After living in the same Brooklyn building for over a decade, neighbors have gotten to know that feminist writer and poet Staceyann Chin is a lesbian. In her latest HuffPo Black Voices entry, “Coming Out Pregnant,” she muses:

Over time, I have become a fixture in this big old community that is quickly suffering the ravages of gentrification. Old women from the Caribbean are used to my flirting with them on the elevator; telling them they are not allowed to look this fly on such a nice summer day, ‘Don’t you know lesbians live in the building, Mrs. Johnson?’ They usually blush, and beam, and tell me I should behave, ‘Don’t you see I’m too old for anybody (man or woman) to look at me dat way, child.’

Her friendly and familiar exchanges with the residents have taken an interesting (and awkward) turn since she has gotten pregnant. Staceyann continues:

The moment I began to show people started doing under-cover double takes, especially in the elevator. The building is old, so the ride up is very, very slow. People sort of talk normally to me, but they no longer look in my face, or at my boobs. They stare straight ahead and glance sideways at my protruding stomach every ten seconds or so. Not one person has taken the plunge and asked outright if I was pregnant.

When she grew tired of the weird glances, Staceyann started announcing that she’s pregnant. Some of the responses were comical; others rude. One woman went as far as suggesting the child could have birth defects as a result of IVF. [Insert blank stare.]

“Difficult or not, shared joy or sweet sorrow in solitude,” Staceyann writes. “I am awaiting his arrival, preparing for her presence, knowing with everything in me, how proud I am, how lucky I am, to be a single, Black, self-employed, radical, progressive, lesbian artist who is 31 weeks pregnant with a child she has wanted for more than a decade.”

Read the full article on HuffPo Black Voices.

Category: News