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Uchenna Ezejiofor

December 16, 2019

Theater 303

Professor Suaidi

“Where Are All The Queer Folk At”: An Analysis of LGBTQ representation in

Contemporary Black Theater

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It's been evident in literature, film and almost all media forms that LGBTQ has an

invisible prefaced default. That being, “White”. All of the perplexing coming of age films and

plays that break boundaries surrounding the gender binary have alway been portrayed by and

about white people. On the other hand, a large majority of Black media and theater have been

based on narratives, traumas and lived experiences of what are presumed to be Cis-gendered

Black men and women. Black theater has always been a space for expressing the complexities of

love, the pains of a lived experience and the triumph despite the trauma. And far too often these

stories are portaryed to be mutually exclusive although the range of relatibility extends far

beyond the labels of cisgender, queer, intersex and trans. Black LGBTQ people deserve stories

of their own. They deserve the understanding that the struggles of their race coexist with the

struggles of their gender identity and sexuality. The stories and plays that are brought to the

forefront within the Black theatre community must show this, or else Black theatre is not serving

all​ Black people but just ​some ​Black people.

In the words of trans actress Laverne Cox “They need to see themselves”, meaning that

​ lack representation in
stories about Black LGBTQ folks must be in the mainstream (54)​. B

theater comes from a place of sought understanding for trauma and lived experiences therefore,

LGBTQ representation and presence in Black theater in a contemporary scope also occupies a

space of desired understanding, of their lived experiences and especially their trauma.

Importance of representation

According to a study by Erica Halverson pertaining to the dramaturgical process and its

importance in relation to LGBTQ youth’s identity development, “ Engaging with a cultural

narrative is the mechanism by which all people construct a personal narrative of identity” which
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in short describes the significance of the issue of representation in theatre (Halverson 6)​.​ ​With

this in mind, it is imperative to note that representation of Black LGBTQ folks in contemporary

theatre is not a matter of socio political correctness but instead, a dilemma affecting Black

LGBTQ folks’ sense of self​ ​due to a lack of seeing themselves and their stories​.​ ​To illustrate

this, Marcus Scott of the American Theatre Communications Group speaks briefly about the far

too often occurence of Black LGBTQ folks being forced to empathize with and relate to the

​ urther, gay White men have

White male character displayed in most of LGBTQ theatre (Scott)​. F

been the faces of LGBTQ theater thereby leaving Black LGBTQ folks completely out of the

​ laywright and director, Robert O’Hara stated ​“​There’s too many white gay
public’s frame​. P

people, particularly white gay men and their struggle being white and gay and male​.​ Do we

really need that many conversations? To some people, that’s diversity​.​ But to me, that’s just

more white folks onstage​.​”, in regards to the lack of diversity in stories surrounding queer

people​.

Equally important, in regards to people with varying overlapping identities, the discourse

surrounding representation is one that should be constantly revisited with an intention to further

incorporate the complexities of their stories​.​ ​This is especially true in Black theater where, as

Kiesling states, “The important crossings of blackness and queerness are overlooked, preventing

a focus on the multifaceted and often overlapping oppressive power structures that are shaped by

gender, class, race, and sexuality, simultaneously”(10)​.​ ​Moreover, to the“default” (Cisgender

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heterosexual people), equal representation often times looks as if something is being taken away

from something when in fact, inclusion is an addition in the variety of the stories that actors and

audiences have the opportunity to engage with​.

Finally, “the performance space is the lifeline where we connect with communities, local

​ imply meaning that for all people regardless of sexuality, gender

and global”(Fitzgerald 11)​. S

identity and race, the need for a connection within performance artistry is ever present and

​ his is why the Black LGBTQ population must be seen by those not part
extremely necessary​. T

​ eeing themselves, as Laverne Cox states, is

of the community and those part of the community​. S

​ or if one sees
where the beginnings of self actualization and understanding take place​. F

themselves happy, in love and experiencing the normalities of life, the viewer will believe that

these attributes performed on stage by people like them can actually be present in their present

reality for them​.

Beginning stages of representation

Over the decades, an evident shift in the stories of Black people who were given the

​ ccording to Thomas
opportunity to be displayed on the American stage, drastically emerged​. A

Fitzgerald of the UCLA College of Philosophy in Theatre and Performance studies, in the past

the hyper masculine black male has remained the dominant character in Black Dramas due to the

1960 Civil Rights Movements and the hyper masculine dramaturgy that was reinforced in many

​ urther, Black people have consistently used traumatic

black playwrights at the time (2013)​. F

moments within the community as a catalyst for taking action through performing the rage, or
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pain they experience at the hands of injustice​.​ This is especially present in traumatic moments

often portrayed in performative art (television, film and theater) today such as police brutality

(evident in the play, ​Thoughts Of A Colored Man​), an unjust criminal justice system (evident in

the film series ​When They See Us​) or even racist violence (evident in the play​ Dreaming

Emmett​)​.​ These works of performative art almost always come from a place of pain and rage

within the Black Community​.

Consequently, amidst the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, a significant amount of Black gay

men were reported to have acquired the virus and the death toll began to rapidly increase​.

Concurrently, Black queer performance art reflected the aches and pains of constant death

​ ake for example the rise of Black gay theater

among the Black gay community at the time​. T

troupes such as the “Pomo Afro Homo” in the following years (Plum 3)​. ​ The​“Pomo Afro

Homo” (Postmodern African American Homosexuals) theatre troupe became active between

​ heir original goal in establishing themself was to display and perform issues
1990- 1995​. T

affecting the average Black queer person but more specifically to display their ever present

trauma that has taken the shape of the current AIDS epidemic​.

Their troupe consisted of a trio of Black Gay male actors and playwrights named Djola

Branner, Brian Freeman and Eric Gupton​.​ Some of their most popular productions include

Fierce Love a​ nd ​Dark Fruit, a​ nd because of the time period in which they were active Pomo

Afro Homo was considered extremely controversial and taboo to most spectators but rightfully
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revolutionary to others​.​ Pomo Afro Homo received numerous rejections from sponsors and

contributors in addition, they were forced to maintain an extremely low budget​.​ Regardless, they

did everything in their power to portray stories of people with similar identities and experiences​.

Further, it's evident that the intense and traumatic health emergency of the AIDS epidemic was a

catalyst among Black gay people to engage in visible acts of resistance in the form of

performance art​.

Representation Today

Correspondingly, in the last decade, queer playwrights have propelled themselves into

the Black theatre scene with a plethora of groundbreaking narratives aimed at addressing the

complexities and traumas that pertain to gender identity, race, and sexuality​.​ ​Plays such as Tarell

Alvin McCraney’s unpublished semi-autobiographical play ​In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue

​ hich later turned into the award winning film ​Moonlight​), Robert O’Hara’s ​Bootycandy, ​and
(w

Billy Porter’s ​While I Yet Live h​ ave given voice to the unheard and have unlocked a sector of

unexplored territory in performance artistry​.​ ​Their complex and much needed accounts of the

intricate workings that exist within their lives is paramount in the actualization and affirmation of

other Black queer people’s experiences​.​ To reiterate, the past ten years have been extremely

groundbreaking in the complex portrayals of Black queer people and have shone a bright light on

those stories that are often looked over and ignored​.

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But these monumental breakthroughs in representation are not exclusive only to Black

​ ut
queer playwrights who center their artisry on a portrayal of lived experience and/or trauma​. B

also those queer playwirghts whose worrks are infiltrating the mainstream regardless of the

content​. J​ eremy O’ Harris’ renown ​Slave Play,​ Branden Jacob- Jenkins who - according to the

New York times is now a household name- Jireh Breon Holder and Korde Arrington-Tuttle

further demonstrate the importance of recognizing the impact of queer playwights regardless of

​ heir candor and perspectives are needed if Black people hope to maintain a
the subject matter​. T

theatre that is “For us, By us, and About us​”.

In brief, Black LGBTQ folk in theater have been actively working towards broadening

their scope within the last 20 years​.​ Their subject matters have consistently exhibited and

displayed the lived experiences of Black LGBTQ people and have shone lights where Cis

gendered Black people have forgotten to look​.​ The invisible preface to LGBT theater is slowly

disappearing and LGBTQ playwrights, actors and actresses are being brought to the light of the

mainstream​.​Within the last 20 years LGBTQ theater has experienced a slight color shift to the

point that (white) LGBTQ representation alone is still questioned for its validity and Black

​ hese are all

LGBTQ playwrights and actors are looked at in efforts to further diversify stages​. T

steps in the right direction for the theatre world​.

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Works Cited

Halverson, Erica Rosenfeld. “The Dramaturgical Process as a Mechanism for Identity

Development of LGBTQ Youth and Its Relationship to Detypification.” ​Journal of
Adolescent Research,​ vol. 25, no. 5, 2010, pp. 635–668.,
doi:10.1177/0743558409357237.

Kiesling, Elena. “The Missing Colors of the Rainbow: Black Queer Resistance.” ​European
Journal of American Studies​, vol. 11, no. 3, 2017, pp. 1–6., doi:10.4000/ejas.11830.

Scott, Marcus. “Black, Queer, and Here.” ​AMERICAN THEATRE​, 25 July 2019,
https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/07/24/black-queer-and-here/.

Walker, Micheal. “They See Themselves .” ​The Hollywood Reporter​, 18 Apr. 2014, p. 54.

Plum, Jay. “Pleasure, Politics, and the Performance of Community: Pomo Afro Homo’s Dark
Fruit.” Modern Drama, vol. 39, no. 1, 1996, pp. 117–131. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.3138/md.39.1.117.

Fitzgerald, Thomas Howard. “Queering Black Gay Historiography: Performance,

(Mis)Identifications, and Possibilities.” ​University of California, Los Angeles ​, 2013, pp.
1–18​.