May his legendary career stand as a beacon of inspiration for other Black actors to take similar risks and expand their empathy for the LGBTQIA community. Starting in 2002 with The Wire’s Omar to 2020’s Lovecraft Country, Williams gave us incredible queer characters to remember for nearly 20 years. It was a revelation to witness how his growing fame never stopped him from taking roles that many would have considered career suicide. We saw this undeniable range in the outspoken and humorous Leonard Pine to the very closeted, character study that was Montrose. He wasn’t afraid to be fully intimate with other men, while also never losing his signature bravado. Williams has done with many of his roles is redefine the power of Black masculinity in ways I didn’t ever think was possible on screen. Black gay men who engaged in both anal receptive and anal insertive intercourse were referred to as flipflops or pancakes. I danced in the house music world, danced background for Crystal Waters.” My best friend who taught me the streets in Brooklyn was a lesbian, Robin Henry. “They were two gay men that I loved to death.
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This is my blood,” Williams told Plus Magazine. “My nephews, Michale Frederick Williams and Eric Williams, both are deceased.
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Since starting his performing career as a professional dancer at the age of 22, Williams was an LGBTQIA ally in his native Brooklyn, New York as the HIV epidemic impacted loved ones around him. Williams stars as Monstrose in “Lovecraft Country.” (Photo HBO) I wouldn’t get an opportunity to see other Black gay male characters on TV that gave me as much life until the release of Noah’s Arc a few years later. Before The Wire, so many shows that featured LGBTQIA characters spent more time trying to make a political statement than simply normalizing. It was fascinating to watch, because while the incredible character was queer - his sexuality wasn’t what defined his arc on the show.
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No, Omar was relatable and complex - he kicked ass, was emotional, and felt raw. Omar was believable because he wasn’t a stereotype of a hypersexual, overly flamboyant caricature that was often depicted in the media by the likes of Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier on In Living Color. I was around 12 years old at the time, and I remember being stunned by the fact that there was a Black gay man who was tough, confident, sexual, funny, and gangsta on a show that straight people were huge fans of. The first time I saw a believable Black gay man on television was watching the character of Omar Little, played by the late Michael K. OPINION: The late renowned actor gave us tough, passionate, and nuanced representations of queer men on screen in an industry that scared cis-het Black entertainers from doing such.