Black Entertainment Out of the Closet: Are we ready

With the talk about two popular black entertainers inching their way out of the closet, I ask the question: Is the black community ready to accept its idols being lesbian or gay? Personally, as a young male who prefers to have sex with men, I feel it has been a long time coming. We get to see a lot of gay white media, but gay black media continues to stay silent. Why you ask? There are quite a few theories. One: Being gay is a white man's disease. Of course I don't believe that, but that is the stigma that plagues our community. Two: Admitting that you are gay makes you less than a man. Another HUGE myth. Being gay comes in different shades of the rainbow, and not just the vogueing queen kind. As an up and coming filmmaker, I want to tell stories that haven't been told before, yet also expose society to a world that is not as scary as they may think (yet still keep you entertained).

I think what the problem is, is that there aren't any well known "OUT" black celebrities that my generation and younger can relate to. Sure we have come a long way with gay rights issues, but we still have a long way to go. The tv show Noah's Arc was groundbreaking on so many levels, and I am still angry LOGO didn't throw their full support behind it. Shows like the D.L. Chronicles, movies like Ski Trip, Dirty laundry and the upcoming B-Boy Blues are exposing gay blacks on a more positive level. Singers like Johnny Mathis are well known in the gay community, and he still has major success. Luthor wasn't OUT, and neither was Little Richard, but you had to be blind, deaf and a paranoid schitzo to not see how obvoies he was. So my question to you guys is, say Queen Latifah, Usher, Alicia Keys or a major movie star like Will Smith were to come out of the closet. Would you still purchase their work, or would you conform to ignorant ass religious rhetoric? Isn't it about time We stop hiding in the shadows and make our voices heard?