Same Love: Tennessee Wants To Kill A Generation Of Gay Black Men.

“If I was gay
I would think hip-hop hates me” — Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

In 2023, the Governor of Tennessee rejected federal funds to combat the spread of HIV in his state. Currently, young black gay and bisexual men are the people most likely to contract HIV in the Volunteer state. The Governor and the Republican elected officials do not care if black or queer people die. They want this part of the population to perish or become afflicted with HIV. I know that sounds like hyperbole. Yet, when they said who they would protect, gay men were intentionally left off the list of people. They say they will focus their own resources on protecting: “State officials said they would continue to support HIV testing and prevention but would focus on first responders, victims of human trafficking, and mothers and children.”

Bluntly, Tennesse does not think that gay black men’s lives matter. In their rejection of federal funds to provide AIDS and HIV education/awareness, they have condemned a large swath of the black gay population to unnecessary exposure to this affliction. Tennesse hates gay black men. I already knew they hated black people. However, the intersection of sexuality and blackness has caused them to become extra cruel. Their disdain for gay black men is who we have traditionally been as a country but not who we aspire to be.