• ELIXHER
• On July 17, 2013

The latest issue of Advocate takes a look at what it means to be Black, LGBT and American through the lens of various authors including comedian Wanda Sykes, actress Laverne Cox, and activist Darnell Moore.

In “Black, LGBT, American: A search for sanctuaries,” Moore reflects on the May 2013 murder of Mark Carson, a 32-year-old black gay man in New York City, saying, “I remembered the fact that in most gay spaces my blackness is pronounced, in some black spaces my queerness is animated, and in both spaces I have experienced a lack of safety.”

Bisexual actress and news corespondent Janora McDuffie shares:

I’ve often wondered where the Ellens are in the black community. Do we even exist, or are we just having a party in this big Hollywood closet, occasionally peeking through with no true intention of fully stepping out? God bless the courage of Wanda Sykes, but I’m still trying to understand why in recent years there have been multiple white women who have taken the plunge, yet I can’t even count on one hand the number of black women in this industry who are out and proud.

Read the series here:

Black, LGBT, American: Janora McDuffie
It’s my obligation to my community to be out and proud.

Black, LGBT, American: Laverne Cox
Threat or threatened.

Black, LGBT, American: Wanda Sykes
“My comedy comes from a real place, so it would be hard for me not to talk about my sexuality.”

Black, LGBT, American: Don Lemon
A sense of otherness that binds us.

Black, LGBT, American: Twiggy Garcon
“I’ve been a part of the mainstream ballroom scene since 2004. I was 14.”

Black, LGBT, American: Aaron Walton
Only angelic troublemakers need apply.