A roundup of the top Black LGBT news stories (10/26/13 - 11/1/13).

Spurred by Activists, HBCUs Expand Their Services for Gay Students

Historically black colleges and universities have long struggled with a reputation of being unwelcoming, if not overtly hostile, to gays and lesbians. It’s a problem sometimes attributed to the conservative faiths that many students, and some of the institutions, are affiliated with. So several years ago a group of HBCUs joined together to tackle the issue.

Their goal was to encourage senior administrators at black colleges to take concrete steps toward openness and equal protection by adding sexual orientation to nondiscrimination policies, integrating discussions of sexual orientation into relevant academic courses, and creating “safe spaces” and resource centers on campuses. Since the three-year project ended, in 2011, progress has been steady but slow, conversations with leaders of national advocacy groups and college administrators suggest.

Continue reading at The Chronicle for Higher Education.

Q&A: Erica Mena Dismisses Rumors That She’s Bisexual For Male Attention, Talks Coming Out To Her Family

Erica Mena is a fiery Latina model who got her big break at the age of 14 through winning a Jennifer Lopez look-alike competition. The bodacious brunette has worked as a video vixen for the likes of Chris Brown, Akon, Fabolous and Fat Joe, to name a few, and featured in print campaigns for big chains like Rocawear, Tommy Hillfiger and L’Oréal.

The last season of Love and Hip Hop saw Miss Mena attempt to launch her music career with on-and-off love interest Rich Dollaz, who acted as her manager before rumored fiancee. This go-round shows Erica explore her bisexuality with new girlfriend Cyn Santana and writing a sex book named Chronicles of a Confirmed Bachelorette: The Girl Factor, where she talks about her experiences with men and women. Here, she talks entertaining both parties and breaking the news to her family.

Read the interview at VIBE.

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Black LGBT People

New research sheds light on little known demographics. Here are some of the research’s key findings, taken directly from the study: Notably, 58 percent of African-American same-sex couples are female. Female African-American individuals in same-sex couples are three times more likely to report veteran status than those in different-sex couples (9 percent vs. 3 percent). About 1 in 7 male African- American individuals in same-sex couples have served in the military compared to 1 in 4 male African-American individuals in different-sex couples (13 percent vs. 25 percent).

Learn more about the findings at South Florida Gay News.

Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In

bell hooks reminds us to be skeptical of faux feminism — one that does little to re-imagine the world or to build collective movements, but instead works to recreate the same old white heteropatriarchy that defines American Empire.

A year ago, few folks were talking about Sheryl Sandberg. Her thoughts on feminism were of little interest. More significantly, there was next-to-no public discussion of feminist thinking and practice. Rarely, if ever, was there any feminist book mentioned as a bestseller and certainly not included on the New York Times Best Seller list. Those of us who have devoted lifetimes to teaching and writing theory, explaining to the world the ins and outs of feminist thinking and practice, have experienced that the primary audience for our work is an academic sub-culture. In recent years, discussions of feminism have not evoked animated passion in audiences. We were far more likely to hear that we are living in a post-feminist society than to hear voices clamoring to learn more about feminism. This seems to have changed with Sandberg’s bookLean In, holding steady on the Times bestseller list for more than sixteen weeks.

No one was more surprised than long-time advocates of feminist thinking and practice to learn via mass media that a new high priestess of feminist movement was on the rise. Suddenly, as if by magic, mass media brought into public consciousness conversations about feminism, reframing the scope and politics through an amazing feat of advertising. At the center of this drama was a young, high-level corporate executive, Sheryl Sandberg, who was dubbed by Oprah Winfrey and other popular culture pundits as “the new voice of revolutionary feminism.”

Read more on The Feminist Wire.

Black Masculinity Among Topics at LGBT Youth Confab

“Dapper? Dandy? Redefining Black Masculinity” was just one of the workshops at the National Youth Pride Services Midwest Regional Black LGBT Youth Conference, held at the University of Chicago’s Harper Memorial Library Oct. 20-21. Holiday Simmons, national community educator at Lambda Legal, served as the workshop’s facilitator. He spoke to about 10 people about fashion as it relates to the way the world views masculinity as well as historical and contemporary images of dapper people.

Continue reading at the Windy City Times.