SEGREGATION OF BLACK GAYS AND LESBIANS ON TELEVISION AND FILM

SEGREGATION OF BLACK GAYS AND LESBIANS ON TELEVISION AND FILM


Black lesbian filmmaker Angela Robinson's flick D.E.B.S. was a hit on the queer festival scene and now has limited theatrical release in America. D.E.B.S. was praised for its honest illustration of young lesbian love. However, a fierce debate within the black gay community on internet discussion sites and coffee shops were about Robinson's refusal to depict black lesbian love on film while focusing on on white lesbian love.

Tamara James Johnson a 25 year old black lesbian artist saw D.E.B.S. and wasn't that impressed. "What a total slap in the face. Angela sold out for the old mighty dollar. I was very excited about seeing D.E.B.S. However, then I was extremely disappointed that a sister (Robinson) would basically make a film about two white girls falling in love. If I wanted to see a movie about two white woman falling in love I could turn on the damn TV to see that ####." James Johnson snaps.

James Earl Hardy the best selling author of the B Boy Blues series is an African American gay media
critic is not surprised. Hardy says "The reason why there are so few Black Same Gender Loving characters on television or film is because so few of us are working behind the scenes and those few who do don't have the power to green light or help develop a show with characters that are multidimensional."

Yet queer visibility is at an all time high on television and film. For example, queer festivals such as the Inside Out Festival continue to be extremely Eurocentric in focus and do not reach out to African Canadian, American communities. Television is not much different. Although France has created the gay television channel Pink TV for Europe, MTV networks as launched MTV LOGO the all gay television channel and there is OUT TV in Canada.


According to Susan Duffy Vice President of corporate communications at Viacom. MTV LOGO will have black gay programming in major cities "MTV LOGO will have black gay and lesbian content. MTV LOGO will be targeting gay adults between the ages of 25 to 49. MTV LOGO will broadcast first in major American centers such as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston,San Francisco,and Los Angeles."


However, there still is a struggle for black gay programming to get on to the air. African American gay writer/producer Patrik Ian Polk's Noah's Arc and Maurice Townes the executive producer of "The Closet" are two black gay shows trying to bring the lives of gay black men from segregation into the front row. However, despite the success of the The Closet" (http://www.theclosetv.com) and Noah's Arc (http://www.noahsarc.net) both shows will not be broadcast on mainstream American television. Noah's Arc will be on MTV LOGO while discussions are still pending if the "The Closet" will be on MTV LOGO.


Maurice Townes the executive producer of the black gay show "The Closet" discusses that it has been a struggle to get his show on American television. Townes says "we pitched my show The Closet to ABC, NBC, CBS,FOX, and they don't want anything to do with a show that deals with black men that are gay." Townes show The closet is a black gay soap opera that has a cast of 68 characters. Townes says his show is no different then any of the other soap operas on American television just that his show characters happen to be black and gay.

Townes also believes that the African American community unlike the mainstream are ignorant and very homophobic about the lives of black gay men."On my show The Closet the black gay male characters are very masculine. The black community has a hard time dealing with a black gay man that looks like Will Smith but just happens to be gay as well."
Hardy believes another dilemma is the "frame" that when white gay writers such as Alan Ball (HBO Six Feet Under) write about black gay men are still stereotyped as sexual objects. Hardy states "shows like Queer as Folk are racist we get that. But the new racism is when black gay men are placed in the situation of Keith (on HBOs Six Feet Under) exist in lily-white world so I wouldn't call their very existence progress."

Hardy continues that "That's why (black gay men) we're often portrayed as being half of an interracial couple, a satellite orbiting the world of a white gay man, since this is the one scenario Caucasian queers, who are usually behind such images, feel comfortable presenting us in."
Hardy’s argument taps into the heart of the quandary that there is a battle brewing between white gays and black gays in America over media representation. Some black gays such as Hardy question if the gay movement is still really just a white movement.Hardy believes black gay concerns such as television representation have been ignored or left on deaf ears.


Sarah Warn the editor and founder of the popular lesbian media watchdog website http://www.afterellen.com. views things differently then Hardy. Warn believes more emphasis should be placed on presenting more black lesbian characters on television. Warn states “there has definitely been progress on TV in incorporating black lesbians--Original Cindy on Dark Angel, Det. Greggs on The Wire, LaTanya Richardson on 100 Centre St., Eva on Soul Food, Roma Maffia on Nip/Tuck (although she's somewhat ethnically-ambiguous.

Warn believes that progress has been made for black lesbians on television exposure but have a long way to go. Warn says " television and films made by straight black heterosexual directors and/or with a mostly-black cast have largely ignored lesbians entirely, or threw them in as stereotypical background characters (like the lesbian biker in Biker Boyz) or reinforcing stereotypes about lesbians like Kerry Washington's character in the Spike Lee movie
She Hate Me."


Warn identifies another factor that black cultural attitudes inhibits and affects black gays more then white gays. Warn believes television executives are fearful of depicting black homosexuality on television and losing potential lucrative revenue. Warn says "as pioneers, the shows designed for black audiences probably didn't want to rock the boat any further by introducing lesbian characters." Warn continues that the media also contributes the the negative images of black lesbians on television. A recent episode of NBC Las Vegas episode with
black lesbians is a prime example of homophobia. Warn says " lesbianism is a "white" problem, lesbians hate men, lesbians just need to meet the right man, etc. Most are similar to the stereotypes of all lesbians, with a few twists that reflect the unique history and culture of African-Americans in America (like lesbianism is a white problem."


Townes agrees with Warn. "The mainstream networks in America are too commercial. We did pitch my show "The Closet" also to the cable Showtime and HBO but they both claimed the format of my show wasn't right." Michael Lewellen the Vice President of corporate
communications at BET programming viewpoint is television programmers have to maintain a profit and attempt to appeal to a mainstream audience. Lewellen states "no network can ever be all things to all people, nor is it possible to satisfy every single taste in programming.E Lewellen argues.


Steven G Fullwood is the director of the Black Gay and Lesbian Archive in New York City. Fullwood states that BET contributes to the ignorance the black community has about black gays. According to Fullwood BET has a responsibility to provide alternative programming that educates blacks about diversity instead of having stereotypical programming. "The black dollar is strong and, if BET is any indication,black people are still viewed as a social experiment: the monkey can talk, right? That’s what the television tells us from the ignorance from BET programming. Advertisers will not disrupt with the usual programming church/gospel shows, and homophobic comedies. "

Lewellen viewpoint is that BET has been financially successful precisely because it's target audience caters to the conservative attitudes of the black heterosexual community. BET has a large black religious right following with the programming of Gospel shows. "That model has served us well, and six straight seasons of ratings and audience growth says we're
doing something right at BET."According to Viacom data in the first quarter of 2004 BET advertising revenue rose 16% and revenue rose 8% in the second quarter of 2004.

Duffy agrees with Lewellen that profit is the bottom line for corporate business regardless if the
programming is homophobic."Senior corporate management looks at growth strategies which are successful. Viacom analyzes the growth strategies." Duffy continues that "Viacom leaves programming decisions to the creative people at its various operating units. That's how this company is run. The folks at Corporate wouldn't dream of telling BET TV how to make shows or how to appeal to their respective audiences."

However, Julian High the director of diversity at the Human Rights Campaign viewpoint is black gays will have to take a more active role in the battle of television representation despite encountering homophobia from the black heterosexual community.

" Again, I am convinced the time is coming for that success at least in part to the LGBT African-American community. "

One way HRC new media strategy to reach out to the black gay community is to support the new African American gay show Noah's Arc. "HRC is taking a leadership role in this area by
supporting the new Patrick Ian Polk series, Noah's Arc. This is one way HRC believes we can have an impact on how African-Americans are viewed in the media. Noah's Arc is a fabulous series that allows African-Americans to see themselves reflected on screen in meaningful ways.

Warn believes that black lesbian artists are leading the way for more positive imagery on film and television in relation to the black lesbian experience. "Definitely! And I think we're starting to see that; Rose Troche (The L Word, etc.) and Angela Robinson (DEBS, Herbie the Love Bug) are two recent examples. But more black lesbians--or even black women--need to get involved in the business side of film and television, as well, since frequently the go/no go decisions about a certain character or storyline are made by the business folks, not the writers/directors."


Hardy is more cautious and believes only time will tell if black gays receive the same treatment as white gays by the mainstream.

“I don't expect to see myself portrayed in a way I recognize because those creating these images know less than nothing about the lives of Black SGL (Same Gender Loving) men, so we're merely shadows and caricatures. ’’


Orville Douglas is the author of "You Don't Know Me" published by TSAR Publications.
"You Don't Know me":is a poetry collectionabout my experiences as a young black Canadian male. "You Don't Know Me" is published by TSAR PUBLICATIONS and is available in America on amazon.com,barnesandnoble.com, amazon.ca and other major American bookseller sites and will soon be available in American bookstores.