[[ LIFE LIFE ]]
CELEBRATING PRIDE AND THE END OF ISOLATION Men of color face serious challenges by coming out in the LGTBQ community and celebrating life post COVID 19. Written by Ken Williams Jr. Ken Williams, Jr. has been an activist speaking out forcefully on Civil, LGBTQ, Women's and Human Rights for nearly his entire adult life. He's a Microsoft Education Specialist, as well as freelance marketing and graphic design consultant.
out of isolation. Gays frequently refer to their gay friends as “family.” This is how important sharing the company of their gay brothers and sisters is to them. For gay and bisexual Black men, the need to socialize within the gay community is often even more profound because of the broader cultural, economic, and societal pressures associated with being both a gay AND Black man in America. Now take into account the arrival of COVID-19. According to the latest CDC data, African Americans are nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized and twice as likely to die from contracting COVID-19 as white Americans. These health risks are magnified for both LGBTQ and African American populations individually and collectively. Knowing this, one can readily conclude the devastating effects the pandemic has had on men who are both Black and LGBTQ. Gay and bisexual Black men were already one of the nation’s most marginalized and disaffected groups before COVID-19 struck. After more than a year of global pandemic-induced social isolation, many of these men are experiencing an ongoing sense of loss, foreboding, depression, and even suicidal ideation. •
Coronavirus robbed them of the ability to socialize at the LGBTQ bars, clubs, restaurants and other venues where they felt welcome, safe, and could be their own true gay selves. Many spent over a year interacting only with their traditional straight families.
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COVID even stole love and intimacy from the LGBTQ com-
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ost humans tend to be social creatures who don’t do well in prolonged isolation. This is especially true for many of those who identify as LGBTQ. Even gay vernacular manifests this truth — coming “out of the closet” is coming
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