5 Things I Thought Were Gay as a Teenager in the Early 2000s
When I was a teenager, we were taught that a lot of random stuff was gay. You ain't hairy? Homo. You dress nice? Fruity. You talking to girls, trying to get to know them? That's gay, bruh. This short listacle is probably the most light-hearted gay culture piece I'll ever write.
My Problem with the LGBT Pride Progress Flag
June is lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. In this summer month, gays (many, obviously not all) flood the streets for pride parades wearing rainbow pride flags and boasting about gay unity. Then there's the LGBT "slacktivism," a fancy synonym for "virtue signaling," which basically means speaking about issues without actually doing anything to support a solution. For example, many companies overlay the rainbow pride flag over their logos on social media. How often do you hear about those same companies giving opportunities to gays and trans folks? I liken it to people with "#BLM" in their Twitter bio but nothing to show that they truly support or even understand Blacks' fight against racism. But my primary issue with gay pride month:
How native Black Americans care more about it (and gay pride in general) than Black history month and Black pride.
Gay Community Resources
I'm Black before gay every day. I'm not pro-gay, and especially not pro-LGBTQIA+ with attempts to add pedophilia to the "plus." I explained this in my post about the LGBT Pride Progress flag (coming soon). But I don't avoid homosexuality topics. I also remember what it was like trying to find mentorship within the gay community.
How to Solve Trans Dating
I'm on the outside looking in for the most part. I've never been in a serious relationship with a transwoman or gay man. But I've talked with more than enough about the topic. I've noticed some patterns which could help transgendered people (primarily Black transwomen) who desire marriage or other long-term companionship achieve those goals.
Reasons You Hate Trans Women
Transgender women minding their business. People who go out of their way to disrespect them. This might hurt someone's feelings.
Straight Black Men Vs Gay Black Men
It is no secret that gay Black men are used to emasculate the image of the Black man and portray Black females as leaders of the Black community by mainstream media (MSM). Yep, I'm going there already. This isn't about the ladies, as you can tell from the post title. This is about how homosexuality affects the perspective and social norms of the Black men, among Black men.
As a bisexual man, I've at times felt like I don't belong in straight or gay social circles. I feel like I'm too masculine for some gay settings, while simply being gay instantly excludes me from many religious and political environments. Can't serve two masters, indeed. And telling someone that I only date females sometimes leads to a conversation about whether I'm confused. I'm not, but I digress.
How do straight Black men react to the presence of an openly gay Black man? I'd imagine there are five questions that instantly come to mind in individual and group settings.
Less Trans Vs Female, More Gay Leagues
In my latest blog about racism, there was a section titled "Gay Versus Black" where I said:
"...an attempt to push the 'trans women are women' message too far and breach on females' rights."
I was talking about three things:
Complex Layers of Racism
I'm not a scholar with a years logged researching the complex layers of racism, or critical race theory (CRT). My passion is in helping others use tech to ease life. I didn't take college courses on African American history, African history, or even American history. I didn't see the point since curriculum's often grow outdated and other courses could help me immediately.
But I am at a point where I feel the need to discuss racism and ways to improve my community, the black / ADOS community, more. As complicated as it seems, there are ways to break it down into manageable building blocks.
There are companies helping to improve the black community. However, those efforts fail if we the people don't do our part as well. We must support such initiatives while holding ourselves (blacks) to a higher standard. One of my pet peeves is hearing a Christian say "if God wants it for me, I'll have it" or something along those lines. Another one, hearing people who nothing about politics or American government assuming that simply electing a new president will change the country overnight...for the better.
Veterans Affairs LGBT TelePRIDE Program
Like most others, I did not have a great 2020. The only accomplishments I remember from last year were migrating from WordPress to Bashblog and attending an online Veterans Affairs (VA) program for LGBT members:
"TelePRIDE, a virtual health education group for LGBT Veterans."
5 Questions I Want to See Discussed en Masse
There are five conversations I'd like to have with experts (and anyone passionate about the subject), with tact, and preferably with facts, research, and statistics. Prepare for opinions about controversial topics.
Monster (2003)
First published on April 25, 2015
While listening to a Bill Burr podcast, he made a reference regarding a “woman in the Monster movie.” Anyways, he said something strange enough to make me want to check this movie out.
Unique-The Story
First published on March 2, 2020
Creating Unique was my biggest music project (excluding learning music distribution) until 2019. During breaks at work, I would try to write and clean up bars. If I couldn’t come up with anything, and when I was done with lyrics, I’d work on arrangement some. I’m still learning to a lot about arrangement and transitions.
