Toxic Masculinity Archives • Angry Black Hoemo

The Disposability of Black LGBTQ Lives: Giovanni Melton

November 9, 2017 by Angry Black HoeMo

In the wake of several instances of Black Gay/Queer men and boys who losing their lives due to interpersonal and systemic violence, I decided to do a 3-part series going over a couple of particular cases that have stuck out to me, the systemic factors that led to them taking place, and the overall response to them. I’ll start off with one of the most recent cases (as of this piece being written).

[Trigger/Content Warning for anti-LGBTQ violence/murder]

On November 2, 2017, a young Black Gay teen named Giovanni Melton was murdered by his own father. This happened because Giovanni’s father “disagreed” with his sexual identity and couldn’t handle having a Gay son. There are so many layers to this that it’s hard know where to begin. And I don’t believe I’ll even be able to touch on every aspect. But one central takeaway from this whole situation: Black Gay/LGBTQ bodies are undervalued and left behind. Even in this era of so-called “Intersectionality.”

First, I believe that the widespread notion that LGBTQ identities are a simply some idea that be “disagreed” with heavily contributes to this. All of the propaganda in church of “hate the sin, love the sinner.” The posts on social media casually asking baiting questions like “what would you do if this was your son?” The way people relentlessly debase men who do anything that doesn’t fall in line with this colonized idea of masculinity. Making AIDS “jokes” at the expense of Gay/Queer men. All of these things are factors, and all of the people who contribute are complicit. [Read more…]

“I’m Not Afraid of Gay People”…Another Lie Bigots Tell

August 7, 2017 by Angry Black HoeMo

Firstly, TW & CW (Trigger and Content Warning) for sexual assault of young boys

Recently, rapper and anti-Gay sewer rat, Lil Boosie, made a post on Instagram, openly talking about the “gift” he’s planning on giving his (underage) son for his birthday:

For the record, this dude is actual sewage

Now, obviously, the most pressing issue here is the fact that a “father” is essentially forcing his young son to have sex, with no thought to this boy’s own sexual autonomy. The implication is also that Boosie would be using an adult woman for this “service.” For those who are just catching up to the basics of consent, this is child rape. I’m an abolitionist, and really not one of advocate for feeding the prison industrial complex, but…Boosie really pushes it. Like…wow.

But in this piece, I wanna expand on a point made by one of my mutuals on Twitter, about how how this practice is rooted in hatred of Gay people. Let’s be clear that men who force their sons to exhibit toxic masculinity at an early age do so, primarily because they don’t want them to display any kind of association with Gayness. [Read more…]

Young Thug, Gender Expression and Toxic Masculinity

September 2, 2016 by Angry Black HoeMo

Rapper Young Thug recently released a new mixtape, called My Name Is Jeffery. But what people are really talking about is the mixtape cover (pictured below). It’s drawn various reactions, many of which include people regarding it as brave, progressive and daring. Me, on the other hand? Not so much. There’s just a few things to consider.

First, he’s ultimately a cishet man, and publicly displaying themselves in a dress or other attire that’s considered feminine isn’t exactly new territory for them. As long as you go out of your way to ensure that you are, in fact, cisgender and heterosexual, you can safely throw on that dress and keep it pushing. As Myles E. Johnson, a Black Queer Femme who I drew some inspiration from for this essay pointed out, in this existing environment, cishet men will always have more autonomy than Queer men to explore gender expression, and still maintain their safety. This is, of course, as long as they, in addition to going out of their way to assert their straightness, be sure to throw LGBTQ people under the bus, in the process (which even the beloved, late and great Prince is guilty of…just Google “Prince Homophobia”).

…which segues into the next point. [Read more…]