What was most unsettling about writing the headline to this plea was the little word, “but.”
Mister Cee might be gay, but he can still rock the mic. Mister Cee might be gay, but he’s still the homie. Or, Mister Cee might be gay, but his sexuality won’t tarnish Biggie’s legacy.
As if Mister Cee’s alleged sexual preference would somehow contaminate his abilities. As if homosexuality is a disease that might deplete his testosterone. As if I somehow have the power to give him clearance, to accept him into our circle. “Hey hip-hop? It’s okay, he’s not contagious.” What even gives me the right?
The thing about that small conjunction is that it’s indicative of how much we’ve failed as a society in conquering intolerance. In this case, homophobia. And just as I was beginning to feel like we had pioneered the last frontier of sexual discrimination with Jason Collins’ confession, I was rudely awakened by the pervasive machismo of hip-hop.
When it came to light that Cee had again been caught soliciting sex from a male prostitute, our community demonized him, not because he was involved in illegal activity, but because he had been having sex with men.
In fact, Mister Cee would rather admit to being addicted to prostitutes than admit that he sometimes likes to engage in sex with men. He would rather risk his health with prostitutes to keep his secret, than be an out gay man in his world of rap.
For Mister Cee, it’s a matter or livelihood or death. And who are we to push him into making that decision?
So, who are the real criminals here?
Arguably Cee, and for obvious reasons. But when we admonish his sexual activity, not because of the way he obtains that pleasure, but who he obtains it from, we’ve sentenced an “innocent” person to a life of misery and embarrassment.
Maybe, just maybe, if both hip-hop and the world would take down our veil of artificial tolerance and honestly accept homosexuality, then we could help men like Cee feel comfortable in their decisions. The dark closet, as you see, is a very dangerous place to be.
If we can take this opportunity to uplift Cee and exalt him not only for his reputation and legacy, but also for who he is outside of that persona, we have a real chance at lighting the match that will engulf homophobia in hip-hop, in corporate America, in every arena in our society, and destroy it.
Cee, the butt of jokes for the rest of the week, will most likely continue to deny who he is. And we’ll keep on talking about how open we are to homosexuality and differences, even though Cee proved today that we are not yet there.
At the end of the day, his sexuality isn’t the real issue here. It’s our fear that accepting him will emasculate the art form we love so much.
Or, that Cee needs to get it together and stop trying to find love with prostitutes.
Take your pick. We need both.
Christina Coleman is the News and Politics Editor at GlobalGrind and a Howard University Alumna. Prior to this she was a science writer. That explains her NASA obsession. She crushes on Anthony Bourdain. Nothing explains that.
