Let us be clear, systemic racism is real. As someone who is both Black and gay I am a double-marginalized citizen and know this all too well.
Like many Black Americans, I have experienced racism – and like many others, I too have experienced police brutality. People need to understand, particularly in our community, that though our struggles as an LGBTQ community and that of my Black race might be mutually exclusive, they still have a connection rooted in bigotry and discrimination. I walk in both worlds.
In 1993, those worlds collided violently with the very racism and bigotry we face today, which we have faced in this country for more than 400 years. I grew up in Miami, and back then the Miami-Dade police department still made terrorizing our community a priority. At the time there was a gay bookstore frequented by young queer and gay youth and used as a popular hangout.
While some bookstores are known for their seedy theaters, back rooms and sex booths, this one served as a meeting place for us club kids – a safe space where we met to go clubbing or just talk the night away.
One night, a car with some strange looking men pulled into the parking lot. I immediately thought they looked strange because they had amazingly horrible fashion sense – which was striking because they looked like they were actually trying to dress “gay,” or at least their idea of how gay men looked and carried themselves.
One walked up wearing a Hawaiian shirt tied in a knot in the front, with shorts and cowboy boots. Even back then in the 90s, it struck me as tacky. He looked like a caricature of a gay man, but missed the mark on actually passing as one because he was trying too hard. It almost seemed as if they were making fun of us by the way they dressed. No doubt they were.
We watched them walk in and we continued to joke and hold court outside. Soon however there was commotion inside – they came out and announced that it was a raid and that we all had to leave. Unfortunately for me, on that particular night, I had loaned my car to a friend who needed it to go down the street. When I agreed to let him borrow it, I knew he would be back shortly and thought nothing of it. Back then we had no cell phones, however, so when I was asked to leave, I knew I would have had no way of contacting my friend to let him know. I didn’t know how I would get my car back so I was in a predicament.
I decided I would explain my situation to the officers. I was young and naive at the time, only 21. I had been taught to respect and trust them. I had never been in any kind of trouble before. In hindsight, I probably should have just left and taken my chances on returning when they were gone.
Instead I made the mistake of trying to explain my predicament to them, and that’s when they arrested me, cuffed me, proceeded to punch and beat me, and then choke me. All this without me EVER RESISTING ARREST!
Let me repeat, I DID NOT RESIST, in either a violent or a nonviolent way, yet because they felt superior and knew there would be no documented or recorded proof they did what they wanted. Sometimes that’s what people will do when they believe their actions will go unchecked.
To add insult to injury I was mocked and jeered the whole time I was being transported to the jail. Gay slurs and other homophobic teasing were hurled at me the entire car ride. I do remember getting one dig in when one officer asked if I “had a ‘hard on’ for his partner.” I replied that if either of them were my only options for men, I would go straight.
I spent a night in jail and was released the next day, but I was so outraged that I decided to fight back. I filed a complaint which then launched an internal affairs investigation. I was subjected to a polygraph test, which I passed with flying colors, and I continued to pursue every avenue I knew at the time to receive justice.
My case was ruled “inconclusive,” meaning they could neither substantiate nor disprove my claim. It was my word against theirs, with each officer complicit in their cover-up of the truth. This experience forever changed my view of cops and forever broke my trust. I am however lucky: I survived it. So many have not.
As we celebrate Pride this month and focus on a movement highlighting the value of Black lives, it is important to remember that if we truly want to say “ALL LIVES MATTER” then we have to recognize that for such a statement to be true that Black lives MUST MATTER TOO!
ALL BLACK LIVES, not just straight and cisgendered but gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender and every other identification under our rainbow. Our struggles are different yet still the same. Let us come together to fight a common foe: BIGOTRY, in all its forms. #BlackLivesMatter.
DJ Power Infiniti is a renowned performance artist based in Tampa. His costumes and choreography have made him an icon in the Circuit scene. Follow him at Facebook.com/DJPowerInfiniti.
Hear from more Black, LGBTQ voices throughout Central Florida and Tampa Bay in Watermark’s full Black Lives Matter feature.
