Observing an Afri-centric paradigm, we recognize Gatekeeping as the birthright of SGL people. As described by West African Shaman and scholar, Malidoma Somé, Gatekeepers are guardians who restore balance and harmony when there is crisis in the community. According to Dr. Somé, Not all Gatekeepers are same gender loving, but all same gender loving people have Gatekeeping potential. At The Gatekeeper’s Collective we create an Affirmation Station where SGL, gay, bisexual, Queer and transgender African descended men adopt strategies for self-actualization and community-building.

TGC’s mission is to build strength and fluidity, and explore strategies and activities for the advancement of SGL/LGBTQ+ men in the larger Black community and the world.

The Gatekeepers Collective supports SGL men in navigating contemporary stressors embedded in our society. Racism, misogyny and heterosexism are all entrenched in our society and in our socialization, along with the discriminatory practices that accompany them creating a unique array of psychological demands and stressors. Central to The Gatekeepers Collective’s identity reformation imperative is supporting an internal shift in people’s relationship to oppression – to finding their voice. In this regard voice involves the  act of oppressed people’s verbalizing the experience of oppression, in turn, triggering the potential for liberation of both the oppressed and the oppressor. Releasing one’s voice is the transformative dynamic in which an oppressed person risks making plain to all that being silent, hidden away or invisible is no longer acceptable. The process by which an individual ‘finds one’s voice’ signals a shift in identity development wherein the individual moves toward the emergence of a new self, reflecting synthesis of all the facets of one’s personality.