Empire Creator and Star Receive Death Threats

From my years of writing this blog one thing I have learned is that it is ALWAYS the godly Christian crowd that write the foulest comments - hence why I moderate comments and delete those that do not deserve to be given a platform - and make death threats.  Most are just nasty hot air, although once my former law office was singled out for vandalization most likely by one of these "godly Christian" types.  These ignorance embracing individuals are simply outraged by anything that might challenge the myths and fairy tales that they, in their mentally imbalanced state, cling to so desperately.  Thus, it is no surprise to me that Empire creator Lee Daniels and Jussie Smollett (pictured above), who plays a gay character on the show, have been receiving death threats. Bet.com looks at the situation.  Here are excerpts:

Empire has millions of fans, but there are a few that show creator Lee Daniels can live without.

The filmmaker recently revealed that he and Jussie Smollett, who plays Terrence Howard's gay son Jamal Lyon, have received hate mail and even death threats from some who take issue with the show's gay plot lines.

“Homophobia is real. It exists… Jussie and I both get death threats. But we will continue to do our thing,” Daniels said. He added that, while a tiny minority insist on spewing hate towards the show, which has seen the kind of success few network primetime shows experience these days, he is proud of the film's diverse cast and willingness to take on real issues.

“I have to relate to these people honestly,” he said. “That trash can scene? It happened,” Daniels added, referring to a flashback scene in which a young Jamal is put into a trash can by his father — something which Daniels has said actually happened to him when his father discovered he was gay.

Empire returns to continue it pushing envelopes on September 23.

I have no use for religious fundamentalist be they Christian or Muslim.  Hate and the deliberate embrace of ignorance have no place in the modern world.  These people need to become utter social and political outcasts with whom decent people do not give any deference or respect.

Kerry Washington Calls Out Black Homophobes - and Others

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for GLAAD

One thing that has continued to strike me since coming out is how blacks - a demographic that has faced horrific discrimination simply because of who they were - are all too likely to be homophobic.  Worse yet, at least here in Virginia, they allow them selves to be duped and used as water carriers for whites who would prefer to see a return to the Jim Crow era and the disenfranchisement of blacks.  An example?  The black pastors who continually allow themselves to be manipulated by The Family Foundation which is viciously anti-gay and which supports all the the Virginia GOP's voter ID laws and other efforts to disenfranchise blacks and whose officials are routinely caught telling racist "jokes."  Are these black pastors total cretins?  This past Saturday, as she accepted the Vangrard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards, Scandal star Kerry Washington let loose on black homophobes and others who remain anti-gay and who, in my view have a moral sickness that allows them to feel good about them selves only when denigrating and marginalizing others.  Here are highlights of Washington's remarks via The Daily Beast:

Scandal star Kerry Washington announced that she was going to use the occasion, in this case the GLAAD Media Awards and her acceptance of The Vanguard award Saturday night, to address issues that were both pertinent to the award and dear to her heart. The actress, who’s played LGBT characters in films such as She Hate Me and Life Is Hot In Cracktown, spoke about the ongoing marginalization of the LGBT community and others in Hollywood that sit outside of the standard white, straight, Christian, male narrative. “Women, poor people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people…have been pitted against each other and made to feel like there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of other,” the Emmy-nominated star stated, to rounds of applause.

But she also spoke directly to her own community, specifically. Washington addressed the hypocrisy she sees in black people who don’t support marriage equality. “So when black people today tell me that they don't believe in gay marriage… So, the first thing that I say is, ‘Please don't let anybody try to get you to vote against your own best interest by feeding you messages of hate.’ And then I say, ‘You know people used to stay that stuff about you and your love and if we let the government start to legislate love in our lifetime, who do you think is next?’”

Washington’s words seem to echo sentiments expressed by Lee Daniels, Oscar-nominated director and creator of FOX’s hit series Empire. . . . “Homophobia is rampant in the African American community, and men are on the DL,” he said. “They don’t come out, because your priest says, your pastor says, mama says, your next-door neighbor says, your homie says, your brother says, your boss says [that homosexuality is wrong]. And they are killing African American women. They are killing our women. So I wanted to blow the lid off more on homophobia in my community.”

Black homophobia is real and has to be rooted out if we are going to move forward as a society and as a people. We can’t champion the rights of only straight black people as if they are all that matter or are the only voice that should be given a platform. Either all of us are free or none of us are free. But in addressing that homophobia, those who consider themselves opponents of homophobia and racism should be mindful of how easily one can be used to galvanize the other, and it’s not in the best interest of progress to allow a room full of entitled white liberals to believe that the only bigots are the ones who don’t look like them.  Ignorance and hate are not black-exclusive.

"Empire" Creator Wants To "Blow The Lid Off" of Black Homophobia

The Hampton Roads region has a sizable black community and that community is among the most homophobic.  Fanning that homophobia are black pastors who act like trained circus dogs for the racists at The Family Foundation, Virginia's largest hate group, who are the successors to the white supremacists and advocates of Massive Resistance of the past.  The result is that black males "on the down low" are plentiful and HIV/AIDS has been transmitted to the larger black community, especially among women who are married to or in relationships with these men on the down low, of DL as they call it.  The situation is at a crisis level.  Even many black men who are "out" to their friends are closeted to their families and some who have come out find rejection because of the religious based poison that is so prevalent.  As The Wrap reports, "Empire" creator, Lee Daniels, wants to blow the lid off of the homophobia and hypocrisy that is so widespread in the black community.  I wish him luck.  Here are article excerpts:

Lee Daniels didn’t mince words during the panel for the freshman Fox drama “Empire” during the Television Critics Association press tour on Saturday, offering his frank thoughts on homophobia in the African American community, which he said is “killing African American women.”

Asked about the unapologetic homophobia displayed by central character Lucious Lyon (portrayed by Terrence Howard), “Empire” co-creator Daniels let loose, explaining that the seeds of Lucious’ homophobia were planted when Daniels was researching his 2009 film “Precious.”

“When I did ‘Precious’ I had to do research on AIDS in the ’80s so I went to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center in New York City, and I expected to see gay men, and there were nothing but African American women and babies with HIV. And that blew me away,” Daniels recalled.

Daniels laid the blame squarely on what he referred to as the “rampant” homophobia in the black community — specifically, the phenomenon of men secretly engaging in gay sex because of the stigma.

“Homophobia is rampant in the African American community, and men are on the DL. They don’t come out, because your priest says, your pastor says, mama says, your next-door neighbor says, your homie says, your brother says, your boss says [that homosexuality is wrong],” Daniels said. “And they are killing African American women. They are killing our women. So I wanted to blow the lid off more on homophobia in my community.”

It is far past time that someone calls out those who are keeping homophobia and ignorance alive in the black community.  Kudos to Daniels.