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Engineering New Pathways for Black Gays &
Lesbians
by Patrick Saunders
I just returned from the National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE) national convention in Kanas City, Missouri
which took place the weekend of March 25, 1999. This was my
first year attending the national conference. More than
9,000 student & professional black engineers and
scientists attended. I wondered just how many of those 9,000
were gay.
Usually when attending one of NSBE’s many
conferences, you are bombarded by the heterosexual
atmosphere of it all. I have heard many say that the
conferences are essentially straight events. There is never
any black gay programing/workshops and we are forced to
endure the other attendees flaunting their heterosexual
privilege. Furthermore, we simply just can’t be
ourselves in what appears at times to be a hostile and
un-inclusive environment. For myself I simply go to
celebrate my blackness and share in my love for technology.
This often leaves me feeling incomplete at these supposedly
empowering events.
Yes, we are to be there to get our business done but that
does not stop people for looking for the "NSBE Flame" i.e.
looking for a date (not to be confused with our use of the
word flame). Esscence magazine once had an article in which
it named NSBE conferences as one of the best places to find
a date. I can not count the number of times girls have tried
to talk with me with the hope of getting "somewhere". Things
like this, among others, can cause many gay students at the
conferences to feel left out and isolated. Not so much the
fact that it’s impossible for gays to really find dates
but rather such an environment brings home the fact that our
sexuality can set us apart. Many feel that they have no safe
space in one of the premier technical and black
organizations.
At this year’s convention people set out to change
that. The Planning Committee was successful in its fight to
hold a workshop entitled, "I’m Invisible Once Again:
The Status of Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals in Black America"
run by Keith Boykin, former Executive Director, National
Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum (NBLGLF). Dr.
Stephanie Adams along with other supportive members of the
Convention Planning Committee got this workshop on the
agenda. It was the FIRST such workshop in NSBE’s 25
year history.
I found out about it when I meet up with a friend who was
also looking to meet the other gay attendees. I was in
complete disbelief when he showed me the workshop in the
events guide. I immediately canceled all my other
responsibilities to ensure that I could attend. I had a few
slight reservations about going and I didn’t expect to
see but a few people in attendance.
I entered the room to see a good number of people, both
male and female. There was even a Latina! and of course
several white "allies." The room was filled with students
and professional members. More striking, there were even
some recruiters who were just in the career fair taking
résumés. I would not have guessed that most of
the people in the room where gay before seeing them at the
workshop.
The workshop allowed us to look at our perceptions of
sexuality. While the workshop was great, it served a much
deeper purpose than its subject content. As Dr. Adams put it
to me, it finally created the safe space that many NSBE
members "in the life" had been longing for, without that
actually being the purpose of the workshop.
It was good to hear and see others with similar ideas. I
felt like I was not alone anymore and no longer had to wear
the mask we are often forced to wear. It was interesting to
hear one of the women complain about the men who constantly
approach her or the "brotha" who said he felt he
couldn’t be himself and open. These are a lot of the
same feelings and emotions I have felt during my membership
in NSBE. The organization was all for being black, yet at
the same time it would "dis" brothas & sistas "in the
life."
I hope that this is not the end of this NSBE effort. I am
looking forward to more LGBT programs at the next
conference. This experience was very special because we were
able to combine our sexuality, race and our love for science
& technology. The black community must realize that we
(lgbt people) are not "all" into the arts & humanities.
Many of us are doing theoretical quantum mechanics (one of
my favs) and digital processing.
Much NSBE Luv..
(Patrick Saunders is
a student at the nation’s oldest engineering
school-(RPI) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, located in
Troy, NY)
See also NSBE National
Society of Black Engineers.
Patrick Saunders Copyright
1999
Send comments and submissions to:
Chuck
Tarver chuck@blackstripe.com
Last updated: 01 April 1999
by
Chuck Tarver
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