Manhood Includes Gay Men Too

After an appearance on Vault Talk Show, actor Maurice Johnson is facing scrutiny for comments regarding homosexuality in film and television. During the interview, Johnson—known for his role in Beyond the Gates—took a strong stance against playing non-heterosexual characters. While he initially claimed he wouldn't "do the role any justice" as a straight man, his further comments have been labeled problematic.

“Manhood is okay. We've gotten into this society where everything is just being pushed down our throats. And I'm a heterosexual male; those are the only roles that I play. I'm not gonna play any other role, you know, I'm not gonna do it justice. I'm not gay, go get a gay guy, to play this role... but you know I think women want to see this."

I acknowledge that a straight male not wanting to portray a gay man isn’t a form of homophobia. However, fixing his decision as a personal moral choice is.

"I have a nephew, I have guys that I mentor, you know, and I can't flip-flop and then, 'hey man, I need you to be a man out here and, you know, do this for your family.' I can't do that. I'm not going to do that."

For many, Johnson's comments echo notions of toxic masculinity and homophobia, as, based on his own words, it is clear he doesn't equate gay men with manhood. Newsflash, gay men provide for and lead families and communities.

Since the episode aired, many on the internet have taken Johnson to task and called out his toxic comments. Most notably, openly gay actor J. August Richards publicly responded and attempted to educate him. Check out the exchange below.

Since the initial response and online backlash, Johnson has only doubled down on his stance and continues to stand by his tone-deaf comments. At one point, while engaging online, Johnson admitted he did not have any intended hate for the LGBTQ community, referencing his role in Beyond the Gates, where his character's son is gay, failing to realize that playing a tolerant character does not excuse making exclusionary remarks in reality.

J. August Richards should be applauded for having this conversation in public. Hopefully, Johnson will eventually reflect on his comments and become receptive to the feedback he was given.

In the meantime, do you believe his comments crossed the line, or do you think the internet is overreacting? You can find the full interview on YouTube with comments beginning around the 15-minute mark.

Gay Is The New Black

In my personal opinion, I feel that the African American community is the biggest critic when it comes to homosexuality, especially among men. The idea of the African American male is this Alpha male, head of the household, breadwinner, ultra masculine, never see him cry type figure or in short the complete opposite of what some people believe homosexual males are. I think this hype, of course, stems from the effects of slavery. It’s an ongoing backlash from African-American males having their dignity stripped and pride broken for years with hope nowhere in sight.

Because of this, the African-American community put emphasis on the new found freedom of  men, expecting us to be the strong superior males that slavery denied us to be, which consequently creates a view that any man willing to have sex with another  man is for lack of better words weak.

I myself find a major flaw with this. As a group, African-Americans should be some of the biggest advocates for the LGBTQ community as not very long being black was the equivalent of being gay today.

Too often the same arguments posed against homosexuals are those that whites used to keep African American’s enslaved for years, even using religion to support their belief that they were our superiors and we were an inadequate species made to serve them. Aside from this, slavery left an everlasting impression on the African American community which leads me to ask the question ‘after years of oppression and injustice why would we subject another group of individuals to the same treatment?’ ‘After years of being persecuted for something as simple as our skin pigmentation, an aspect of ourselves that we didn’t choose, why would we persecute a group for being born a certain way?’ ‘After being lynched, burned, beaten, dragged, and whipped why would we turn around and indulge in the same activities towards others.’

If being gay means being hated and persecuted for the way one is born then it is safe to say that being gay is ironically the new black. Everything about Gay Rights parallels the fight African American’s faced for Civil Rights which is more reason I believe the African American Community should be more sympathetic to the LGBTQ community and their plight. Only time will tell if African American’s will face the reality of the struggle or continue to hinder the struggle.