Morehouse College Bans Cross-Dressing

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/17/college.dress.code/index.html

You've got no business telling people how to dress in their personal lives.

nt

but the fact of the matter is that homophobia is more of a problem in the black community than it is in the white community.

Let's look at some exit poll data, shall we?:

CA Prop 8 to ban gay marriage: whites 51% NO, 49% YES; blacks 70% YES, 30% NO

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#CAI01p1

FL Amendment 2 to ban gay marriage: whites 60% YES, 40% NO; blacks 71% YES, 29% NO

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=FLI01p1

They did not poll enough people that are black to get an accurate sampling.

Homophobia is a huge problem in every community were it is present no matter what percentage hold such views. Singling out the African American community based on two exit polls that did not sample enough black voters to get an accurate rate is short sited.

Edit to add link to debunking: http://blog.cleveland.com/pdopinion/2008/12/black_voters_gay_issues_and_th.html

Thank you. Can't be said enough.

...it's more of an opinion. What is troubling is that the mormons reached out to many African-American churches and it does seem to have helped...maybe it's more religious blacks were against it, but the data still is troubling and should be examined, not brushed under the rug because so many people want to believe all minorities don't discriminate and are on our side.

You are correct in that it is a huge problem in EVERY community. We part ways where you state that the polls are incorrect. It's not just exit polling that demonstrates those statistics, it's virtually every poll on the subject of homosexuality/heterosexuality or the subject of marriage equality. Survey USA, the latest Pew Poll which was widely posted on DU - they all have roughly the same numbers.

Now, what are we to make of this?

1) It's not racist or bigoted in any shape, manner or form to talk about this openly.

2) The problem is not the views of the "black community," it's the fact that evangelical RELIGION can play proportionally an outsized role in some black communities. There is a long history of homophobia in the traditional black church, and the church is highly influential.

3) Hiding our heads in the sand doesn't do any good. If we know what we are up against, and we can discuss it freely, we then can devote time, energy and funds to help LGBT people of color develop more effective outreach in their own communities, as well as foster education from the larger LGBT community at large.

4) There is pleny of racism amongst white members of the LGBT community nationwide. We can take responsibility for that, own it and work towars eradicating it.

One of the best posts ever written on this at DU was right here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4399114

It is never mentioned. The 'encouraging' of homophobia is sick, and study after study always concludes that it is infinitely worse in the black community than in the white community. I think the only person that stands up for gay rights in the black community is Julian Bond and Kanye West. Coincidentally I was just watching the classic Eddie Murphy 'Raw' DVD and was appalled at how much he uses the word faggot and makes jokes about AIDS. He later apologized after realizing that he sounded like a complete d-bag. I know Raw was back in the 80's and there is probably plenty of examples of white comedians making gay jokes during that time as well. But the amount of homophobia in the black community is staggering, and I'm really glad someone decided to bring it up. It is something that is NEVER addressed by ANYONE. In college, a friend of mine did some research on the topic for African-American Studies independent study course and his teacher, and then later the head of the department tried to stop him, saying that it was counterproductive research, focused too much on negative aspects of Af-Am culture. My friend, who was gay and black was like, "that's why I want to do it." They finally let him do the research, but he said that for the rest of his time in the department, he was treated like an outsider by the faculty. very sad indeed.

Alleged Anti-Gay Attack at Morehouse
By Kerry-Ann Hamilton

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Published: Tuesday, November 19, 2002
Updated: Sunday, August 10, 2008
Morehouse College sophomore Aaron Price, is charged with beating another student with a baseball bat after the male student allegedly looked at him in the shower earlier this month.
According to a report filed by the Morehouse College Police Department, the victim was beaten approximately six to seven times, in the face, head, shoulders, back and arms with the bat in Brazeal Hall dormitory.
The Washington Blade in a Nov. 15 article, "Bat beating at Morehouse Labeled Hate Crime," identified the victim as Gregory Love, a junior music major.

http://www.thehilltoponline.com/campus/alleged-anti-gay-attack-at-morehouse-1.473103

Black and white fundamentalists are equally awful when it comes to gay issues--and a whole lot of other things.

...maybe Morehouse isn't a rael college?

'cross dressing' - since trousers are traditionally male (since the 19th century, anyway).

Are they going to make all the women wear skirts and dresses, too? I'll give them points for being honest about their reasoning - but if they're going to go backward, they should go ALL the way back and institute a slack/jacket rule for the guys and skirt/dress rule for the girls. Maybe bobbysox, too. And bouffant hair. And little white gloves.

Maybe I was thinking of the one in Mississippi . . .

Don't I feel silly now (although in terms of the philosophical argument, I think my analogy still stands - weakly one-legged, perhaps)!

In that light, I don't have a problem with it.

Why some black people insist on emulating the worst aspects of white traditions I do not know.