For whatever reason, gay characters, or characters that deal with sexuality issues, who are black, in 'black films'... are typically not dealt with with any sort of complexity. They're exoticized: their being gay is sort of the point.
I think it's important for us to recognize that although historically black communities have been very progressive with respect to issues of race and with respect to struggles for racial equality, that does not necessarily translate into progressive positions on gender issues, progressive positions on issues of sexuality and in the latter 1990s we have to recognize the intersectionality, the interconnectedness of all of these institutions and attitudes.
I justified it in so many ways. I had a very, very long and difficult struggle with my sexuality.
I think there's too many gay jokes in comedy and not enough honest explorations of sexuality.
In Eleven Minutes, I started with the question of why sexuality is considered one of the major issues in life.
My sexuality has never been a problem to me but I think it has been for other people.
Most women experience issues of power and sexuality, but very few women talk about it. There's the threat of the loss of approval.
It's important to not have my sexuality define me.
Stories about the ongoing dramas in our lives as we age are not being told because women find it difficult to be honest about what's going on - about, for example, our heightened sexuality as we age or about living in a society that only values youth.
We come from a somewhat puritanical and chauvinistic point-of-view, so that when we're asked questions about women being empowered by sexuality, we often confuse it with women who are victimized by it.
