Black, Gay and Ghetto? does dat exist?

Is there such a thing as being Black, Gay and from Ghetto? I don’t know anyone who’s Black, gay and from Ghetto – Do you? It’s something that don’t seem to exist, yet there are plenty of Black gay people . . . or is there?

Is it the fear of getting bun or is it that Black people in Ghetto, jus don’t do dem tings? Growing up in Winson Green, Birmingham I never knew one single gay person – but looking back on tings – I bet nuff of dem people who acted kinda strange were gay!? LOL!

Bounty, Buju, Movado and most other Jamaican Dancehall artists bun dem tings, and the same artists have a major influence on inner city UK people. People walk round sayin ‘Batty Bwoy fi dead’ – ‘Mi nah support nu funny guy’, cus dats what they hear and are told . . . but the truth is there are a large amount of Black gay people, that they socialise wid, drink wid, eat wid, and chill wid that are gay, but too afraid to admit it.

Supatrax ran an article in 2004 bunnin the fact that Birmingham carnival had been cancelled yet more money had been given to the Birmingham Gay Pride event. Supatrax received numerous emails saying that Supatrax was an homophobic website. A reader stated that she was a mixed race female who was gay, in the music industry and was planning on coming out. The Supatrax write up had made it clear to her that her coming out would not be welcomed by the Birmingham Black community and would remain undercover.

Nuff people say “It’s my religious belief dat all gay people should get bun, they are preventing the cycle of human nature”. Others would say that a person being gay is a natures way of slowing the rate of reproduction? It’s a fact that man was put on this earth to reproduce and keep the cycle of man going (Dat’s why all man are dawgs! LOL!), but in these modern times, should we relax our attitudes towards same sex relationships and accept that it is part of modern society – Black, white, Asian or whatever race, colour or culture you are?

A gay woman once said to me: “I understand how you feel as a Black man, cus I’m gay!”. My instant response was “WTF are you on about!? I never choose to be Black, I was born Black!” She said she was born gay!? Are people gay through choice or by nature? One girl I know had a gay male friend (like all girls seem to have nowa days!) and she took him to a bashment dance. ‘Boom Bye Bye’ came on by Buju Banton. The girl said she wanted to see how the gay bwoy reacted – but he keep dancing and later told her: “I like dat tune, it’s heavy!”. He didn’t care for the words or the homophobic nature of the style of music he just liked the music, the dance style, the atmosphere and to be surrounded by fellow Black people.

Jamaicans, Africans and people of Caribbean decent are notoriously known for their anti-gay attitudes, yet when you look at the dancehall scene, I’m sure there are more feminine men in the dancehall than in any other genre of music. Some so-called ‘Bad Man’ have got better hair than most women I know, and they have a dress sense that is only second to Vivinne Westwood the UK clothes designer. I have never seen man wear such tight clothing and ‘funny’ outfits! There are nuff gay people in the dancehall scene, yet people want to overlook or deny that it’s happening.

Let’s say that people are born gay? – and they don’t choose to be that way?. Does that mean that gay people now are going through the same thing that Black people went through in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s in the UK? . . . Fighting for acceptance? Mainstream TV is forcing gay issues down the neck of all of us as we watch TV. Gay presenters, gay storylines, even gay TV shows. It’s something that is to be considered the norm in the UK – so should the Black community embrace it and move on?

UK Black Pride, (UKBP) is organisation created to promote unity among Black people of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American decent who identify as Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual & Transgender.

The organisation is committed to producing an annual celebration of “Black Pride”, this year held on Saturday 14th August at Regents College, Regents Park, London. As well as organising a variety of activities throughout the year in and around the UK which will promote and advocate for the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual health and well being of all related communities. Our aim is to foster, present & celebrate Black LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) culture through education, the arts, cultural events and advocacy.

The UK Black Pride event has attracted support from around the world and a cross section of society, including Members of Parliament, trade unions, Black and LGBT community and voluntary groups, providers of public services like the police and primary care trusts, as well as young people and students.

Supatrax opens the discussion – Is it OK to be Black and gay in inner city areas of the UK – and why? Are gay people, bi-sexual, and transgender people curious?, born that way? or damn farce!? It’s a discussion that other magazines and websites tend to shy from, but Supatrax will hit it head on! What would you do if you found out one of your friend was gay? What if ya child come tell ya they were gay – or a family member?

Use the Supatrax contact form to respond anonymously and have your view published, or email info@supatrax.com also comment via our Facebook page.