. Shame - I would have loved to hear of and discuss their experiences. *le sigh*
Based on my experience, there are a pretty significant number of people of color here. We have members from all over the world, and from a pretty diverse group of socioeconomic backgrounds. I don't think it comes up a lot in the conversations here but I know that there's pretty good representation.
Something weird is that today I'm going to my first LGBT support group. I'm Asian and where I live our town doesn't have anything like that. In the past, I faced a lot of racism for being Asian and a lot of disrespect because I'm gay. I get it from both fronts, race and sexuality. I've been to a gay bar and it was mostly a white crowd. I felt really uneasy not because of race but because I have never been around a large crowd of gay men before. All my life I don't think I've ever felt like I fit in any where. I'v always wanted some stereotypes to fit me. Im not feminine at all and I wish I was more so I don't have to come out all the time to people... wow back to the post, yea I do think culture has a lot to do with it.
Are you kidding? I think this is a great topic and one worth discussing. You hit the nail on the head. People are playing into the expectations of their racial, cultural, and religious reference groups, which then get carried over into other parts of their lives. Now that their places of reference, be it a country, a state, or a place of worship, are starting to relax more, the people in the pipeline are also relaxing more. By this, I mean younger people. Based on some familiarity with tourist destinations that have a noticeable G/B representation (sometimes the L representation is separate or in an altogether different destination), it seems like there is "white privilege" there, too. The ones who are really living it up are attractive white middle aged professional men with disposable income and who have advanced enough in their careers or in their jobs. Sometimes, they don't need to be professionals if they have the money ... from their sugar daddies, their parents, or both. Truth be told, other than sort of studying the whole situation, these places can have a really bad vibe and they have sort of a 3 day rule, max, for me, just as people do with house guests. I know of some middle aged men and women, and older, who do belong to minority groups. They are mostly Latino/a and black, with very few being Asian and Native American. This has been in liberal urban areas. They are also not particularly heteronormative, so it's sort of obvious and they probably figure they can't do anything about that, don't care, and/or don't want to. I, too, am just stating what I see and process.
I don't see it in my area. There are plenty of African Americans here in Detroit who are LGBT. We have 3-4 out of 15 or so in our bi/gay men's group that attend each week.
Well, no, I meant on EC - specifically in the later in life section. I've an uncle who is very camp, but I'm not even sure he's out to himself, since he's religious and spends all his time taking care of his elderly parents. He even dropped out of nursing school to stay at home and support them. Never married, nor dated women, but had a "friend" who would pay for his tickets to travel around the country for years.
