lgbtq
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Dapper: Fashioning a Queer Aesthetic of Black Womanhood
“Ain’t I a woman?” Black feminist pioneer Sojourner Truth famously asked that question of an all-white audience of abolitionists and suffragettes in 1861, to point out the erasure of black women from the social “protections” of womanhood. A century and a half later, black women, from Misty Copeland and Serena Williams to first lady Michelle…
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I Am Not Your Token: What Rihanna Taught Us This Week About ‘Diversity’ Casting
This week, one lucky Rihanna fan got an impromptu lesson in tokenism—from the star herself—after they suggested that she include transgender women in her next Fenty Beauty campaign. The new beauty mogul, who rocked the cosmetics industry this past September with her full-spectrum beauty launch, responded kindly and clearly on why even the question was…
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Devon Wade Must Be Remembered for Disrupting the Prison Pipeline, Not Merely for How He Died
I will never forget the first—and, unfortunately, what would be the only—time I had the pleasure of meeting Devon Tyrone Wade, the Columbia University Ph.D. student killed late Sunday night. He was charming, had a smile that lit the entire room and demanded attention in the most subtle ways. Through his social media posts, it…
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The Curious Case of the Black Male Escort Found Dead Inside a Wealthy Democratic Donor’s Home
On July 27, 2017, 26-year-old Gemmel Moore was found in the bathroom of a West Hollywood, Calif., apartment belonging to Ed Buck, 62. Moore was young, black and poor. Buck was white, wealthy and powerful. That’s all we know. Moore’s family is searching for answers. Buck has not spoken publicly about the incident. Police have…
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A Reminder: Black Queer People Are Whole
The Emmys were this past Sunday, and they were nothing short of black star power. From a black actor winning for the first time in decades in the drama category to a black comedian winning in a comedy series directed and written by all black people, one could say that the event was the most…
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If Black Gay Men on TV Were All Masculine ‘Professionals,’ Would We Still Care About Diversity?
On modern-day reality-television shows, audiences often bear witness to stereotypical, one-dimensional representations of black queer men. From the iconic Miss J. Alexander on America’s Next Top Model to the frequent appearances on Real Housewives of Atlanta and even Love & Hip Hop, we have often seen narrow depictions of the black male queer experience: divas…
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Trans Black Women Are Petitioning Charlamagne tha God Over Transphobic Comments on Show
The only way to convince Charlamagne tha God to stop allowing transphobia on his show is to threaten his job security, as far as black transgender female activists I spoke with are concerned. And, while, no, Charlamagne didn’t talk about killing trans women, Ashlee Marie Preston said that Charlamagne was the ringleader of Lil Duval’s…
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Limit(less) Reminds Us That Africans Can Be Queer, Too, and Debunks Stereotypes
For centuries, U.S.-based evangelical Christians have traversed the continent of Africa spreading messages of homophobia and transphobia against the LGBTQ community. People like Scott Lively, an anti-gay extremist, for example, who was subjected to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (pdf) because of his travel abroad to promote Uganda’s anti-gay propaganda—the Anti-Homosexuality…
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If You’re Mad About the Black and Brown Stripes Added to the Rainbow Flag, You’re Probably White Nonsense
Who could be bothered to debate the merits of adding two additional colors to the rainbow flag, a symbol of pride for members of the LGBTQ community Evidently, quite a few folks across Al Gore’s internet who meet one of the following descriptors: bored out of their minds; insensitive to the plight of even more…