A Talk with Maurice Runea
By Nathan James
Maurice Runea is an advocate, counselor, fashion designer, and group facilitator for Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). Known as the creator of Maurice Runea Designs and Maurice Runea Magazine, he offers some pointed insights into his work, his life, and the complex issues facing gay men of color today. Mr. Runea is vibrant and proud of himself, his work, and his community, and in our interview he raises our awareness about how gays and lesbians of color look at life.
Nathan James: Describe your work with GMHC.
MR: At GMHC I have two positions: One is Many Men, Many Voices, as a co-facilitator and I also do recruitment for a group called Choices.
NJ: What are these groups about?
MR: Many Men, Many Voices is a 3 day retreat-style intervention, during which we encourage behavioral changes. It’s for any same-gender-loving African- American male, HIV- or HIV+, who is open to changing their thinking. There’s a $50 incentive for participating, plus food and car fare. I do follow-up phone calls after these retreats to see how the participants are progressing.
Choices is for HIV+ men having sex with men. It teaches the skills for disclosure. There is such stigma behind HIV in the Black community, that sometimes [people] need that extra push, to be able to deal with disclosure. Choices provides that advocacy and support.
NJ: You also developed your own fashion line. What’s the story about your unique designs?
MR: Simply put, that’s very “all over the place”. Maurice Runea designs could be very urban, or subtly understated. I’m looking toward the future. You can see the designs at http://www.mauricrerunea.net/. New things are coming all the time, and in February there will be something big. Stay tuned!
NJ: What is your vision for Maurice Runea Designs?
MR: I would love to go to the club, one day, and see everybody wearing my outfits! I try to create something everyone would wear. Sometimes the outfits would be “over the top”, but other times it’s more down-to-earth.
NJ: What do you think is the most important issue facing SGL men of color today?
MR: Racism! That’s because so many of our other problems come out of this. Gay Black men have problems with self-identity because they’re so scared to be found out. It has a cascade effect. If you’re gay—and families and the church are the worst enemies of the Black gay community—where do you go looking for someone? You look in high-risk places [like the Internet] where you can be anonymous. Racism and homophobia drive a lot of gay men of color into the closet. If [Black gay men] were more free to be who and what we are, life would be easier. But the “down low” exists not because [Black gays] don’t want to come out, but, rather, that societal situations don’t allow them to come out.
NJ: In what way do social situations prevent Black gay men from freely expressing themselves?
MR: As Black people, we tend to be very judgmental and critical against each other. We hold each other back with ridicule and restrictions. We diminish any black person that becomes successful—the “crabs in a barrel syndrome”. We become haters. It always amazed me how you can be Black and gay, and when you walk down the street, the whole neighborhood hates you. But be a drug dealer, killing our brothers, sisters, and families, and the neighborhood looks up to you. Black communities target the gay person who is no threat to the community, but we act like the drug dealer is invisible. The irony is that sometimes the drug dealer is sleeping with the gays!
NJ: As a counselor, how can the gay black community overcome these issues?
MR: We need to renew our own pride in the fact that we are different. Embrace your gayness, dammit! We are a great and wonderful culture, and we need to stop allowing society to knock us down. We need to start being more tolerant of ourselves. We have strength in numbers. Why can we get 1200 [Black gay men] to come to the club, but only 100 to come to a protest march? Our voice needs to be heard, and until we become more active in letting the world know we’re out here, things won’t change.
You can visit http://www.mauricerunea.blogspot.com/ to read Maurice’s online magazine, and at http://www.mauricerunea.net/, you’ll find the latest outfits and couture pieces from Maurice Runea designs.
