Homosexuality and Hip-Hop : The Gay Rapper Thread

http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/09/laverne_cox_and_janet_mock_talk_mister_cee.html

^^This is really good.

Laverne Cox:

There's consistently an erasure of trans identity when we have these discussions. The reason I'm here is because whenever we have these discussions, trans people's voices -- trans women's voices, specifically -- are not included in these discussions. And the stigmatizing -- I've been single most of the time I've been in New York, most of the time since I started transitioning fifteen years ago, and I date men. The extent to which men who date us or are attracted to us are stigmatized is so intense. Most of these men feel like they can never tell anyone, can never be out about it.

Janet wrote in her piece today so brilliantly today is that men are attracted to women, and so so often, when a man is found to be in a relationship or attracted to a trans women, it's the misgendering and the denial of our womanhood that we see happening there. And that kind of stigma leads to violence against trans women. That kind of stigma leads to us not being able to get a job. That stigma leads to us not being able to get health care, housing. And it really is a state of emergency for trans women.

For me it's important that we use this opportunity to talk about how men who date us are stigmatized, and how that really reflects on how our bodies and our existence and our lives are stigmatized.

Today in my African American lit seminar we discussed Mykki Blanco and Le1f. I love school.

!

It is worth mentioning that I only brought up the latter, and even then, only after one of my classmates brought up the former. When I saw my prof scribble down Le1f's name in his notebook, I told him to download the Fly Zone tape.

lol, my friend that teaches classes on gender in media studies gets into those kinda conversations all the time. i think she has a matrix lecture.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/interviews/id.2181/title.f-virtue-discusses-homosexuality-in-hip-hop-coming-out-in-single-anita-bryant-

Unfortunately that guy's a pretty bad rapper though.

Definitely important to mention Lord Jamar in the second sentence of that. Def important to validate the opinions of a bigot who hasn't made an important record in 20 years

-________-

http://labrujamorgan.tumblr.com/post/79881448946/some-reflections-on-gaybigaygay

Cakes played it down a bit -

I’m sorry the event took a turn for the worst for you boo but I did not end my set out of frustration but because of a time restraint. Also, no one during my set annoyed me with how they were acting to me it seemed all out of fun.

Again, I’m sorry the event didn’t pan out the way you wanted it to but I def had fun at my first Gaybi and I don’t think Mykki was fazed either.

They have been told their whole lives that everything is theirs. They’ve been told that whatever they do is fine and cute and great

don't think this is really accurate about LGBT people of any colour tbh (this is not to minimise how terrible white gays can be) (the way she described it sounded terrible but if cakes is telling a different story...?)

fans climbing on stage during a concert isn't really a matter of disrespect or entitlement is it?

if uninvited i'd tend to call it an asshole move regardless but if the performers were fine with it, or it was expected...

That was an

urgh, sorry: wasn't there and have limited perspective but cakes and mykki have distinctly punk sensibilities, i have a hard time believing this kind of behavior would've traumatized them. and having been to dozens of sets where the words "these goddamn white people" have easily come to mind, saying that the white fans were "spasmodically wriggling" to the set sorta plays out your hand; with the artist shrugging in the comments this reads more like an opportunity to grind an axe in bloggytown than highlight a great injustice

alright, I hadn't seen Cakes' response. moving along

gaybigaygay is a terrible show name btw

truuuu

passed my way today, dunno if i exactly care for it or not
http://vimeo.com/84941601

surprised that this hasn't been discussed yet (for the fact of its existence much more so than its quality)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4iBBfEHNaE