LA Complex Gay Storyline: Tariq & Kal Are Not Getting Back Together.
I know Kal was wrong for beating up his ex boyfriend Tariq but I must admit I want them to get back together. The scene inside Tariq’s apartment in Montreal is so emotional. I yearned to see Tariq and Kal have one last kiss. I wish there was a television show specifically about gay black men. On American television this fall there are two gay shows NBC’s The New Normal and CBS Partners focus on white gay men. I believe it is time for network television to have a television show specifically about gay men of colour because this would be groundbreaking.
The paucity of queer men of colour’s storylines is deleterious because it erases our realities. I believe the Tariq and Kal storyline is positive specifically because they are both black gay men.
Although the LA Complex gay storyline is not perfect, it still illustrates to the audience that gay black men we do love each other. The negative aspect of the gay storyline is the violence which I still believe is pernicious. Couldn’t the writers have done something else to create conflict for Tariq and Kal? Why was it necessary for Kal to be violent and beat Tariq? I am concerned about the subliminal messages of racism about gay black men.
The writing is flawed because the audience needed to see Tariq’s journey from being a domestic violence victim to regaining his self confidence. The LA Complex writers only focused on Kal’s storyline because I guess it is more sensational to deal with a closeted gay rapper. I can’t help but think Tariq deserved more attention and screentime. I wanted to see Tariq go into therapy, speak at a domestic violence group, and battle with his conflicting emotions about Kal. The LA Complex writers robbed the audience of Tariq’s journey from pain to resolution.
The acting by Benjamin Watson and Andra Fuller is flawless. The facial expressions of Watson and Fuller express the pain, regret, sadness, and unhappiness of their break up.
Kal clearly loves Tariq he knows he is wrong for physically abusing him. However, the sadness on Tariq’s face he held it together long enough and stayed strong he wants nothing to do with Kal.
After Kal left, Tariq cried it was heartbreaking to see him so upset because I believe he is torn. Tariq still loves Kal but he can’t forgive him.
I feel that Tariq and Kal have so much chemistry, passion, and love for each other. I believe this is a breakthrough storyline for television to have two young gay black men fall in love and out of love with each other.
I am sad that Tariq is gone because I believe he is the man for Kal. Kal is a work in progress, he still needs to deal with his internalized homophobia and self hatred. Tariq has already moved on he has a new boyfriend and Kal is dating the lawyer Chris. I think Chris is cute, he seems grounded, mature, and responsible, but I am not sure if Kal and Chris have a love connection? I feel that the desire, and love that Tariq and Kal is more powerful.
Disappointing News: Yunel Escobar Only Gets A Three Game Suspension For Homophobic Anti Gay Slur!!!
(/Reuters)
ROBERT MACLEOD
The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Sep. 18 2012, 3:28 PM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Sep. 18 2012, 3:46 PM EDT
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar has been suspended for three games for displaying a gay slur written in Spanish on his face during a home game on Saturday.
The measures were announced just before a news conference at Yankee Stadium Tuesday afternoon before the Blue Jays opened a three-game series against New York on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays also announced that the salary lost by Escobar during his suspension will be directed by the You Can Play and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
The team said that Escobar will participate in an outreach initiative to help educate society about sensitivity and tolerance to others based on their sexual orientation.
Escobar will also participate in a sensitivity training program in accordance with the Blue Jays and the MLB.
The incident stemmed from Saturday’s game at Rogers Centre against the Boston Red Sox in which Tu Ere Maricon was written on an eye black sticker that Escobar wore.
The phrase’s most common English translation is ‘You Are A Faggot’.
It went unnoticed that Escobar was displaying the slur until several pictures began being posted online Monday afternoon clearly show the player with the message written on his eye black, a black patch athletes wear under their eyes to reduce the sun’s glare.
Escobar was scratched from Sunday’s game after the team reported he had come down with “flu-like symptoms” and the Blue Jays had an off-day on Monday.
Interesting Article Is the world ready for a gay male athlete?
DICKINSON, N.D. – The moment Jamie Kuntz was dismissed from the North Dakota State College of Science football team, the double standard that exists in the world of sports became all too clear.By: Dustin Monke / Forum Communications, INFORUM
DICKINSON, N.D. – The moment Jamie Kuntz was dismissed from the North Dakota State College of Science football team, the double standard that exists in the world of sports became all too clear.
Gay women can play.
Gay men cannot.
As a sports reporter, I’ve covered several lesbian athletes throughout my career. All of them are fine, normal people and their teams accept them no questions asked.
We rarely hear about controversial lesbians in sports anymore. That barrier was broken long ago and largely brushed aside.
The same isn’t true for gay men in sports.
There has never been an American athlete in any of the four major sports – football, basketball, baseball and hockey – to come out of the closet while still competing. Those players who are gay waited until after their retirement to come out.
That’s why Kuntz’s story presents a new twist for gay athletes.
Kuntz, an 18-year-old Dickinson High School graduate, was dismissed from the NDSCS football team on Sept. 3 for conduct detrimental to the team after admitting he lied to Wildcats head coach Chuck Parsons.
It happened two days after he admitted to the coach he was gay after being spotted kissing his 65-year-old boyfriend while filming NDSCS’s football game against Snow College in the press box of a Pueblo, Colo., football stadium.
The story is now national news.
Kuntz has spoken with countless reporters since Tuesday morning and said that he has been contacted by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” about a segment.
The story is everywhere.
So what do we take from this and the debate that it has sparked?
Could it be that, despite all of the openly gay female athletes in this country, we’re still not that close to seeing an openly gay male athlete in a major sport?
Kuntz’s story has gained a considerable amount of publicity and traction.
Yet, we have to remember that he was an obscure freshman college football player at a small junior college in North Dakota.
Imagine if he would have been playing for an NCAA Division I university? What if an NFL player would have been cut from his team after coming out?
How big would the story be then? And what closeted gay athlete would be willing to come out publicly and subject himself to the wringer that Kuntz has been put through the past two days.
Dan Savage, the gay rights activist and writer for the Seattle Stranger who broke the story about Kuntz, said he is intrigued by the amount of coverage the story has received and praised Kuntz for the courage to come out in such a public manner.
Savage said Kuntz’s story is inspiring to the gay community, but added Kuntz could have perhaps even become a symbol for young, closeted gay athletes had his boyfriend been closer to his own age.
Nonetheless, Savage believes one day there will be an openly gay pro athlete in a major sport. But, he also said it could be a while if players like Kuntz aren’t accepted after coming out to their coaches.
“This feeds into that whole narrative because there will never be an openly gay player in the NFL if gay kids are thrown out of high school or college football programs,” Savage said.
Kuntz, who was a Class 3A, all-West Region linebacker for the Midgets as a senior in 2011, said he wants to find a place to play football. He never got a chance to suit up for NDSCS after suffering a concussion during a preseason practice.
Wednesday, Kuntz posted on Twitter that he had spoken to a representative of the Florida Atlantic University football program.
Though he wants to stay in the Midwest, Kuntz said he would listen to any type of offer Florida Atlantic – an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team in Boca Raton, Fla. – would make to him regarding a spot on its football team.
“My main focus right now is finding a school where I can go play,” Kuntz said on Tuesday.
Regardless of one’s personal feelings regarding homosexuality, Kuntz’s actions or his boyfriend’s age, we should all be able to admit that Kuntz is in a difficult situation.
If he can find a team that accepts him for who he is, then it may be a step toward seeing openly gay male athletes in professional sports.
If he cannot, the world may have to keep waiting.
Gayblackcanada 