About two years ago I was sitting in a cafe and happened to over hear a conversation between two males. The one boy was commenting on the other boys haircut saying he looked nice. The other boy responded by saying something along the lines of "thanks man". Then the boy quickly responded back and said "NO HOMO OF COURSE!" It didn't take me long to figure out what was meant by that and I have to admit I was a little upset. My name is Brittni Green and recently I've been educating myself all about stigmas and in particular the stigma of being a homosexual male.
So I didn't grow up in an urban area. I moved to Philadelphia about a year ago and now I've heard the phrase more than I can even count. For those of you who don't know what the phrase "no homo" means its a phrase one says to make it clear to the listener that he had no homosexual intentions. Ive also heard girls say it to other girls. Anyway even being suspected of being gay is considered the worst thing ever to most males especially young black males in particular.
I'm writing this to take my stand against the stigmatization of gay men. Gay men shouldn't be treated differently or unfairly or treated as if they are below straight men. A lot of African American women have negative attitudes towards gay males because they see themselves in competition for a limited amount of suitable black male partners. This stigmatization of homosexual men causes the "closet" attitude. A lot of gay men struggle with discrimination, their family and friends don't understand and sometimes don't want to even try to understand. And sadly most gay men feel as if things will never get better. A lot of gay males have lost their life because they were gay some of the deaths were even unfortunately self inflicted.
In essence, I hope this country in the early stages towards better attitudes of homosexual men. We cannot be the cause of another young death due to this stigma.
The "no homo" phrase is so common in today's society. When i moved to Philadelphia a couple years ago, from another country, when i 1st heard the phrase and i asked what it meant, i was shocked when i was told. I have heard it used alot by males but i have also heard it from a couple females. I don't know about African American females seeing gay men as competition but maybe other females does see it that way but i don't.
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