"Just Choose One"

SS said something to me on Friday that has really had me thinking these past few days. She told me that automatically shutting down any potential desire I may have for Black women is not normal.  I’ve been thinking up reasons as to why I do shut down, and it’s because of the climate towards non-heterosexuals in Orlando, or the South in general. It’s hostile and being from the South (Bible Belt), it was enough to deal with the issue of race without complicating it by adding sexuality to the mix. 

And tonight after watching “Black Is… Black Ain’t” I now have words to express the hostility and tense environment that I came to the realization of my sexuality in.  Basically as a speaker in the film said, being anything other than heterosexual is unacceptable in the Black community and is subject to an automatic exclusion and loss of identity and support.  I wasn’t willing to risk that loss, not in the South.  Out in the NW, the Black community is more open-minded, but I have not forgotten the fear that plagued most of my developing years.