A new digital series, Say It Loud: Black, Queer, and Proud, showcases the brilliance stemming from the Black LBGTQ+ community, as Saucy Santana sits down with other prominent figures to talk about their experiences.
June is Pride Month, and a new digital series focuses on the struggles and triumphs of the Black LGBTQ community with Santana, Tanya Nolan, Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen III, and MK xyz talking about their respective journeys.
Bishop Allen opened up the conversation by speaking about living in our truth and asked about how each person came out. “When I came out, I was exposed,” Saucy Santana shared. “I actually trusted a family member and told him, ‘cause I thought he was gay too so I thought we could confide in each other and share until it was time for us both to come out.” He went on to share how it impacted his family at first, especially his mother who became a pastor after the rapper came out, and their close bond. “Me going through that, I feel like God can use anybody,” he said.
The “Back It Up” rapper asked Bishop Allen about his experience being queer and a bishop, but not without spilling the tea that he once dated a bishop in the past. “Well, we’re all human, and we have sexual orientations,” the leader of the Vision Cathedral of Atlanta began. “I went through the same challenges but finally I had to come to terms with who I was, understanding that God loved me. And not only that God loved me, but that God was madly in love with me.” He continued: “I don’t really believe in the term “coming out” anymore. I use the term “invite you in” because when I invite you in, I’m reclaiming my agency.”
For Billboard-charting R&B artist Tanya Nolan, she spoke about how she came out to her mother, who was an usher in the church, and how that has presented challenges in their relationship. “It’s exhausting trying to convince someone of what I’ve learned,” she said. “It’s like, “this is your life, your journey – but respect mine.” MK xyz also shared her story which was similar to Saucy Santana’s in that she was outed. The “Sneaky Links” artist also shared how she at first felt she was trans and bisexual before affirming she was lesbian. “I think I’m more in the lesbian realm but I still have this duality, this balance between masculinity and femininity.”
Talk soon turned to how their identity informs their professional side, as Saucy Santana said, “Once I started seeing how my records were popping’ off and I got through the door, my business thing now is to bring my community with me.” Bishop Allen said, “Give your process grace, whether you’re 17, 27 or 37.”
Check out more from this episode above.
