R&B singer Tank addressed homophobia within the Black community during a recent podcast appearance.
The producer, singer and songwriter was a guest on the Holdin Court podcast.
Tank, 48, a longtime LGBTQ+ ally, spoke to Big Court and his daughter/co-host Rachel Renee.
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“There’s something about Black men and the homosexual conversation that is a mess,” the singer said at one point. “The phobia as it relates to Black men is the elephant in the room. No one will actually articulate their devastation. You have to think, for a Black man the worst thing to be called is gay. The first thing somebody’s gonna allude to whether you are gay or not, when they’re trying to assassinate your character or get off the highest joke imaginable, they’re going gay first.”
He went on to question the idea of there being any sort of “gay agenda” to feminize Black gay men and turn them gay.
“Something within our culture has created this stigma that that is the… Somehow there’s a program to make Black men gay. There’s an attack on strong Black men. But who’s the attack coming from?”
Big Court suggested it was, “Through media, through fashion, through what’s acceptable.”
However, his daughter highlighted music stars such as Prince and Rick James: No one questioned their sexuality despite the way they dressed.
“That was in the context of entertainment, it’s showmanship,” Big Court reflected. “Whereas we didn’t see anyone like that in real life. We only saw people on TV who looked like that. It’s so funny because my gaydar is so messed up because I wasn’t exposed.”
Tank agreed. “That meant you were in, it didn’t mean you were gay.” Entertainers back then “celebrated that! We owned it! It wasn’t an attack or an assassination on anything. That’s where some of our heroes come from. So where does this agenda come from?
“I’ve never seen anything that made me say, ‘Oh wow, I wanna be gay. I’m inspired to be gay because I saw that outfit.'”
Tank went on to say he understood where homophobia comes from due to his church upbringing.
“I was raised that gay was an abomination. Not just a sin, but the worst.” However, once he “started living life outside of that book, I started accepting the fact that one way is not the only way.”
They go on to discuss how there’s a double standard regarding bisexuality as applied to men and women.
Previous viral moment about experimentation
This is not the first time Tank has spoken out about sexuality. In 2019, he appeared on the podcast Lip Service. He made headlines for saying just because a man may have experimented sexually with another man, it doesn’t necessarily make him gay.
“It doesn’t mean he’s gay. It means he sucked d**k twice… because the art of being gay is being gay.”
Tank’s Holdin Court comments were shared by the Shade Room’s Instagram account (29 million followers).
Tank himself posted a couple of replies. The first thanked the account for sharing the clip and highlighting attitudes toward gay people within the Black community.
“Thank you @theshaderoom as a straight black man this conversation never scares me. Public opinion will never change how secure i am but the comments will absolutely show you them hit dogs HOLLERING!!”
In a separate comment, Tank went on to say that although he speaks up for LGBTQ+ rights, it’s “hard” when some gay Black men call him gay.
“Most of the men calling me gay are gay black men that just want me to be gay. Hard to be an ally when the people you advocate for turn on you.”
Whether this is because the gay guys can’t believe a straight man could be such an ally, or they simply wish they were in with a chance with the muscle-bound hunk, is hard to say. Either way, anyone that challenges their community to be less judgemental toward LGBTQ+ members, or toward those who wish to experiment, can only be a good thing, right? Here’s hoping Tank continues to use his platform to discuss the issue.
You can watch the whole episode below.
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Donston
If you’re mostly basing an opinion about a particular demographic on ShadeRoom comments then you probably shouldn’t have an opinion about that demo. A true “ally” does real research and has real conversations with multiple people in that demo not with internet trolls.
abfab
He is no Marvin Gaye,
marshal phillips
Sucking is on the down-low.
barryaksarben
I hope our allies know that all allies are suspect to the straight community and there will always be gay men who think the same way but they are a small minority (I know it doesn’t seem like that) Most of us respect our allies and dont do those things. Take it a s compliment and continue to set them straight (bad pun). remember for us many of us have to let people know we are not straight all the time