By Aliyah L. Moye

“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never allow us to bring about genuine change.”
- Audre Lorde

Mount Vernon is an eclectic area. It is a cultural hub to some, filled with cultural entertainment, culinary diversity, and local businesses, and to others, a National Historic Landmark district - thanks to the Washington Monument. Mount Vernon stands out from other communities in Baltimore, with its steady signs of economic vitality, making it a popular destination for local Baltimoreans and tourists alike. Looking at Mount Vernon today, it is easy to be remiss that this location once hosted a large LGBTQ+ community that was locally known as, the ‘gay’ neighborhood in Baltimore City. This article, unlike most articles about Mount Vernon, presents a unique perspective about being Black and queer in a predominantly Black metropolis while feeling like an ‘outsider within’ among the LGBTQ+ in the Mount Vernon community.

Mount Vernon, during the late 60’s and 70’s, was considered as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community in Baltimore as it became associated with one of the most pivotal pioneering moments. The 1955 Pepper Hill Club raid by police is considered the largest raid ever in Baltimore, in which 162 men and women arrested on charges of ‘disorderly conduct’ or sexually deviant norms. During this time, there were other gay friendly neighborhoods like: Charles Village, Waverly, and Abell. However, Mount Vernon still remains as the premiere gay neighborhood thanks to its deeply rooted queer heritage.

The Periphery: Black and Queer

Despite Mount Vernon’s rich queer heritage, racism was rampant. Similar to other communities in America, racism plays a role between persons of color and Whites in the LGBTQ+ community. Patricia Hill Collins explains that even within the queer framework there exists a two-ness, separating persons into groups due to their shared experiences. Simply stating, the experiences for one group is not shared by the other group, therefore the narrative of one person cannot serve as the same narrative for another, despite both parties the same sexual orientation. A queer Black woman’s experience will be different from a queer White woman because of the racial benefits of being White in all spaces.

Queer persons of color are not quick to agree with the “safe space” claims that Mt. Vernon is locally known as. Stories about acts of discrimination against men and women of color in the LGBTQ+ community being ignored speaks to the White, gay centeredness which represents mainstream gay culture, therefore diminishing the Black queer standpoint. Jared Sexton would describe this as people-of-color-blindness, or an unwillingness to see people of color. Baltimore resident Valentino Martinez (not real name) said: “...as a Black Queer male, Mount Vernon does lack now and then on their inclusivity when it comes to Black and Brown people. I don’t talk about it much because I have never felt slighted within the community, but I do have some friends that prefer to go out in Seton Hill because there is a greater community of LGBTQ+ people of color out there,” describing Collins’ outsider-within concept as it relates to being Black and queer. “I will say that I do think that Mount Vernon does lean more towards servicing white gays more than gays of color. But I hate to say that I am not surprised because that happens most places. Most places care more about people’s safety and overall experiences if their white or only when they become a white issue,” Valentino continues.

Seton Hill is a predominantly Black community located in central Baltimore that is historically known as Baltimore’s French Quarter. This lack of inclusivity felt in traditionally White gay spaces has led The Center for Black Equity to create Baltimore Black Pride in Seton Hill. Kevin Clemens, the chair of Baltimore Black Pride, believed this move to Seton Hill was necessary. Clemens explains, “There were issues affecting our community as a whole, but there were some things that were specific to the African-American community. I believe that we as African Americans bring such a wealth of talent, knowledge, and leadership but we spend so much of it just doing it without being recognized or acknowledged. Black Pride is the vehicle for that acknowledgment to happen.” The storyline of Blacks creating their own space due to being pushed out is an all-too-common narrative given the United States’ violent racial past.

Mount Vernon is a thriving community bustling with businesses, culinary diversity, cultural entertainment, and historic sites. Due to its high economic capital, it has become a popular destination for tourists and Baltimoreans alike. Nevertheless, most people would be in disbelief that this area once catered to a large LGBTQ+ community. The focus of this article was to shed light on Mount Vernon’s LGBTQ+ community in a way that it typically has not been talked about previously. I felt it necessary to talk about the lived experiences of the Black queer community within a Black metropolis such as Baltimore. I found that even though Mount Vernon is regarded as a “safe haven” or known as a gay mecca, that is not the case when it comes to the queer people of color. Black queers felt that Mount Vernon catered to White gays and lacked inclusivity. Racism was prominent, like in most other communities in the U.S., in Mount Vernon within the LGBTQ+ community leaving queers of color feeling like “outsiders within.” My hope was to bring attention to this topic and shine light on an important issue so that there could be an opportunity to bring about change.

Works Cited

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