The Morehouse College Maroon Tiger Newspaper today profiles members of the DuBois Dance Team, a group of four openly gay Morehouse students who attracted attention and controversy throughout the AUC in January for their performance during a Mr. Freshman pageant held at Spelman College.
Like previous male dance groups, the dance collective formerly known as the ‘DuBois Divas’ began as joke among the residents of the W.E.B. DuBois International House. But since their performance and mixed reaction from the Morehouse community, Seanba Anderson, Jaylin Cureton, Talon Harston and Keylen Lyon now seek recognition as an official campus organization, with a goal of increasing sexual and gender tolerance among all students. From the Maroon Tiger:
Each freshmen class that comes into Morehouse tends to be more open-minded about sexuality than their predecessors. The DuBois Divas want the dance team to be sustainable, and hope to become an organization that is respected and accepted by the Office of Student Life. They even changed their name from DuBois Divas to DuBois Dance Team. The Divas want a legacy so that Morehouse Class of 2020 can be a part of it, even in the wake of traditional stroll teams.
“I want future LGBT students that are coming into Morehouse to see what we’ve done and know that it is OK to live in your truth, know that it is OK to be who you are,” Cureton said.
Morehouse College in no way shape or form become a sanctuary for the LGBT community. This is Morehouse College and not UC Berkeley.
I saw the video and hated it for a number of reasons. #1 Morehouse College will never become a gay male institution. It was NOT founded for gay males and I don’t believe the Morehouse Alumni Association will allow that to occur- EVER! #2 You’re right, the divas as they call themselves are a JOKE! As in bad joke. They aren’t strolling. They’re looking good and acting ridiculous. They are a parody of what THEY think male and female strolling routines are like. But they are wrong again. When step teams, fraternities and sororities stroll, they DON’T look ridiculous or like they are trying to be something that they clearly are NOT. #3 This was supposed to be a talent showcase for Mr Freshman contestants- so is Spelman changing the criteria to “must be a gay male & bring your friends?” I don’t blame a judge for walking out of the contest. Spelman Sista-Freshmen, you let the divas turn YOUR contest into THEIR forum to showcase THEMSELVES-what’s wrong with that picture? #4 Please tell me when did Morehouse Men start wearing long hair wigs? The point of this was what? In my view, it was to take a campus activity that was designed to find a good Morehouse MALE to represent the Freshman at both schools, and make it into yet another attempt to let everyone know that they are part of the campus community. When do these gay males give it a rest? They are overplaying their presence in the AUC, and other students who probably aren’t gay are unintentionally helping them. And finally, Marron Tiger I love your paper and have since my son attended Morehouse but you really didn’t NEED to do an article on these fake “divas.”