The Meaning of Don Lemon's Coming Out

For those who are not aware or did not notice, CNN anchor Don Lemon came out last week - making him the first (as far as I know) openly gay news anchor on a major network (Rachel Maddow is the only lesbian anchor I know about). Good for him - I can't imagine what it must be like to live one's life in fear of being outed. It's sad that it even matters who one loves and that a man can lose his livelihood over it.

My online friend Sage, who blogs at The Whole World Is a Single Flower, feels especially good about this for one reason - Don Lemon is a black, gay man.

Why Don Lemon's Coming Out As Gay Personally Matters to Me

CNN News Anchor Don Lemon

Why does CNN News anchor Don Lemon's coming out mean so much to me personally? In two words--because he's a black man. Yes, that pretty much sums it up.

Each member of alphabet soup we know of as the LGBTQQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans --sexual and/or transgender--Queer, Questioning, Intersex) community faces both collective and unique challenges. For example, in the area of unique challenges, trans people are still considered personae non gratae to far too many gay and lesbian men and women who would seriously like to see them completely disappear from that alphabet soup. Bisexual men are often viewed as closeted gay men who haven't completely come out and/or who are taking a "safer" route, etc. We humans seem to have never ending ways of splintering ourselves into ever more ridiculous sub-categories, each vying for some illusory sense of cultural privilege and entitlement. We are masters at finding ways to ostracize ourselves from one another.

Read the whole post.

Tags: gay, men, homosexuality, culture, race, CNN, news anchor, Don Lemon, coming out, media, bias, homophobia, Sage, blog, The Whole World Is a Single Flower