So with black men who are on the DL is it that this society of secrets and lies keeps them alive? Possibly. Gay bashings and hate crimes haven’t gone anywhere. They just don’t make good copy, apparently. People debate whether or not it can be proved that a person perpetrates a violent act against another because of assumed orientation. But I’m sure that if a person, or persons, is shouting anti-gay epithets while pummeling their intended target, well, seems obvious to me.

And it’s not only bashings and violent acts that require hiding. Is our value and interpretation of masculinity a by-product of slavery-era mentality? Back when we were considered property in the early history of the United States part of our value was placed on our productivity, both in the fields and out. How physically strong were we, how many children could we father, what was our resiliency and how much physically could we endure? Weakness was not only seen as a character flaw, but also as a loss financially. Did women who were bred with these strong bucks begin to associate subconsciously this apparent tie-in with survival?

Behavioral Sociologists and Anthropologists discuss the internal programming of sexual attraction over the ages. The physical cues that ensure the gene pool will continue; the social etiquette that initiates coupling and mating. Today, instances of this primal programming can be seen in the multiplicity of parentage. Many women are having children with several men who carry traits that they admire and want to pass on in their children. It’s no longer uncommon to find a woman with three or four children or more with different fathers for most or all. For men it remains a badge of honor, a prideful boast, but even this can be traced to almost an animalistic survival instinct. To father several children, let alone with many different women, seems to speak to some hidden understanding that this man is a stud. He has perpetuated his seed to insure the future generations of his genetic lineage. He becomes the leader of the pack, if you will, or the dominant male.

So maybe the thinking goes that a gay male cannot do this, and, therefore is of no use.

But if we look at our history pre-European invasion of the African continent, we discover that gay and lesbian people served vital roles in many different African societies and cultures. Much like Native Americans and the two-spirit people, these Africans held prominent positions in their respective groupings, from griots (storytellers and historians), healers and shaman, to religious elders and political aides and leaders. It wasn’t until Europeans introduced Western religion that native African cultures, much like Native American cultures, began to see their homosexual neighbor as negative and, in some cases, evil.