Tank believes there’s an unfair bias when it comes to Black men exploring their sexuality.
Although Tank is known as a ladies man, there’s been some speculation about his sexuality due to comments he’s made about what he enjoys in the bedroom. During a recent episode of the Holdin Court Podcast, hosted by father-daughter duo Big Court and Rachel Renee’, Tank talked openly about the nuances of homosexuality among the Black community.
The R&B crooner explained how Black men are ridiculed and labeled gay if they experiment with the same gender compared to women isn’t balanced. Often, when people hear women discuss about being with other women in college, they aren’t called lesbians, which makes it easier for them to be transparent about their previous experiences.
“There’s something about Black men and the homosexual conversation that is a mess,” he said. “The phobia as it relates to Black men is the elephant in the room.”
Tank added that the fastest way a person can attack a Black man is by going after their sexual orientation.
“The worst thing to be called is gay,” he expressed. “The first thing somebody’s going to allude to — whether you are gay or not — when they’re trying to assassinate your character or get off the highest joke imaginable, they’re going gay first.”
“It stems from something within our culture that has created this stigma that somehow there’s a program to make Black men gay. You see it everywhere; there’s an attack on strong Black men. But who’s the attack coming from?” Tank added. “Something within our culture that has created this stigma that that is the…somehow there’s a program to make Black men gay. Like you see it everywhere, ‘There’s an attack on strong Black men,’ but who’s the attack coming from?”
Big Court chimed in to add how homosexuality is part of mainstream media more than ever before, which led to Tank mentioning how the “world has gotten smaller” thanks to social media.
“Now we know more humans exist, and we’re actually able to see those humans living out their lives,” he said. “We weren’t able to see that before. I didn’t know what was going on outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I didn’t have a clue.”
Tank also shouted out Prince, who often wore heels, and other music icons like Rick James and Michael Jackson who rocked an “androgynous” style.
“That was the look, that meant you were in. It didn’t mean you were gay, it meant you were in,” he said. “We celebrated that. We owned it. It wasn’t an attack or assassination on anything. It’s where some of our heroes came from.”
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