Gays should have a place in the black community as it attempts to overcome oppression, said participants in a panel discussion on homophobia among blacks Wednesday evening at the Black House.

Two undergraduate students, two sociology graduate students and an administrator from Residential Life participated in the discussion led by Rickey Sain Sr., an agency specialist of Horizons Community Services, a gay, lesbian and bisexual support group.

Sain said many homophobic blacks look to distinguish between race and sexual orientation even though both are sources of oppression in society.

“They separate the two out because one is visible and one is not,” Sain said. “As far as race is concerned, that cannot be changed. They think homosexuality is something that can change. They think one day we’ll wake up and change.”

Blacks sometimes transfer their oppression onto others in order to break through to equality with the dominant group, Sain said.

“You know oppression, so that’s what you do,” he said. “Unless you become aware, you won’t change. It is a learned behavior that has to be unlearned.”

One sociology graduate student said race is still the predominant identifying trait in society. Because of this, sexual orientation can be marginalized in the effort to attain black solidarity.

“The need to have solidarity exists because you don’t feel a part of the larger system,” he said.

A black undergraduate student agreed: “I don’t know many people who are loud and proud to be gay.”

Northwestern recruitment practices have depleted the black community on campus in recent years, the graduate student said.

“If there were enough people here, you would see people coming out,” he said.

Sain said that for progress to be made in eliminating homophobia and heterosexism, the conversation between homosexual and heterosexual blacks must change.

“If the dialogue stands at what it means to be gay and what it means to be lesbian, that wouldn’t lead anywhere,” he said. “(The dialogue needs to evolve into) how is it we can be in the same space and be different and head in the same direction.

“We have to leave behind differences because the differences are there and no dialogue is going to do anything about that. We can claim progress, but not everything has arrived. We are having this conversation here. It may be small but it is happening. We can’t trivialize the steps it takes to create change.”