Unfortunately
the media is filled with stereotypes. How people perceive men of any color is a
guy lacking emotion, rough, most of the time an alpha with a bad attitude. Then
there’s the gay man who is sometimes portrayed as overly girly, weak, and more
often than not, a sex addict. In the early 2000’s we were blessed with Queer as Folk, showing beautiful gay men of
all types, embracing their sexuality, dealing with the same issues as straight
couples trying to survive in the modern era. As brilliant as QAF was, it was
missing a key element. In my opinion, a gay man of color who was also a main
character would’ve added something to the show.
Some
time later, Noah’s Arc came along and I believed it
only lasted two seasons. From the couple of episodes I did see, it portrayed
gay men of color in a positive light. Seemingly, this series might not have
been interesting enough to keep running so it disappeared without a trace.
What
about in fiction? These days we have a wealth of colorful gay characters in
many books. The question is how do we write them? Do we draw on the
stereotypes? Black and or Hispanic men who are angry and always intense; Asian
men who seem timid and weak. Those are just a couple of examples. Do we need to
add this to our books for them to seem real? In my estimation we don’t. I often
wondered why authors, whether it be books, TV, and or movies can’t make a
character, especially a gay male
character of color, who doesn’t fit that mold. Sure, you can add to the setting
to make it more “real”; a young black man from a poorer neighborhood. Perhaps
his family hates that he’s gay and his friends don’t accept him. Yes that’s all
the reality I need and let me say, not every
black man comes from a background like that. But with his attitude? Must he be
overly angry at the world and seething all the time? Well hell, he could be a
goth boy. That would make BL happy. *grins* Or could he be an intelligent
scholar, from a not so poor neighborhood. Perhaps he was the rich one and his
white counterpart the middle class working man. My favorite with that kind of
background was Bonnie Dee’s
Undeniable Magnetism
which I enjoyed thoroughly.
What’s
my point here? When I write a gay man of color, I try to avoid the stereotypes
unless it is a central part of the plot. I feel people should be written as
people, without pulling from the so called mold.
Regardless
of race or nationality or orientation, we’re all human with unique traits and
attitudes that make us stand out from others. Characters should be treated in
the same fashion.
* * * *
Coming in late May I Love You Rhett Vorhees
BL's alter ego Rawiya has expanded on the Unforgettable Valentine story from the Only THAT Night Anthology. This story features a gay black man who doesn't fit the "mold"
“What?
I didn’t hear what you said.” Darren spun around in his chair behind his desk
and glanced out the window, admiring the beautiful Chicago skyline. He never
wanted to move from this place despite the high cost of living because he loved
his hometown. Besides, he still had family here who cared for him deeply. They
were his rock when he needed someone to lean on.
At
the moment, he was enjoying a conversation with his former lover, Terrell who’d
moved on to play baseball for one of the minor league teams in the south. North
Carolina to be exact. They’d broke it off when both realized they loved one
another but weren’t in love. That’s
why they stayed the best of friends.
“Yeah?
And no prospects of fine men down there, huh? Like I said, you should’ve stayed
here in Chi, my man.”
“Naw,
naw.” His smile came through the phone. “We agreed it wouldn’t be good for us
to live in the same town after breaking up. I love it here but I do miss home,
especially the restaurants and nightlife. Damn.”
“Hey
Terrell, I’m over you, okay? I can handle it. Like I said, it wasn’t your fault
we didn’t work, it was all me...”
“And
the love you had for a little boy you used to know in elementary school.
Listen, you need to get over that, okay? You haven’t seen the man in years and you ain’t heard from
him. For all you know he might be−”
“Don’t
say it.” Darren cut him off and shifted his chair back around. “I know it could
be a possibility he’s left the country, married, or hell he could be−” Darren
couldn’t bring himself to say Rhett Vorhees could be dead. He blinked back the memory of the day at Rosner Elementary when
he laughed at him and all his classmates teased him to no end. God, how he
wished he could change that day for the better. He cared for Rhett immensely
and never had the cojones to tell him so. Darren held out hope he’d meet Rhett Vorhees
again.
“Darren?
Darren you drifted out on me again didn’t you?”
Darren
shook his head and rubbed his temple with one hand. “Yeah I did. Sorry. I was
just thinking about Rhett. I wish we hadn’t made fun of him.”
“Yeah
well. Heck, we were scared to take sides with him and show ourselves right? I
mean imagine the hell we would’ve caught if all the boys found out we were into
other boys, huh? They don’t really associate with us now after we came out and
told them we were dating.”
“Screw
‘em, Terrell. I always told you not to worry about those fucks anyhow.” Darren
opened the drawer and stared at the crumpled card he’d held onto for the last
decade plus. It was his good luck charm, his memoir of a young boy he had the
hots for and let him go because of stupid pride. A red heart with black
scribble on the front, saying, To Darren
from Rhetta. As an adult, Darren
presumed he’d changed it to avoid any questions from Darren’s parents if they
looked at it. So simple, beautiful, this was the only thing other than the
picture of Rhett he cut out from the school graduation shot.
After
that, Darren heard from a mutual female friend that Rhett and his family moved
away to Texas. If only he had the chance to see Rhett again, just to tell him how very sorry he
was, and
possibly get to know him better. Darren would do just about anything for that
opportunity.
“Darren?
Damn, will you stop that?” he yelled through the headset. “You’re like a love
sick puppy when we start talking about Rhett. The boy was strange as hell. Real
pretty but way too quirky. Remember he
used to like collecting just random stuff from people? Things they didn’t want,
he’d ask for. I remember the one time he asked everybody if he could take a
sample of hair to do some kind of study on the texture and why it was coarse as
opposed to silky,” he laughed. “And he was a cross-dresser which wasn’t all
that big of a deal but why his parents allowed him to wear skirts and kilts to
school is beyond me.”
Darren
turned up his lips and shook his head. “Wasn’t that for a science project? And
as far as his way of dressing, obviously his parents supported him to be who he
wanted to be. That’s commendable. Hey listen, I need to get going, all right? I
got some last minute paperwork to finish before it’s time to head home.”
Silence.
“Sure you do, Darren. You wanna sit back and stare at that card for a while,
don’t you?”
“No.”
Darren closed the drawer quickly, knowing he really did have stuff to do. “I
got some work that needs my urgent attention. Thanks for the phone call. I’ll
come down to see you play soon.”
“Alright
then. You should go with me to Fall League. It’s usually spent in the Dominican
or something. A lot of fine Latin boys to look at.” He grinned through the
phone.
“Yeah
maybe. I’ll see you later.” Darren pulled the phone away from his ear and put
his finger on the disconnect button.
“See
you Darren. And go out somewhere for Valentine’s Day. Get laid!” Right after
that comment he hung up.
Darren
sighed inwardly and pressed the button. He leaned back in the chair and yanked
that same drawer open once more where he kept the familiar keepsake from the
boy he used to know in elementary school.
“Where
are you, Rhett?” Gently, he picked it up and gazed at it longingly, noticing
the chicken scratch handwriting, the red heart that faded because of the time
passed. The paper had been flattened in Darren’s journal and kept in a little
wooden box with Rhett’s picture to protect it from harm. Through high school,
college, grad school, and every dorm, apartment, he moved into, the tiny box
went with him. He’d never discarded them because deep down, he just knew he’d
get the chance to apologize. And even if Rhett hated his guts, he still craved
to tell him how sorry he was for laughing at him.
Darren
even told his mother how he’d kept the faith all these years, desperately
wishing he’d be able to see Rhett’s face once again. He held out hope that
Rhett was still alive and well. Even better, still single so they could explore
the possibility of being together.
