George is Tired…of Kevin Hart and DL Hughley

I don’t know if this is going to be a reachable moment, teachable moment or draggable moment. What I do know is the last few days have been mentally challenging for anyone in the LGBTQ community that watches the continued bashing and “it’s just jokes” rhetoric from others — jokes that often lead to getting folk hurt or killed. And yes, I’m very serious about the trickle-down effect that jokes have on creating thoughts that become dangerous towards our community.

Where do we start? Let’s start with Mr. Hart. When Kevin was announced as the host of the Oscars for 2019, I didn’t necessarily leap for joy — not so much because of Kevin Hart, but because the Oscars are trash. When the old tweets came up, I wasn’t even that bothered because, years after the old tweets, you stated you didn’t want to have a gay son. My problem was in how you addressed the situation.

Apologies can only go but so far. Atonement is where you should be in your process of “I love everyone.” Love is an action. I have not seen any action from your or your platform as we have watched the rights of trans people be decimated over the past two years. I don’t remember you being a champion of marriage equality, or vocal against any of the policies being enacted that harm the most vulnerable in your community. Instead when you were called out on your past, you ranted on multiple platforms about how you moved on although the community you hurt HAS NOT.

You then went on the quote MLK, but not the entirety of what MLK said.

You quoted: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comforts and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” But as Ira Madison pointed out, the rest of the quote states “the true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.” That’s the part you need to be at in your period of “growth.” Work on that.

You let your pride get in the way of your dream and left a bad taste in the mouth of the community that got you here, and yes that community does include LGBTQ people who have supported you despite your homophobic antics. Think about while you watch someone else on the Oscar stage this year have your dream, when all you had to do was show the growth.

I’m also tired of the rhetoric of “beating the gay” out of a child or “preventing your child” from being gay. I’m going to be very clear about this.

If you agree with beating a child for being gay, you don’t deserve to have kids.

If you think you can prevent a child from being gay, you don’t deserve kids.

If you don’t want a gay child because of additional oppression, you don’t deserve kids. Because a black child, gay or straight will always be oppressed.

Now on to Mr. Hughley. I don’t know what side of the bed you woke up on that made you think that you could call Indya Moore (Black trans actress of POSE) a “pussy” or Blair Imani (Muslim queer activist) a dickhead, but someone done told you wrong. It is utterly disrespectful for you as a Black man to not only attack two women from the Black community, but resort to name calling because you, in your 55 years of barbershop wisdom, were unable to respond to valid critique.

It is people like you that keep toxic masculinity alive in the Black community. It is people like you who unfortunately are heralded as leaders, when you are really patriarchal “pro-Black with conditions” and part of the problem with why our community will never be free. It is very clear after seeing all of the hetero antics around Black LGBTQ people over the past few days that Black cishet men will never lead us to freedom.

A word of advice. If you feel some way towards the LGBTQ community, keep your mouth shut about it. Or better yet, why don’t you engage an LGBTQ person for once and have a conversation with us. We don’t bite (unless you ask), but on the serious. We are people just like all of you. Many of us are your cousins, brothers, sisters, and children. Many of whom will never come out or abandon their families because of the deep hatred for LGBTQ people, brought on from conditioning of colonization. We are quick to wanna break anti-black cycles systems, never realizing that homophobia and transphobia are part of these too.

Black homophobes and transphobes block us from liberation on a daily basis. None of us are free unless we all can be free, and that starts with fighting for the most vulnerable in our community, which is often Black LGBTQ people. We are quick to wanna break anti-black cycles systems, never realizing that homophobia and transphobia are part of these too. We must break every chain, not step over the shackles of your queer brothers and sisters. That’s not liberation, it’s just oppression with a new name.

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