Author • Filmmaker @metooshortfilm • Creative Consultant and workshop leader 
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It's even worse for Black queer characters. Have you noticed they tend to die or get the worst homophobic attacks, even in your favorite TV shows that are otherwise "diverse"? It's because it's a racist trope linked to a concept called homonationalism. Let me explain to you why. https://t.co/2RR3bmKp3W
Homonationalism is a term coinced by Jasbir K. Puar. Basically, it is the belief that Western countries and white culture in general are the best at supporting and helping Queer people. Which means that, by contract, Black and brown cultures are more homophobic that them.pic.twitter.com/hLcdCiGS1d
Black and Brown queers need to be "saved" from their oppressive cultures by integrating in white cultures fully (which extend to who they also choose as romantic partners). @meganannarms wrote about it here: https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2018/06/27/pinkwashing-and-homonationalism-in-the-radical-right/ …
How does homonationalism explain the terrible treatment of Black queer characters on screen? It's very simple. if Western countries are so advanced, the homophobia there is not as violent for white queers. So TV screenwriters who still want to portray it need to find a cop out.
Black queer characters. Since the black bodies are usually the receptacle of abject violence due to the oppressions they suffer from racism, ableism, etc, there is already this idea in pop culture that violence tend to happen to us worse than to white bodies.
It is even more true to Black queer bodies who are at the intersection of racism of homophobia. So TV writers portray Black queers under the guise of being diverse, yet show them receiving awful homophobic attacks because they see them as a vessel for trauma porn.
(TW:Homophobia, Death) Example 1: In Sex Education, Eric is a Black queer character who is violently attacked by a bunch of homophobes. Why? Because it creates trauma porn. White straight and queer people watch it thinking "thank god it won't happen to me".
It asserts the fact that homophobia in a western country mostly targets Black queer men. On top of that, Eric is a character whose only love interest is a bully on the downlow. What does it tell Black queer people watching it?pic.twitter.com/afdlmkHgXo
That their only chance at love is by being someone's shameful secret. Young White gays are beginning to have cute romance stories. Young Black gay guys can only hope to get a DL man and not ask for more. I can't even begin to explain how violent this kind of portrayal is.
Example 2: In the TV show Cucumber, Lance is a Black queer man whose partner recently dumped him. He starts dating a man on the downlow, who is so ashamed of his sexuality that he violently kills Lance by smashing his head with a golf club.pic.twitter.com/fWcozo8XI1
After I watched that episode, I got a panic attack. Then I had nightmares. I started calling every Black and Brown queer friends I knew, making sure they were safe. Some of my friends confessed to me how shocked and disgusted they were. It was irrational...but also not.
Homophobia, despite what homonationalism believes, is still very real. It's not an accident that the character who suffered the most from it was Black and also someone who very much desired whiteness and didn't love himself very much.
But Black queer people have no rest from homophobia. Even when they watch show where they are slightly represented, TV writers have to remind them that they are and will be victims of violence. And there's a delight in it.
Once again it shows how these writers don't even think or care about the fact that their shows are not watched by a white audience. That some of the viewers are actually Black queer people who have to relive even in fiction homophobia.
Who can't even hope to see healthy portrayal of their love lives. Stories where they won't be killed or assaulted because they are Black and queer. Stories where they will be allowed to fall in love with people who are not afraid of holding their hands in public.pic.twitter.com/HgPOerqC1J
Homonationalism is not only a terrible lie, erasing the healthy, happy experiences of Black and Brown queer people, but it also erases the experience of White queer people who suffer from homophobia in Western countries. Why?
It's not taken seriously due to the wrong belief that it is not really a thing in Western cultures. But it is. We all know that.
I wish white writers would simply stop doing so much damage to the already low self esteem of Black queer people by consistently portraying them badly and subjecting them to violence. Also, support Black queer writers because they can and do tell our stories better.pic.twitter.com/VQsav5libD
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