Are gays more racist?

Are gays more racist?

“The gay world is full of narrow-minded, bigoted racists,” wrote American author Martin Weber in February this year.

Weber’s article took aim at gay and bisexual men who openly advertised ‘No Asians’ or other foreign ethnicities on their online dating profiles.

The piece divided readers, some defending the use of ‘sexual racism’ while many others backed the author and scolded the offending guys.

Grindr users who have advertised their sexual preferences have copped a serious backlash from websites such as Douchebags of Grindr, but while Grindr has become the latest platform for men to publicise their sexual preferences, it’s far from the first.

Two years before the popular app even existed, a group of Sydney gay men created a website addressing sexual racism on online dating websites.

SexualRacismSux.com began in 2007 and read: “This site isn’t about forcing anyone to do anything … we are interested in challenging your preconception.”

One of the website founders, Peretta Anggerek, said they were just asking for people to be decent.

“We’re not saying you’re supposed to change your preference or your way of looking at things. It’s just that common decency seems to have disappeared off the net,” Anggerek said.

OutBlack is a Victorian support group for Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) gay and transgender sister girls.

OutBlack convener Bryan Andy told the Star Observer racism was an unfortunate feature of the queer community.

“I’m often appalled at the sexually racist comments on cruising sites and apps,” Andy said.

“Statements like ‘No Asians’ or ‘No GBM [Gay Black Men]’ are both pathetic and offensive.

“While it’s a problem of minority proportions, I am often flabbergasted by it as I find it quite hypocritical – given that LGBTI people are discriminated against, surely they can comprehend and empathise with feelings of discrimination?”

Andy said racism affects people in a myriad of ways, including physically, emotionally and mentally.

“Just as LGBTI people experience discrimination that can attribute to low self esteem, suicide, feelings of worthlessness, drug and substance use, mental health issues and other such problems, racism can manifest a similar suite of issues in a targeted person,” he said.

Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council (AGMC) spokesman Tony Mordini said while some LGBTI people probably were racist, he questioned the extent of it in the community.

“Sometimes it’s not the sexuality that stands out, but the colour of the skin, or the group people belong to and that may be the first thing that stands out,” he said.

“That’s what people unfortunately target first.”

Mordini, who has an Italian background, agreed sexual racism was hypocritical, but suggested there was also an element of naivety.

“Sometimes people don’t even realise they’re making those subtle things … it’s just what they’ve grown up with or what has evolved in a community’s perception which is unfortunate,” he said.

The lack of multiculturalism in LGBTI characters in films, TV programs and books has also made an impact.

Consider the range of different cultures in leading gay and lesbian TV series such as The L Word, Queer as Folk, Lip Service or even Will and Grace: mostly white leads.

There have been some strong non-white characters in recent television programs though, including Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette) in True Blood and Archie Panjabi (Kalinda) in The Good Wife.

Closer to home there’s been this year’s ABC comedy series Outland, where Christine Anu played Rae, an Indigenous, wheelchair-bound lesbian sci-fi geek.

The 2011 Teaching Diversities report into same-sex attracted young people from culturally diverse backgrounds found the one thing all participants agreed on was the need for more role models from their own cultures.

Other ideas floated included culture-based support groups and more publicly available information in the way of pamphlets or posters.

But the participants pushed for greater exposure of existing “queer persons of colour” who often didn’t get the same media attention as their white counterparts.

The National Anti-Racism Strategy begins this month, as part of the Australian Government’s 2011 multicultural policy, The People of Australia.

The strategy is focused on a zero-tolerance approach to racism while aiming to create a broader acceptance of multiculturalism in Australia.

Andy and Mordini both agreed education about multiculturalism is the best approach to tackling racism in the community.

“Education is the key. While we are a largely successful multicultural society, we often don’t have the skills to challenge or stamp out racist-speak, behaviour or conduct,” Andy said.

Mordini said progress can be made when the impacts of racism are made clear.

“Eventually people can walk away and think ‘yeah, they’re just like me, they’re no different.’”

HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you experienced racism in the community? Comment below.

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15 responses to “Are gays more racist?”

  1. The article is entitled “Are Gays More Racist?” My answer is how can that be quantified? Much of this discussion is about sexual racism in the gay commmunity eg: personal ads. That type of racism also exists in the wider world. And leaving aside sexual issues, there are plenty of gays who voted for John Howard and will vote for Tony Abbott next election on a racist basis. Perhaps the answer to the question is that gays can be just as racist as straights.

    The point is not whether gays are more or less racist than anyone else but what racism does to the gay community. There are gays from ethnic groups who want to come out but don’t exactly feel welcome in our community. This is a lose-lose situation I believe. The closet is not only damaging for individuals but for the gay community as well.

  2. I think this is an interesting debate to have. It is so clear that wipeout homophobia is out there but what about the internal homophobia. Part of the prob I think is that some gay men spend far too much time on online sex sites and so have forgotten how to interact in polite society!!! Of course there’s more too it than that! I do think the gay community is in serious danger of extinction because it is now easier and more tolerant in the str8 world, and this whole thread is part of the reason! It is indeed time for peer pressure to be exerted against bullies, racists and HIVphobes! It is time we looked at our own community and stopped mindlessly pointing the finger at others without considering that inside the gay community is where some of the biggest bigots live work and play and are supported while they do so!!!

  3. Hello,

    Thank you for writing this article. It’s important to keep the conversation on racism in the gay community going, as it is very much alive and well.

    I would like to point out that it’s a bit problematic (as is insinuated in the article) to say that that Asians, and other racial minorities, are ‘foreign ethnicities.’ There are plenty of Asians who are Australian-born, Australian raised, and or Australian-naturalised citizens, and of course, plenty of Aboriginal people experience racism in the gay community too.

    Not to mention that there, by this very same definition, people of European/Caucasian heritage would also be ‘foreign ethnicities.’

    It’s important to notice how, in the gay community as well as in mainstream heterosexual communities, White people are seen to be ‘normal’ or ‘local’ (indeed, ‘Aussie’ tends to mean ‘White Australian’) while Asians and other people of colour are seen as ‘foreign’.

  4. Of course the majority of gay people are more racist. It’s a common belief that we segregate within our community eg race, labels such as bears, twinks etc (everyone knows it and everyone keeps on bringing it up/talking about).

    I believe most of us are like this because we don’t have the balls to stand up to the oppressors that are outside of our community so we take it out on each other instead.

    What’s more that I find disgusting is how gay people are so mean to each other generally – In the work place I always witness gays deliberately being awful to each other but they seem to always overtly be loving to their straight colleagues.

    Don’t get me wrong, I understand that some gays just don’t like each other etc. etc but this type of behaviour is WAY too common and out in the open.. it makes me wonder, if we are so socially deranged.. why on earth makes us believe we can take on board such roles in society (that hold a HUGE responsibility) like parenting, marriage and the like? Actually can somone answer this for me? hmmm????

  5. My oh my.. was I annoyed again? I really regret not having grown up and educated in an English speaking country. It would have been really handy to express my opinion clearer than I can now.

    1.This site isn’t about forcing anyone to do anything … we are interested in challenging your preconception.”
    “We’re not saying you’re supposed to change your preference or your way of looking at things. It’s just that common decency seems to have disappeared off the net,”
    I was just reading about Apartheid which existed because white people wanted to live as far away from black people as was possible, keeping them in their place. Many countries have boycotted SA for this on moral grounds. Most (white) people I know and read about support these actions at the same time claiming one can not tell anyone what to do to make it easy for themselves and other white people to keep blacks or other undesired groups in their place,as far away from them as possible.Looking at something differently is the key to changing ones’behavior. Schizophrenic?

    2.“Sometimes people don’t even realise they’re making those subtle things … it’s just what they’ve grown up with or what has evolved in a community’s perception which is unfortunate,”

    Stating “no Asians” is not subtile. It’s blatant. If this bloke wants to know more about the subtile ways he should ask me.
    And racism is always learned. So of course they behave because they either have grown up with it or pick up these ideas and behavior from their peers. This was almost like saying:”white people have little melanin in their skin”which of course is the case because that is what makes them white.

    3. Education is the key. While we are a largely successful multicultural society, we often don’t have the skills to challenge or stamp out racist-speak, behaviour or conduct,”

    I hope he is not serious. I will drink a full bottle of detergent if most of the white people culpable of these remarks were not taught “we are all the same (on the inside)” and “we should all be friends” and “only the skin is different” and were taught what happened in WW2 and throughout American history and it may never happen again and STILL have these attitudes and convictions that make them say, act and most of all THINK this way.
    If you aim your arrows only to the expressions, you will miss the actual goal. Racism exists in minds primarly, so that is what needs to be changed.

    And yes, Jay. Not dating people on the basis of their ethnic-related appearance in modern society is an indication of racist stances.

    I have done my own research on this which was published on a webiste. Let me know if you are interested.

  6. Do people’s sexual tastes translate into real attitudes towards particular races in real life? Is it the case that people who do not have sex with Whites, Asians or Black people actually hate Whites, Asians and Black people in a racist way? I would like to see this sort of research and writing go beyond sex or dating sites and apps into the real world, because people are quite entitled to select with whom they get naked and naughty. Living and working together however, is a different matter, as everyone should be entitled to equal and equitable treatment anywhere and everywhere.

  7. The question is not what preferences gay guys have or not, the question is where do these preferences come from? We make choices based on the impact society, media and the perception of acceptability. Gay guys struggling to be accepted will go at great lengths to try atleast be accepted and acknowledged. I feel thats the reason people have these preferences. More so in Australia where people are yet to get comfortable with the concept of multiculturism and view people as just human beings capable of anything… It’ll take a while!!!

  8. What a great article and some good observations in the comments.
    I agree entirely: ageism, racism, offensive comments/gestures from guys who think they are great as they are ‘young’ etc etc in the ‘community’. Basically a lot of people’s insecurities (it aint easy growing up gay for sure) being thrust onto others.

    If there was some real appropriate prioritisation in ‘the community’ we would stop giving so much prominence to ‘gay marriage = equality’ and focus closer to home on challenging some of these real (but uncomfortable) issues.

    I even heard a supposed drag queen funny performer in Stonewall refer to Oprah Winfrey as a’ni***r’ when she visited: filthy, arcane language that produced a laugh in the audience – shameful.

    Leaders and organisations in ‘the community’ highlighting and challenging more of the prejudices this article highlights would empower people more to push back where they encounter it and make the small minded bigots who exercise it wake up to themselves.

  9. There are about two billion Asian men on the planet – more than half of all the men alive today are Asian. How anyone could be certain they wouldn’t be interested in any of them is beyond me.

  10. What ever happened to the ‘Tall, Dark & Handsome’ box ? I’d tick that !

  11. Our community is small, so we should notice racism more readily, and we probably do. The problem is we have become a gutless community and never say or do anything about it.
    Very few ever say anything to those who post “No Asians” on a cruise site. Even less will confront a drag queen making racist or sexist or ageist etc comments from the stage.
    Those that do say something are shouted down, even ridiculed and ostracised.
    This cowardice has led to an increasingly conservative attitude within the LGBTIQ community. One that reaffirms the belief that it is OK to say these things or act this way.
    To remain silent is to agree with the oppressor.
    It is sad and hypocritical that LGBTIQ people just don’t see it.

  12. I’m not racist, I’ve been with Asians and Black people; but I do notice that a lot of guys I’ve dated have made passive racist remarks. I am 1/4 Aboriginal, though one couldn’t tell by my appearance, as my father is Welsh, and my mother’s father was Irish. My Aboriginal grandmother lives with us, and when guys I’m dating see her that always make comments that express their happiness that I’m not darker, or look more ‘abo’.

    Meh, I’m use to it though, my Welsh grandparents wouldn’t even see me at the hospital when I was born until my dad’s sister told them I didn’t come out black. (my mother has olive skin)

  13. I just realised I started that post with “I think it’s perfectly fine to have preferences for what type of person or race of people you are attracted to and wish to sleep with” and ended with saying by discriminating you close yourself off to some potentially great experiences in love or sex.

    What I mean is, if you choose to be that way (discriminatory) fine your choice, but think it don’t SAY (or type) it. As it goes from acceptable to just plain rude and nasty.

  14. I think it’s perfectly fine to have preferences for what type of person or race of people you are attracted to and wish to sleep with but specifically putting “no asians” or “No fems” or whatever is just plain rude and unnessessary. I don’t use grindr but used to be on gaydar years and discrimination was definitely rife there so it seems nothing’s changed.

    Unfortunately gay people can be catty and rude and it disappoints me greatly as has for years. Now I’m in my late 30’s I see how gay guys in their early 20’s can be quite agist. I had a young guy come up to me at the shift looking interested and asked how old I was, I was 33 at the time and said so and he physically recoiled, screwed up his face and walked off. I’d have been offended if it wasn’t so amusing. Guys who are racist or agist or place emphasis on looks or big dicks or butch or femme mannerisms are not worth your time.

    There’s decent good guys out there for relationship or friendship and you find them eventually. As for a portion of gays being mean, you’re not gonna change them, unfortunately age makes them meaner and meaner as the years go on. Just smile to yourself knowing they’re miserable and that’s why they’re so catty amd judgemental and discriminatory. And they’ll never get to experience the exotic adventures you can have when you see men as men and ignore the race, colour or whatever ‘turn off’s you think you might have.

    Some of my best sexual experiences have been with guys I wouldn’t have predicted I’d have any kind of chemistry with and it was a big eye opener and it completely changed my outlook. Chemistry between two people (especially that dynamo sexual one) is unpredictable and doesn’t discriminate, so nor should you or you’ll miss out on some mind blowing experiences.