Over the last few years, Gee Smalls has become a thriving force in Atlanta's Black LGBTQ community as one half of the same gender loving power couple known as Juan and Gee. But now he's stepping into the spotlight solo, albeit with the support of his loving husband, with the release of his new memoir, Black Enough Man Enough.
In his book, Smalls sets out to challenge and expand messages around race and bisexuality, even within factions of the LGBTQIA+ community. Black Enough Man Enough tells a human story. Smalls provides a lens into specific issues affecting Black bisexual men, living in biracial bodies. He delves into themes around racism, colorism, homophobia, masculinity, marriage, and fatherhood –– representing men, like himself, who need to see themselves as worthy of love and acceptance.
“I knew I was different, called ‘faggot-ass half-breed,’ teased for my light bright skin, soft curly afro, freckly face, and feminine ways. Growing up the child of a black daddy and white momma in the black Gullah Geechee culture on James Island, South Carolina in the 80’s, I was an outsider.
“My adolescent identity crisis of racial and sexual confusion lead to a trip down the aisle with my high school sweetheart, the joy of fatherhood, and then into the shadows of the down-low before divorce and a tumultuous custody battle. As I embraced all of who I am, I developed my voice, using it to speak out on the racial and LGBT equality movements, as well as to say ‘I do’ to marry the man I love and create a realistic 21st century blended family.”
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