Conversations about homophobia almost inevitably circle back to conversations about race and culture. But whiteness as a race and culture, as an ideological practice, is rarely fingered as a culprit in the cultural wars raging over queer issues. Fred Phelps and his clan crisscross the country spewing homophobic bile under the guise of Christian activism, and their whiteness is never commented on; if they were black, their homophobia would be painted by many as a function of blackness, period. In the Republican Partys 2012 presidential primaries, a slew of white hopefuls all put forth scathingly homophobic platforms, and never had their individual or collective bigotry attached to their race. Overseas, Putin and other Russian politicians are enacting legislation that is medieval in its punitive approach to gay existence in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of French citizens (white Europeans) recently took to the streets in outrage over the passing of laws securing gay marriage. None of it is attached to the race of those legislating or rioting. Homophobia is never analyzed as a function and tool of hetero-normative, patriarchal, reactionary whiteness. - Ernest Hardy, The New Black and Other Docs Ask, Why Has Black Been Made the Face of Homophobia?
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:47:52 +0000
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