Jamal Jordan is an editor on The New York Times’ Digital Transition team. @lostblackboy CNN/Online News Association Fellow 2018 | Former Video Journalist: @NBCNews + @VRTNws + @VICENews.
As a child, I thought all gay people were white.
By the time I was 18 and living in Detroit, being gay was no longer a “problem” for me. I was out of the closet, and my family and friends were supportive, even encouraging. Yet, as I set off for college, and grew more comfortable calling myself an adult, a man — a gay black man — I was convinced that no one would ever date or love me.
Growing up, I had rarely seen queer characters of color in the gay young adult books I read, in episodes of “Queer as Folk” I watched or issues of “XY” or “Out” magazines I stealthily bought at Barnes & Noble.
I spent most of my teenage years believing that love between two black men wasn’t even possible. To my queer white peers, an entire world of change was unfolding: Public support for same-gender marriage eventually led to its legalization nationwide, and queer people were appearing as the leads in more TV shows than I could ever watch. People even won Oscars for directing movies about gay white cowboys.
But none of these people looked like me.
How can you believe in something you’ve never seen?
In the decade since, the wave of change has continued. And yet: I can’t think of a single high-profile example of a loving relationship between two queer people of color.
Despite taking the time to learn to love myself, building the courage to drape myself in a body-length rainbow flag and march in the Pride parade, I still didn’t know what it would look like — feel like — to receive love from someone who looks like me.
Or, more important, how to give it.
So, I embarked on an adventure.
As a visual journalist, I believe pictures can connect with people in a way that other forms of media can’t. To this end, I decided to give a gift to my younger self: the imagery of queer love I’ve never seen. Queer love in color. Read and see the series via the New York Times