business owner, and Shirley Hayes, a federal gov-
ernment employee. A 1992 graduate of Harvard
Law School, Boykin served two years as special as-
sistant and director of specialty press for President
Clinton, acting as the principal liaison and spokes-
person between the White House and the minor-
ity media, including the African-American and gay
media. Currently, he serves as executive director
of the National Black Gay & Lesbian Leadership
Forum. He lives in New York City.
In 1992 Boykin worked on the Democratic pri-
mary in New Hampshire for Governor Bill Clinton
and, later that year, moved to Little Rock to work
on the presidential campaign. Boykin continued
to work in Little Rock on inaugural functions
after Clinton was elected president of the United
States until 1993, when the president brought
him to Washington, D.C. as special assistant to
the president, first as the director of news analysis
and then as director of specialty press. Boykin left
his post in 1995 to write One More River to Cross
(1997), his autobiography, which chronicles his
struggles with being black, middle class, and gay
in America.
One More River to Cross presents a strong social
commentary on the complex realities black lesbi-
ans and gay men face within gay white and straight
black communities. Boykin introduces himself as
an imaginative and intuitive child raised in a typi-
cal middle-class St. Louis suburb in a strong, sup-
portive family. However, he is made to confront
the dichotomy of being black and gay in America
when he attends predominantly white elementary
and middle schools. The Boykin family lives in a
white suburb, while the black children who attend
the public schools are poor and are bused from
the outskirts of the city. On fitting in, he recalls
that, although he was not certain what made him
different, he knew it was something more in-
grained and impenetrable than the exterior of his
skin and class.
Boykin graciously fumbles through sexual
growing pains, dating a few girls in high school
and allowing them to temper his effeminate man-
ners. More important, arriving at high school
in Clearwater, Florida, he noted that white girls
would not befriend with him because he was
black, and black girls would not because he was
not black enough. These social commentaries and
nuances in the fabric of accepted American norms
gain even greater credibility when Boykin points
to the black stereotypes in popular television
shows and other media. Further, while chroni-
cling his own experiences, he researches history,
the language of the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,
and speeches, testimonies, and quotes made by
prominent black figures, such as historian Roger
Wilkins and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, for no-
tions of stereotypes and their perpetuating ability
to create a false sense of black identity in America.
He canvasses church leaders, gay political lead-
ers, and other black gays and lesbians on issues of
faith, family, and discrimination, using their views
to determine what discrepancies, both real and
imagined, prevent a coalition of blacks and gays.
While Boykin’s research suggests that blacks are
less homophobic than whites, despite the coarse
rhetoric of rap lyrics and ardent doctrines, he sug-
gests that both conservative political and religious
forces equally perpetuate tolerance for racially
motivated homophobia in America.
Boykin’s portrayal of what it means to be black
and gay offers an extraordinary insight into a
community that challenges America’s acceptance
of its minorities, both racial and sexual. A black
homosexual remains invisible to or is unaccepted
by both black straight and white gay groups. One
More River to Cross explores historical and contem-
porary political and religious themes to gain access
into roles of black leadership, cultural function,
tolerance, domination, and racial marginalization
in America. His second nonfiction publication,
Respecting the Soul: Daily Reflections for Black Les-
bians and Gays, received the prestigious Lambda
Literary Award.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Greene, Beverly, ed. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity
among Lesbians and Gay Men: Psychological Per-
spectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues. Vol. 3. Thou-
sand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1997.
Hawkeswood, William G. One of the Children: Gay
Men in Black Harlem. Berkeley: University of Cali-
fornia Press, 1996.Boykin, Keith 69