Fetishizing Black men
The thirst for gratification, validation, and power often leads many men, prominent and not, to destroy their own lives as well as the lives of others. The story of Ed Buck and his victims is one that involves wealth, deadly fetishes, meth, and racism. Here’s what you need to know.
Fetish: a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc.
A fetish by definition isn’t by definition a bad thing, abnormal perhaps, but not necessarily wrong or harmful. However, what makes a fetish harmful and, in the case of Ed Buck’s victims, deadly, is the coupling of a fetish with dehumanization.
Buck’s history
Edward Bernard Peter Buckmelter (Ed Buck) is a wealthy American entrepreneur who began his career as a fashion model and actor in Europe, and earned the lion’s share of his early wealth through a courier company he acquired in the early 1980s.
Buck, who has resided in Los Angeles for nearly three decades, has reportedly donated over $120,000.00 to democratic organizations and politicians over the last 27 years (according to opensecrets.org). Today, however, he is most known for his abuse of methamphetamine, and the bestialization of Black gay men.
Gemmel Moore
In 2017 Gemmel Moore (26) would become Ed Buck’s first publicly known victim. Originally from Texas, Gemmel moved to West Hollywood (WeHo), California and quickly found himself struggling to survive. Gemmel and Buck would meet via a popular dating app. Buck had money, and Gemmel unfortunately, fit his ideal profile – Black, queer and poor. For Ed Buck, the gratification wasn’t strictly sexual, he enjoyed injecting Black men with methamphetamine, getting them addicted, and watching them overdose.
LaTisha Nixon (Gemmel’s mother), details her last in-person conversation with her son in an interview in the documentary, PartyBoi––a chilling documentary showcasing the meth issue in the Black and Latinx queer community.
“I couldn’t believe how he looked. Gemmel tells me this man likes to take pictures of him in white long johns. He said, ‘Mom, he likes to shoot me up with meth and watch me. He likes to do this to Black men. Mom, I don’t like it.’ I begged Gemmel to stay with me, but I couldn’t convince him.”
Excerpts from Gemmel’s diary show a young man struggling both mentally and physically, as he grew more dependent on Buck.
I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that. Ed Buck is the one to thank, he gave me my first injection of crystal meth. – Gemmel Moore.
Despite his attempts to alert authorities, Gemmel’s reports went uninvestigated. On July 27, 2017, Gemmel’s body was found lifeless in Ed Buck’s West Hollywood apartment–– pornography playing in the background, syringes and sex toys littering the space. His death was ruled accidental by the coroner, and prosecutors declined to file charges (insufficient evidence).
The death of Timothy Dean
On January 7, 2019, Timothy Dean (African American), a fashion consultant and athlete, was found dead in Ed Buck’s West Hollywood apartment. As was in the case of Gemmel Moore, Ed Buck was present during the death. Coroners determined the cause of Timothy Dean’s death was from accidental meth toxicity.
On September 11, 2019, it was reported that an unnamed African American man had been administered by Ed Buck, deadly doses of methamphetamine in Buck’s apartment. The unnamed man reportedly fought Ed Buck to flee the apartment, believing he was overdosing. The unnamed man called 911 from a nearby location, and received medical treatment. He is Buck’s first publicly known survivor.
Ed Buck’s arrest
On September 17, 2019, after two publicly known deaths, and three known meth overdose incidents at Buck’s apartment, Ed Buck was finally arrested. Buck has been charged by the state of California and the federal government for his involvement in the overdose of the unnamed survivor and the death of Gemmel Moore.
Now, let’s talk about how this happens. Ed Buck acted with maliciousness and impunity, he is a current-day Jeffrey Dahmer. While it’s easy to leave our conclusions and sympathies there, we have to ask ourselves, what are we missing?
Ed Buck is a symptom of a patriarchal society that normalizes and tolerates rape culture and racism. How many people saw Ed Buck leave parties or clubs with vulnerable men? How many people casually praised Ed for his “harem” of drugged Black men?
LGBTQ and trauma
The LGBTQ community, ostracized as it often is, still participates in patriarchy. The homophobia, racism, and misogyny that exist on the opposite side of the rainbow also thrive within LGBTQ society. Black male bodies (black bodies in general) have historically been up for consumption: run faster, jump higher, fuck longer. The fetishization of Black men is related to the bestialization and murder of Black men––big and Black.
And then, the LGBTQ community is exceptionally great at creating fantasy and entertainment out of trauma. However, outlets aren’t necessarily solutions. For generations of queer folk, moving away from some gender traditions and enjoying sexual freedoms, via themed parties and drug use, has contributed to norms of substance dependency, sexual abuse and mental health issues.
According to the CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 40 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men have experienced sexual violence other than rape (compared to 21 percent of heterosexual men).
Ed Buck used the hopes and dreams of young men to gain access to their bodies, and there are many more like him. Buck is reportedly in federal custody without bail until trial, facing a minimum of 20 years in prison, and a maximum life sentence on federal charges.
