Turning Barbershops Into Safe Spaces For Gay Black Men

Derrick Middleton remembers the wave of discomfort that washed over him as a child whenever he entered a local barbershop with his father.

“I had to perform masculinity in these spaces,” Middleton told TakePart. “Black barbershops are some of the most hypermasculine spaces in the world; at times they can remind you of a locker room. This was terrifying for me as a young boy who already felt that I was different from other boys.”