Celebrating Blackness

Greg Mathis Jr. heads to H-Town for the Black Queer AF Music Festival.

By ZACH M c KENZIE

Photo by WED LIFE MEDIA

Ever since he came out on national television on his family’s reality show Mathis Family Matters, Greg Mathis Jr. has been riding high and living a life that is rooted in truth and love. Overcoming years of negative, religion-based influences and the fear of disappointing those closest to him, Mathis is leaning into the joy of queer Blackness and inviting others to celebrate with him.

Later this spring, the breakout reality star is headed to Houston to appear at the Black Queer AF Music Festival, presented by The Normal Anomaly Initiative in early May.

Mathis, whose father is Judge Greg Mathis from the syndicated courtroom TV show, admits that his coming out was a very vulnerable experience. “When I was in the process of doing it, it wasn’t necessarily [my] idea to come out on national TV, because it was like a reallife thing for me. [I experienced all of] the realworld feelings that I think a lot of gay and queer people go through. I was really coming out to the entire world. On the show it shows that we released a public coming-out video, and that was about four months before the show aired. So that part of coming out was very personal and real, because it was a real thing.”

The public response to his coming-out episode indicated to Mathis and his partner, Elliot, that his public coming out would have ripple effects far beyond their inner circle. “Once the show aired, we were blown away by the impact it had on people—[especially the show’s] focus on my relationship with my father and how positively he responded. That was the part that I knew would have an impact, but I had no idea that it would touch so many people.”

Mathis was encouraged by the twofold nature of the fan feedback he was receiving. “We got such an outpouring of support, with people telling us that we had helped them in their own lives. Parents were saying how it helped them interact with their children in a better way. There were also people who were on that journey of coming out themselves. They said we gave them the confidence to really be themselves.”

To fully appreciate where Mathis is today, one must acknowledge the emotional hurdles he had to overcome to get to this point. “I grew up in the Church of God in Christ, which is not necessarily an affirming church, particularly when it comes to queer folks,” he explains. “Depending on which church you go to within that denomination, you could hear sermons like I did when I was growing up. The pastor stood in the pulpit and taught the entire congregation some pretty graphic things. I was 5 years old, and the pastor told us that it is wrong for men to have sex with men. I don’t think any kid should have to hear that when they’re going to church. Sermons should be about love, community support, and all the things that Jesus talked about. When I was younger, I would go home after church and pray to not be gay anymore. I would pray to God regularly. Aside from the trauma that that created in me as a child, I had a fear of being rejected by my own community. I don’t think I ever feared my family rejecting me, because I had an uncle who was gay and I’m really close with my father. It was more the community’s perception, and the shame that would bring on my family, that really made me hide my sexual orientation for such a long time.”

Mathis is determined to use his notoriety to create positive change in the LGBTQ+