FAMOUS GAY AFRICAN-AMERICANS...

As we fags are all aware, Gay Shame came and went, and as usual, there is a bit of seperatism in the air when it comes to white gays and gays of color. I saw a recent yahoo list of gay celebrities who were out and proud, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the list. They had the usual suspects on the list like Lance Bass, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia DeRossi, T.R. Knight, Neil Patrick Harris etc. Of course not one black person was listed. That shit pissed me off! While there are much more mainstream white gays out and proud (most of them lesbian), why is it that there are no black and latino actors listed? I mean we have Wilson Cruz, Guillermo Diaz, etc., who are OUT and you never hear about it. This is one of the reasons why I got into this business in the first place. there was a lack of folks like me being represented in the media and OUR stories weren't being told. Well no more! BLACKVOICES.COM recently did a list of OUT and PROUD gay African-Americans in the media. Sadly, there was no mention of activist Keith Boykin or director Patrik Ian Polk. PIP was the first person to have a Black gay series on television and he doesn't get a mention??? So I took it upon myself to add him to the list. Anyways, Time to get your EDUMACATION on bitches!


Lee Daniels
Began his career as a casting director working on projects such as 'Purple Rain.' He went on to become the first sole black producer of an Academy Award-earning film with Monster's Ball. Daniels went onto direct 'The Woodsman' and 'Shadowboxer.' He identifies as gay and has two children.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992)
Lorde was a prolific poet and activist in the 1960s. In 1980 she co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press which became the first U.S. publisher for women of color. Her essay, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" critiqued the feminist movement for its racism. She died of breast cancer in 1992.

PATRIK IAN POLK

PATRIK IS THE THE WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER OF A TV SHOW CALLED "NOAH'S ARC", WHICH IS THE FIRST BLACK GAY TELEVISION SERIES, A FILM ENTITLED 'PUNKS' AND THE UPCOMING FEATURE FILMS- "NOAH'S ARC: THE MOVIE", "BLACKBIRD," & "LADIES NIGHT." THE NOAH'S ARC MOVIE WILL BE AT A THEATER NEAR YOU SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER. NO WORD ON WHEN HIS FIRST FEATURE PUNKS WILL BE RELEASED ON DVD.

Octavia Butler (1947-2006)
One of the most brilliant science fiction writers of our time, Octavia Butler authored more than 14 books that built and destroyed notions of race, class, sex and sexuality. In 1995, she won a $295,000 MacArthur Fellowship, known as the "genius grant." In 2000, she received the Nebula Award, science fiction's highest prize, for her novel 'Parable of the Talents.'

Darryl Stephens
Is most famous as the lead actor in the LOGO series, 'Noah's Arc,' also known as the black gay male 'Sex and the City.' Though initially reluctant to talk about his sexuality, Stephens confirmed that he is gay in 2007 but remains guarded about his private life.

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)
A premiere architecht of the Civil Rights Movement, Rustin organized the very first Freedom Rides as well as the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin who counseled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on techniques of nonviolent resistance, traveled to India to learn the Ghandian technique firsthand. He was openly gay and spoke out on gay rights later in his life.

Paris Barclay
Paris Barclay is an acclaimed director of television, film and music videos including LL Cool J's 'Mama Said Knock You Out.' The openly gay Harvard graduate has since gone on to direct successful shows such as 'The Shield', 'Cold Case' 'CSI' and 'ER.' He has two Emmy awards, a Director's Guild of America Award and two NAACP awards for his work.

Andre Leon Talley
As Editor-At-Large at glossy fashion bible, VOGUE, Andre Leon Talley is the most recognized Black man in fashion. The Ivy leagued educated fashionisto is instrumental in promoting young designers of color and he has authored two books.

Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)
Served as a congresswoman in the US House of Representatives from 1973-1979, the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the House. Jordan never publicly acknowledged being a lesbian but lived with a companion, Nancy Earl for over 30 years. Jordan was also the first black woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.

Johnny Mathis
One of the most successful artists of all time, Johnny Mathis is known best for his romantic ballads including classic 'Chances Are.' In a 1982 interview, Mathis came out saying his first love was a boy when he was 16 years old. However, he later maintained that should have been off the record.

Maurice Jamal
Maurice Jamal came out to his classmates at the tender age of 16 but waited five years to tell his family. The writer, director and actor is most noted for his film, 'Dirty Laundry' with Rockmond Dunbar and Loretta Devine. He says he finds it empowering to be an openly black gay man in Hollywood.

Countee Cullen (1903-1946)
An integral part of the Harlem Renaissance, the highly educated Cullen wrote volumes of haunting poetry with names such as 'The Black Christ' and 'Ballad of a Brown Girl.' Cullen, who married W.E.B. DuBois' daughter in 1928 divorced her two years later reportedly due to his relationships with men. He married a "good friend" ten years later.

Sheryl Swoopes
Three time Olympic gold medalist and three time WNBA MVP, Swoopes is often referred to as the "Female Michael Jordan". She is the first women's basketball player to have a Nike shoe named after her "Air Swoopes." She married in 1995 and had a son, but divorced and came out 10 years later.

Angela Davis
Best known as a radical activist from the '70s who was jailed for an attempted prison break and murder of a judge ("Free Angela"). She was later aquitted. This Birmingham born Communist is an ardent feminist, socialist, author and college professor. Davis came out in 1997.

Ma Rainey (1886-1939)
Rainey is often referred to as The Mother of the Blues. Within five years of being signed to a recording contract in 1923, she recorded 100 songs. Though married to "Pa" Rainey, her 1928 song, 'Prove it on Me Blues,' made no bones about her relationships with women ("I don't like me no mens.") Rainey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Alvin Ailey
One of the premiere American dancers and choreographers of our time, Ailey is the founder of the The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. His 1960 masterpiece Revalations is one of the most popular ballets performed in the 20th century. When Ailey died from AIDS in 1989, he asked that his doctor announce that he had died of terminal blood dyscrasia to save his mother -- who was always opposed to her son being gay.

Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
Singer Josephine Baker was the belle of Paris in the 1920s, known for her beauty and sexually charged performance. In 1947, she and her gay French husband wed (her third marriage) and adoted a "Rainbow Tribe" of 12 children. Though she loved men, Baker had many affairs with women, including Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Kevin Aviance
With his unique look and style, performer Aviance has become a popular personality in NYC's Gay community. In 2006, he was a victim of a vicious hate crime when he was attacked by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. [The men later plead guilty to the hate crime charges and received sentences from 6 to 15 years in prison.]

Kevin Aviance
With his unique look and style, performer Aviance has become a popular personality in NYC's Gay community. In 2006, he was a victim of a vicious hate crime when he was attacked by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. [The men later plead guilty to the hate crime charges and received sentences from 6 to 15 years in prison.]

RuPaul
Singer, actor and song writer RuPaul was born Rupaul Andre Charles and does "woman" better than most women. His song 'Supermodel (You Better Work)' was a huge hit in the '90s as was his beauty, eccentric personality and drag queen persona.

Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
"Lady Day," one of America's finest jazz song stylists (and subject of the film 'Lady Sings the Blues'), was said to have had affairs with both men and women. Two of her most notable relationships included one with director Orson Welles and Tallulah Bankhead.

E Lynn Harris
Harris sold his first book 'Invisible Life' in 1991 out of the trunk of his car before he landed a book deal and later went on to have nine of his books on the New York Times best seller's list. He was one of the first authors to explore being black and gay in his works of fiction.

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson
After meeting Michael K. Williams of HBO's 'The Wire' in a Baltimore club Pearson was invited to the set where she was introduced to producers and writers of the show and was then given a role. Her memoir, 'Grace After Midnight' spoke about her life as an aggressive or an AG (a male-identified lesbian) in her native Baltimore.

James Baldwin (1924-1987)
Baldwin, author, essayist, poet, playwright and activist, explored issues of racial and sexual identity in his much heralded literary art. Baldwin touched on issues facing black gays and lesbians at a time when society was not yet ready to grasp the idea.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
Langston Hughes, writer, activist and poet is noted as "one of the most prolific and versatile American writers of his generation" and a true man of letters. Hughes is probably one of the most famous names of the Harlem Renaissance. An intensely private person, Hughes has been "reclaimed" by the gay community in recent years, though he never officially came out during his lifetime.

Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones began his dance career at the State University at Binghamton as a theater major. Jones choreographed and performed worldwide before founding the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with his late partner Arnie Zane. He is the recipient of a Tony Award and MacArthur "genius grant."

Billy Porter
Also known as the "black Broadway bitch" singer-writer Porter built a strong reputation as a theatrical singer on Broadway; his one-man show 'Ghetto Superstar' was a touching tale of growing up gay in Pittsburgh.

Me'Shell N'DeGeOCello
N'DeGeOCello has been called the redeemer of soul music and nominated for nine Grammys. This acclaimed singer and songwriter is a longtime lover of women including writer Rebecca Walker (Alice Walker's daughter).

Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
Known by regal title "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith was the foremost blues singer of the 1920s. Though she married, she was bisexual and had many affairs with women. She also referenced same-sex love in her lyrics. In 1970, singer Janis Joplin paid for her gravestone which had previously been unmarked.

Jermaine Stuart (1957-1997)
Stuart was well known in the 1980s with appearances on shows such as American Bandstand and Soul Train. His most famous work was 'We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off.' In 1997 Stuart died due to complications from his battle with AIDS.

Sakia Gunn
Sakia Gunn was 15 years old when she was murdered at a busy intersection in Newark, New Jersey. Sakia was a lesbian who turned down a man's advances and was stabbed to death for it.