Black gays fight for a voice on campus

So lured was April Maxwell by the promise of the black college experience, with its distinct traditions and tight-knit campus life, that she enrolled at Hampton University in 2001 without even visiting the waterfront campus.

Instead, “I felt like I was the only gay person on campus — it seemed like nobody was really out,” said the now 24-year-old Maxwell.She channeled her isolation into organizing a gay support group, but a panel of students and faculty denied it a charter. The panel recently denied a second attempt at chartering Students Promoting Equal Action and Knowledge, or SPEAK, headed by underclassmen after Maxwell graduated.

But some students here see more than a conservative approach to the regulations. They, and many others at the nation’s more than 100 historically black colleges and universities, say that a broader suspicion of homosexuality keeps gays in the shadows at these tradition-heavy schools.

“You’ve got to recognize the history of HBCUs,” said Larry Curtis, vice president for student affairs at Norfolk State University, where students recently formed a gay-straight alliance. “Most of them were founded by religious organizations.”

“No organization is given any type of special treatment,” said Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Barbara Inman. “The university doesn’t have a position on gay and lesbian faculty and staff members.”

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I must say that as a straight african-american, i am sad that our schools aren't that accepting. I know in the black community esp. homosexuality is a problem (with regards to others reaction to it, not that the gay people themselves are the problem.) But i know for a fact that alot of these HBCU are known to have alot of not so secret gay people, esp places like morehouse where its all male, and spelman which is all female.(For some reason these adminastartions deny it but everybody else knows what going on.) I know that alot of people think of these schools highly because they are pretty much the black ivy leagues. But IMO homosexuals should be able to freely form there groups if thy wish. Its one thing for other students to discriminate against you, but when the administration to does so, that just sucks, and is immoral on their part IMO

Man...this country has a long, long way to go. I'm not sure that there will ever be a time when there is no homophobia, no racism, etc. Because even if more and more people become accepting of the beliefs/lifestyles of others, there will still be ignorant people who don't understand.

Also, there are still plenty of racist grandpa's out there teaching their grandkids to be afraid of people who aren't the same color as them. I would know, I'm 23, but luckily I was smart enough to not buy into my family's beliefs. Sheesh.

[edit on 11-4-2007 by Motoflou]