>But I would definitely refer to you and others
>who are in the know about the tendency of gay black
>athletes to date outside of their race, as I really
>have no experiential data on that. Would be interesting
>to contrast the dynamics intra-sexual orientation to
>see what the similarities/differences were there regarding
>straight black men v. gay black men....I'm assuming your
>data has yielded that regardless of orientation, black men
>(whom are famous and/or prominent athletes) are dating
>outside
>of their race?

After the Michael Sam kiss, some of my black gay friends complained that "the more things change, the more things stay the same." I think they're right in that, with money and increased social capital often comes a desire to sexually cement the rise in status -- and black men seek that upgrade from both non-black women and non-black men. I've seen this play out with hetero black men, ranging from the rags-to-riches men in my family to the sports agent in my building who says he prefers his girls to be "anything but black."

I don't know that this is also true with Michael Sam. But I do know that there is a lack of visible intra-racial love among many of today's famous black queer men, and it makes some people wish there were more of a balance:

Michael Sam
Jason Collins (was with a white woman for several years)
Derrick Gordon (the D-1 bball player who recently came out)
Frank Ocean
Don Lemon
Jonathan Capehart
Shawn T

I am sure there are many prominent black gay men boo'ed up within their race.I just can't think of any off the top of my head lol :-/

I'm much less disturbed by Sam's relationship (considering I'm not disturbed by it at all) than I am by the conversations it sparked about the emotional and romantic capacity of those within our community. In a large Facebook group comprised of black gay men, so many of them have been rooting for Sam's relationship under the premise that the pool of decent gay black men who feel comfortable with their sexuality is small, making interracial dating necessary. Others claimed to date white folks because they "don't see race." There is still this myth that Black men are more homophobic and less eligible than their white counterparts, and that whiteness provides a safer landing for gay people of all races.

However, it's worth noting that most of the higher status black gay men I know personally -- scientists, bankers, consultants, academics -- mostly date black guys. So there seem to be different mating patterns between the black gay professionals found throughout Bed-Stuy, Harlem, and other urban areas and the black gay men who achieve popularity through sports or TV.