Queen Latifah Co-Signs Billy Porter’s Comments About Black Lives Matter & The LGBT Community

(AllHipHop News) Pose actor Billy Porter garnered both praise and criticism for a recent Instagram video. In the clip posted on June 4, Porter called out the Black Lives Matter movement for supposedly not being more inclusive of Black LGBTQ people. 

The Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner stated, “LGBTQ+ Black folks are Black people, too. Our lives matter, too. So this is my response to those of y’all who don’t understand that – f*ck you! And, yes, I am cussing. It’s time for cussing.”

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Supporters applauded Porter for calling out homophobia and transphobia among African-Americans. His message also gained a lot of traction because there have been multiple cases of Black trans women being murdered in America in recent weeks. 

However, some detractors took issue with Porter’s IG post. There were complaints that he was pushing division in the Black Lives Matter coalition right as local and state governments were starting to take up police reform legislation in response to the global, multicultural BLM protests following the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Other critics of Porter’s statement mentioned that many openly gay activists, like Deray McKesson and Johnetta Elzie, are closely associated with BLM and they have been on the frontline for demonstrations for years. Plus, the Black Lives Matter organization has been outspoken about LGBT issues. Its website states, “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum.”

Queen Latifah apparently falls in the supporter section as it relates to Billy Porter’s complaints about the relationship between the BLM movement and the LGBTQ community. The Hip Hop legend spoke to the Associated Press about the topic.

“I 100% agree,” said Latifah when asked for her thoughts on Porter’s viral Instagram video. “You know, we don’t have the luxury of separating ourselves from one another right now. The whole purpose is inclusivity.” 

The Oscar-nominated actress added, “You should be respected for who you are, no matter who you are … that includes the LGBTQ community, especially our trans sisters and brothers that are being murdered in these streets for no reason, other than that they are or who they are, and someone decides that ‘I don’t like who you are’ or ‘I want to attack you.’ It just can’t fly.”