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This is not to imply that the black community is any more homophobic than other racial/ethnic communities (in fact, studies have shown the opposite, as Boykin explains in his book). Bell hooks elaborates on this in her essay "Homophobia in Black Communities" in the anthology "The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality in Black Communities":

Black communities may be perceived as more homophobic than other communities because there is a tendency for individuals in black communities to verbally express in an outspoken way antigay sentiments. (p. 69)

Hooks goes on to say that often those black individuals who make such homophobic statements in public are actually very supportive of the gay people in their life. While this may or may not be true, these films clearly do not include sympathetic lesbian and bisexual characters and sentiments to balance out the handful of antigay sentiments expressed (although, to be fair, there are still fewer stereotypical gay jokes in these movies than you'll find in the average “guy” movie).

This one-sided presentation is not necessarily rooted in homophobia (although some of it certainly is), but a mistaken notion held by many African-Americans that you can't fight racism and homophobia at the same time. Not only does fighting racism take precedence, but attempts to challenge homophobia actually weaken this fight. Audre Lorde explains in "Sister Outsider:"

Within Black communities where racism is a living reality, differences among us often seem dangerous and suspect. The need for unity is often misnamed as a need for homogeneity...(p.119)

But more and more African-Americans are realizing that differences among black folks are not dangerous. And attitudes of straight African-Americans towards black lesbians and bisexual women have changed over the last twenty years, just as they have among Caucasians and other racial and ethnic groups in America.

You would never know it from watching movies produced by and for the black community.

What remains unclear is whether this is because many black writers, directors, and producers have yet to realize the change in public opinion, because they harbor too much of their own homophobia, or because even with a large segment of the black community becoming more open-minded, they fear the kind of vocal outcry from some black conservatives that followed the lesbian relationship in The Color Purple in 1985, in which they accused author Alice Walker of reinforcing negative stereotypes about African-Americans--and African-American men, in particular--and focusing too much on sexism at the expense of larger issues of racism.

Since films aimed at middle-class black America are a relatively new phenomena, it's also possible that some black writers/directors/producers have good intentions, but are thinking something along the lines of "we can't do everything at once, so let's just get your average (straight) black folks more visibility and worry about showing diversity within the black community later, when the time is right."

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