For perspective, that’s a little older than Gen X. RuPaul and Billy Porter are 60 and 51, respectively. In many of these cases I think the issue could be generational. It may not raise to the level of “problematic” but it’s greasy as hell. Perhaps recent Emmy winner, Billy Porter, might get off unscathed in your eyes but I haven’t forgotten his sketchy remarks when asked what he thought about his trans costars on POSE being neglected by the same voting body that had just awarded him. Outside of Lil Nas, there’s Frank Ocean who went AWOL on the industry sometime ago.
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But put a pin in Montero because I’m circling back to him soon. His delves into religion and taboo sex (depending on what taboo sex is to you) are no doubt carefully calculated, age old stunts pioneered by the likes of Madonna and Prince before him. While he’s certainly been controversial, the backlash he’s received is focused almost exclusively on his art. There’s of course the man of the moment, Lil’ Nas X. But when it comes to unproblematic Black queer men with mainstream name recognition, the pickings start to get real slim, real fast. Among White queer women, for every Ellen DeGeneres there’s a Cynthia Nixon and a Megan Rapinoe. For example: amongst Black queer women, for every Azealia Banks there’s an Amandla Stenberg and a Janelle Monae. In any other demographic in Hollywood it‘s easy to point to at least two other high profile examples of someone getting it right for every one that gets it routinely wrong. I’m just curious why the Black queer men with the biggest platforms often espouse beliefs that cut against the wellness of the community they belong to.
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I’m not chronicling these missteps (some of which inspire serious misgivings) to suggest Black queer men can’t be trusted with a platform. And I haven’t even gotten to the Jussie Smolett of it all yet! A movement that called for, and led to, greater diversity amongst the Academy Awards voting body. Mega-Producer of Precious and Empire, Lee Daniels, seemed similarly tone deaf when he actually pushed back against the #OscarsSoWhite movement. Notorious CNN anchor, Don Lemon, famously had a “pull up your pants” moment where he essentially blamed Black men for racism. This was just another example of his backwards approach to race relations as he had earlier defended a very unnecessary and tone deaf prank in which the producers of Queer Eye had him pulled over by a cop, ya know…for fun. Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown has been accused of being a Trump apologist for defending Sean Spicer, the former one term president’s press secretary, during their stint together on Dancing with The Stars. Not to mention the drama he stirred just this past summer with some deeply bizarre tweets about slavery. His protégé, formerly relevant YouTube sensation, Todrick Hall, has been accused of a litany of offenses from colorist behavior on music video sets, to not paying his back-up dancers, all the way up to sexual assault. From pushing back against trans participation on his hit show, RuPaul’s Drag Race ( a stance which he has since changed), to seemingly admitting that he allows the environmentally destructive practice of fracking on his Wyoming farmland, to an especially cringe inducing moment in the 2019 Emmy’s press room where he was called out by a Black journalist for his show’s lack of diversity behind the camera. Perhaps the most famous gay Black man in the world over the past forty years, legendary drag queen RuPaul Charles, has amassed a string of questionable moments in just the last few years. Most of the highest-profile Black gay men in the industry seem to have a history of problematic behavior sprinkled amongst their accomplishments. However, when I began compiling said achievements, an interesting pattern emerged that I couldn’t ignore. In fact, this piece was initially going to be highlighting Black queer men in Hollywood and their achievements. I think that’s why even though my days of looking up to complete strangers have come to an end, I’m still incredibly grateful to see the amount of progress the entertainment industry has made since the 90’s.
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Outside of RuPaul, who we’ll discuss, and the late and legendary Meshach Taylor ( who I was stunned to find out wasn’t actually gay), queer Black men in film and television were a rarity. As a Black gay child who was addicted to television in the 90’s, I always felt a sense of wanting when it came to role models.