feature: musician/activist mykki blanco goes in on the gay establishment’s exclusion of gay black men

After Sony songwriter Jesse Saint John tweeted an observation about the inclusivity (or lack thereof) of POC within the public and private gay community, musician and activist Mykki Blanco fired off a series of tweets (and is sill going at it) under #GayMediaSoWhite about tokenism and white supremacy. Similar to the ways in which whiteness is seated comfortably at the top of the general social hierarchy (or matrix of oppression), so it is within minority and sub identity groups. For example, colorism in the black community operates on the standard that whiteness, or the appearance of close proximity to whiteness, creates value. In the gay and queer community, this notion is twisted into tokenism and all-out erasure (i.e. “Stonewall”). “The White Gay Establishment likes a “Southern Black Gay who don’t ask too many questions” and can “YASS GIRL” for them,” Blanco tweeted.

*Erin White is an Atlanta-based writer and AFROPUNK’s editorial and social media assistant. You can follow her on Tumblr or friend her on Facebook. Have a pitch or an inquiry? Shoot her an email at erin@afropunk.com.