The coalition, which has surveyed attitudes toward gays, reports that blacks are "more likely than other groups to believe that homosexuality is wrong, that sexual orientation is a choice and that sexual orientation can be changed."īeing black is part of one's race and therefore one's character. "We take it from all sides and white community doesn't get it." "We are at the intersection of race and sexual orientation and we needed an advocacy group that gives voice to that," he said. Today, he also serves as deputy director of the National Black Justice Coalition. In the midst of the gay marriage discussions in Connecticut, Bartlett finally came out in February and was reelected for a second term.
So does homophobia, and an identity among black men known as the "DL" - or "down low," black men who engage in homosexual behavior but otherwise lead straight lives. Religious beliefs, the "machismo" of the hip-hop culture and a history of losing men to incarceration and health disparities all stigmatize black gay men, according to Bartlett. "You have a lot of other things to overcome in life and you don't want that to be the one thing that holds you back." A successful mortgage broker with two adopted sons, he always planned to go into politics, but feared coming out might destroy that dream. Others said that largely white gay advocacy groups didn't do enough to persuade them.Īnd many blacks say that gay groups - in six legal challenges - have unjustly labeled their cause a civil rights issue.īartlett's struggle mirrors that of many black gays. Some charged that socially conservative blacks were responsible for the demise of gay marriage. The exit polls indicated that 70 percent of black voters supported Prop 8, while 49 percent of whites and Asian Americans voted for it and 53 percent of Latinos supported the ban.
"We rationalize that it's easier to stay in the closet and survive."ĪBC News exit polls found that blacks voted in support of Prop 8 and to ban gay marriage by heavier margins than other ethnic groups. "Being a minority is hard enough," Bartlett, who was elected in 2006 and only came out this year, told. Too many of us are still in the closet and not really sharing our story." You can be in love and be a success and still be black and gay. "Good for her," said Connecticut's Jason Bartlett, the nation's only state representative who is black and openly gay. "We know who we are, but we don't out them."ĭean, who is 40 and wrote about coming out in his book "Hiding in Hip Hop," said he had to buck the popular black culture that worships "machismo, the whole bling thing and the gangsta thug lifestyle."īut, he said Sykes sets a more accepting stage for other black celebrities who are gay. "We also get it at home from our parents and grandparents and don't want to bring shame to the family name," Dean told. I haven't seen anyone on the national celebrity A list." "For people of color, they are not as accepting as they are for Ellen, Rosie, Lance Bass, George Michael and Elton John. "I've know many celebrities who are on the DL lifestyle." And the aftermath of the vote has opened old wounds between gays and blacks.īeing black and gay is "pervasive in the entertainment industry," said Terrance Dean, who worked for MTV and other networks. Sykes, who was unavailable for comment, is one of only a handful of black, gay celebrities to protest California's Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban that was passed with the help of a coalition of religious groups, many of them black.įor blacks, the victory of President-elect Obama signaled the promise of a new era of racial equality, but gays like Sykes see Proposition 8 as an assault on their civil rights. But living life in the spotlight - as black and gay - is twice as hard, according to other blacks who say they are stigmatized by society at large for their sexual orientation and again by their own homophobic culture.