Let's end racism within our community

by Dustin Woods
Visionary Columnist

Typically, I try to write something that applies broadly to the LGBTQ+ community. This month, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I'm going to write more about the G in our alphabet soup.

The “G,” as I refer to the gay subset of our community, is the portion I represent most. This part of our community is where I have encountered the most issues. In the gay community, I think there needs to be reckoning concerning the amount of blatant racism that marks our community, and I intend to mark a new line in the sand.

If you don't want to be in a relationship, sexual or otherwise, with someone because of the color of their skin, you are racist. Period. We can quibble over the amount of your racism, but in the end, you are the one using the color of someone’s skin to exclude them from the possibility of enjoying your companionship.       

I know my speaking as a white man means I'm not the foremost expert on the topic of what is racist and what isn't. However, I know when my “woke alarm” starts ringing, and one thing causing it to blare is the persistence of gay men on dating apps who are callous enough to type out that they are unwilling to consider someone who is a different race than they are. 

The people who “select” someone in this manner are willing to type out their racist preferences. They seem to be proliferating, and I think it is time we started treating them like the social hazard that they are. 

So, I propose that in the same way the federal government won't negotiate with terrorists, neither should any of us progressively minded gay men continue to consort with the narrow-minded men who say no to an entire race of people. We need to ostracize this cancerous mentality from our ranks socially. 

I mean, it's 2020. It makes me sad knowing that the racist mentalities that exist in this world have continued to grow. For this reason, we need to look for a way we can encourage people to follow the words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. long ago. And that is not to judge others based on the color of their skin, but rather on the content of their character.

To that end, if you are a gay man on a dating app, I ask that you include in your profile that you are not going to consort with racists. Take it one step further, and when you find a profile with someone that is an overt racist, either in their preferences for partners or otherwise, I suggest you block that person completely. Perhaps they will begin to understand how publicly toxic they are, and you will not have to see them in your searches any longer.

Copyright The Gayly. 1/19/2020 @ 10:04 p.m. CST.