Clay Cane

Clay Cane is a journalist, author, television personality and filmmaker. He is the director and creator of the documentary Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church, which was nominated for a 2016 GLAAD Media Award. He is the author of Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race, which was released May of 2017.

A graduate from Rutgers University, Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. in English and African-American Studies, Clay’s commentary is heard on MTV, HLN, MSNBC, FOX, VH1, CNN and numerous other television programs, including The O'Reilly Factor, Don Lemon Tonight and Melissa Harris-Perry. He has contributed to print and online publications including CNN.com, The Washington Post and Gawker.

Clay was the host of Clay Cane Live," a weekly, call in and political radio talk show on WWRL 1600AM, which was home to radio programs for Reverend Al Sharpton and Ed Schultz. After 86 years, the station aired its final broadcast in December 2013.

He is a member of New York Film Critics Online and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

Clay is the co-editor and contributing writer of the 2012 anthology For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home. He also contributed to Where Did Our Love Go: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community. In 2015, Clay created, directed and produced the BET.com original documentary Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church. Premiering at NYU in November 2015, the film explored homophobia in the black church by tackling the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and religion. The film earned a 2016 GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Digital Journalism and a Black Reel Award nomination for Best Television Documentary or Special. On February 24, 2016, The White House featured Clay Cane as a Black History Month speaker along with a screening of the documentary. Cane was also presented on a panel discussion, which focused on the film, faith, sexuality and the African American community. Clay has toured the film at various universities and organizations all over the country.

Clay is the author of Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race, which "marches you through the journey of Clay’s life, from enduring spiritual violence in the African-American church, to learning unique lessons from transgender sex workers, to living in the double consciousness of blackness and gayness. Each essay is delivered with vulnerability and cultural critique, using his narrative to highlight the most sidelined of communities. Live Through This is the new American story." The book was published via Cleis Press in June 2017.

• Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race (Cleis Press, 2017)
• For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home (Magnus, 2012)
• Where Did Our Love Go: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community (Agate Bolden, 2013)