Hypermasculinity and Homophobia, Part 4

In my last post, I wrote about E.G. Ward's wonderful article, Hypermasculinity, Homophobia, and the US Black Church.

I was really moved by the article and wanted to learn more about what churches in predominately African-American communities say about homophobia, hypermasculinity, bullying, and acceptance.

Just to clarify, I am totally aware that no one faith tradition, ethnic group, or race is exempt from homophobia. The problem is, sadly, very widespread among every color and creed. The reason I chose to focus on hypermasculinity and homophobia amoung young African-American males is that I was fascinated by how these two systemic behaviors really grew out of a reaction to a very specific history or racism, discrimination, and disempowerment in the United States.

I also think the issues of hypermasculinity and homophobia amongst a cohort of young African-American males is poignant and timely: as a result of these pervasive ideologies, these young men are the new face of HIV infection. The hypermasculine male has more sexual partners and has an aversion to condom use, because he sees it as a threat to his virility; the young gay man who is silenced and isolated by a culture of homophobia denies his orientation by engaging in secret, risky behavior on "the down-low."

I did a quick YouTube search and came up with these thought-provoking videos:

This video is the first of a three-part discussion featuring three different ministers from Atlanta voicing their opposing viewpoints on homophobia within their faith communities.

The next video features Larrell, a young woman who has "repented" from being a lesbian. Larrell now has a myspace and YouTube-based ministry. In this interview, she speaks with one of the ministers featured in the previous clip about Atlanta churches.