Southern Gay Men and Interracial Dating. A definite smell of cigarettes fills the atmosphere when I enter a little bar that is gay in another of the less desirable communities of Jackson, Mississippi.
Smoking had been banned in Mississippi bars several years back, however the fragrance nevertheless lingers just like a stain that may never ever quite turn out.
It is another evening with similar crowd that is friendly give and take a couple of faces. The jukebox plays another Dolly Parton track as a couple of acquaintances is deeply within their 5th game of pool. It is simply one particular low-key regional pubs where you head to enjoy a glass or two with buddies, nevertheless the clientele is perhaps all homosexual guys. The drama and decadence for the nightlife that is gay are lost about this audience.
Then again we spot the all-too-familiar hums of gossip from the part. Their whispers and stares are not able to achieve a known degree of subtlety. It really is an atmosphere burned into my mind after growing up within the Bible-bound wardrobe of a Southern red state. And even though it isn’t unusual for homosexual dudes to evaluate one another, this right time is significantly diffent. Their gossip is directed at the couple that is interracial simply strolled through the entranceway.
Racism is a hot-button issue that is widely frowned upon, even yet in the Deep South. However the social codes of this type nevertheless hold a standard that is veiled ofseparate but equal.” I attended were prominently white when I was growing up, the churches. In senior high school we were maybe perhaps not permitted to print pictures of interracial couples within the college paper’s Valentine’s Day problem as the college wished to avoid debate.