Homo Thugs:
A New Form of Drag in the Homosexual Community
Over the past few years, a new subculture has developed in the homosexual community. Although, there are many terms for this culture that have been used to label this particular group of people, the generally accepted term is Homo Thug. The homo thugs are a group of men who are either gay, bisexual, or straight-identified men who engage in sexual activities with other men for sex-only and they associate themselves with the hip hop culture. Why do they call themselves Homo Thugs and why do they love the style of music that is notorious for homophobia? Even though hip hop culture is well-known for its homophobic lyricists, homo thugs identify with it because they find it’s an arena where they can easily hide their lifestyle from the heterosexual community.
The method that is use for this study is participant observation. As an openly-gay man of African-American descent, I wanted to further understand my brothers in the community who identified as homo thugs. The fact that I also love hip hop music (minus the homophobia) and was in the closet in my youthful days, I can understand why the homo thugs prefer to keep it on the “DL”; the “DL” is a common term for keeping your lifestyle and/or sexual activities with whomever in the “closet.”
In my research, I wanted to address the following concerns:
1. What is a Homo Thug?
11. Tops &Bottoms; topsbottoms@hotmail.com
Secondly, some homo thugs participate in the pornography industry as well. There are many videos that are out on the market that portray various types of homo thugs and their sexual encounters. Many conduct their own private in-home parties that are only announced by word-of-mouth.
Also, many homo thugs are using the internet for interacting with each other. They are using chat rooms and private sex sites that are dedicated to them only. The following sites are well-known:
Hip Hop Culture and the Homo Thug
Arguably, the most popular youthful culture today is Hip Hop. It is a culture that has spawned from Bronx, New York to major urban cities in the United States to an international arena where all forms of barriers are crossed. Yet, it remains to be a culture that is consistently homophobic. However, the homo thugs have embraced it as a safe haven for them to hide their lifestyle. Because of the ridicule that many openly-gay men such as drag queens and very noticeable effeminate gay men experience, the homo thugs prefer the dress and music of hip hop. From the late 1980s, the popular style of music (and still is) that was associated with the gay community is known as House music. It is a style of music in which both heterosexual and other members of the homosexual community identified homosexuals with.
Unlike house music, hip hop is considered to be more masculine and hard. It is not for sissies, fags, and pillow biters (a term that many heterosexual hip hoppers called gay men who are passive in sexual relations.) From the style of dancing (i.e., vogue) to the style of dress (i.e. the sometimes flaming and feminine styled clothing) that obviously gay men are well-known for, clearly, this would not be considered appropriate for the homo thug because he would not be able to disguise himself. There are many dance clubs that cater to the homo thug where they can meet and dance with others like themselves. One of the most well-known clubs in the New York City (and possibly, the United States alone) is known as the Warehouse located in the Bronx. It’s a club where well-known hip hop celebrities are rumored to have frequented themselves, despite their alleged homophobia. The club caters to all members of the gay community; you can find men wearing boxers, neon colored thongs, lip stick and timberlands, looped earrings and all, while dancing to the latest Jay-Z, NAS, DMX, Lil’ Kim, Eve, Missy Elliott, and so on.
Despite the homophobia in hip hop, there is an underground movement that exists for members of the homosexual community who are not only fans of the culture, but are involved directly with it as well. The web site, www.GayHipHop.com features a network of underground gay artists who have their own style of hip hop available in the market. The group Morplay, from Boston, Massachusetts is a gay and lesbian duo who are both of Caucasian descent have been part of the gay hip hop culture. Also, they are part of the political movement for bringing gay and lesbian hip hop artists to the mainstream as well. Yet, there is one well-known artist who has so far enjoyed mainstream success, thanks to Hot 97, the #1 radio station in the U.S., and major television stations like MTV. He’s known as Caushun, the gay rapper:
Caushun is a young hairstylist from Bed-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York who is an up-and-coming rap artist and also an openly-gay identified man. He was working at the Plaza Hotel salon in NYC, when he through some connections met Kimora Lee-Simmons, the wife of the well-known hip hop music mogul, Russell Simmons. After, Russell Simmons had heard Caushun’s song, “Gay Rappers D-Lite”, he encouraged Caushun to pursue the music seriously.
The local radio station of Hot 97 also embraced the young artist as well. The station’s #1 morning show hosted by the team known as Star and Bucwild supported Caushun by having him as a guest host and playing his music. Currently, Caushun is in the studio putting the finishing touches on his debut album, “Proceed with Caushun” that is slated for release in the fall of 2002.
Hip Hop Homophobia and the Alleged Hypocrites
Many people are confused on the reason for so-called homo thugs identifying with hip hop, a culture that is notorious for gay bashing. There are countless artists who are on the record for attacking homosexuals. In his book One More River to Cross, Keith Boykin mentions several artists like the group Brand Nubians bragging about how they can “fuck up a faggot” and the Lench Mob saying how “I don’t play that fucking gay shit” (p.181). Other artists like Eminem, Drag-On, the late Eazy-E, Busta Rhymes, DMX, Jay-Z, NWA, Ice Cube, Ice-T, and Queen Latifah, among the female artists, have all been known for their homophobic lyrics.
Several writers have written about the homo thug in some form or fashion. Among the more prominent are James Earl Hardy and E. Lynn Harris. Both are openly-gay men of African-American descent who write about the relationships of both openly-gay and bi-sexual men on the “DL”. James Earl Hardy has written a series of books about a relationship between an openly-gay professional writer and his in-the- closet, former messenger-turn-model homo thug. Theirs is a relationship where the homo thug in the beginning admits to just [foolin’ around] with other men when he was younger. But, he eventually, comes out of the closet with his relationship with the writer. E. Lynn Harris deals with more professional type of men who are white-collar types. The main character that appears throughout his books [and the lives of both sexes] is a former professional football athlete. His looks are to kill for and both sexes are victimized by his [talents] in the bedroom and charm.
In an article entitled “Chameleon: Variation of a Homo-Thug”, Phillip J. Ammonds asserts that “a young man that is growing up in an environment where masculinity is defined by how many women you screw and whether or not your hustle is on point, cannot afford to acknowledge his feelings for the same sex” (p.35). The homo thug for the most part isn’t as [strong] emotionally as the openly-gay men are. The fact is that for openly-gay men, first and foremost, they have accepted their sexual orientation. The majority of openly-gay men make it a part of their daily dress regime to wear the face of pride. They have no problem telling you that they are indeed gay and will quickly ask you whether or not you have a problem with it. Although, many homo thugs are quite capable of dealing with physical encounters involving homophobia, many still have a problem addressing their emotional issues. Many lack the ability to [come out] with their true identities. They find it easier to deal with by dating and/or marrying women; they proclaim the status of being heterosexual to the end.
Others even participate in the abusing of openly-gay men by verbally and/or physically attacking them. Yet, they fail to realize that these actions are the result of self-hatred. Many homo thugs join in with the so-called thugs standing on street corners selling drugs and shout homophobic remarks at gay men walking by. And at the same time, they are the same ones who sleep with them on the “DL” and would violently harm the openly-gay partner in the [understood] relationship if they would even think of opening their mouths to any one about the relationship. Also, there are rumors in the gay community regarding several well-known rap stars that are personally known by many homo thugs as sexual partners. Yet, many are too fearful of coming out of the closet for fear of financial repercussions.
Homo thugs are gay, bi-sexual, and straight men who participate in sexual activities with other men for sex-only, and are involved in the hip hop culture. They have many reasons for being associated with a culture that is, for the most part, homophobic. Because the hip hop arena provides for them a safety zone for conducting their particular
subculture, they find it emotionally sound for them to deal with themselves. Yet, the lack of support networks and resources (e.g., family, professional help, understanding of openly-gay men, and so on) prevents many of them from finding the courage to bring their lifestyle to the forefront of both the hip hop and homosexual communities. Only by facing the issues of self-hate, their true sexual orientation, and coming to terms with finding positive support, then and only then, will they gain the strength to survive in a homophobic world like the supreme gay diva-THE QUEEN!
References
Boykin, Keith (1996). One More River to Cross New York:
Doubleday.
Ammond, Phillip J. (2001, February). Chameleon: Variation of a Homo-Thug.
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