Gay is the new black.
What I mean by that is
the straight kids
are going slumming
staying up past their bedtimes
to experiment at parties
Girls want to make out
with their best friends, reenact
porn vids, and the boys
are now Abercrombie'fied
everyone's been metro-ized
or else they think they're being
daring by dressing in
women's clothing,
donning the lipstick as if
femininity itself was funny.
Gay is the new black.
The kids rich on privilege
want what’s ours,
they want our battle scars.
Like mental illness
Queerness carries a remote status.
But dressing up on Saturday night
and threesomes
do not make
our lives easier.
They don't make you riskier.
Your gay masquerade ends
when the bars close
when the joke's over
when there's nothing left to do
but return to the Straight World
where you came from,
scarless and unscared
where no one threatens to end you
where there are no marks
from a childhood spent in hiding
or fear of Mom and Dad's disapproval
turning to disowning,
there's been no one threatening
your life because you so much
as hold your lover's hand.
Gay is the new black,
Because whites who donned
the clock around their necks
and the ghetto talk
don't get touched by racism
and you, with your drag queen
Halloween costume and
dance floor grinding with another chick
don't get touched by hatred.
Gay is the new gag joke,
the new sitcom punch line.
It makes for funny TV watching
and crazy partying
and all this entertainment
makes it easier to keep
from legislating,
makes it easier to keep us
from getting married,
Makes it simpler to take its
seriousness for granted.
Like blacks, we want our gays fun.
Instead of Uncle Tom smiles
we want lisping Fabulous!'s and
Oh, Hon!'s
Keep it lite, keep it titillating
but don't make it
grimy, revealing, politically telling.
Gay is the new black:
We love your music,
but we get none of the meaning.
We suggest you
wear it like fashion
and keep your sob stories
fears, stabbings, lynching,
and stark dark realities
out of it.
GAY IS THE NEW BLACK.
