He brought the book--about a man torn between loving a woman and another man--to black book stores, book clubs, and, interestingly, to beauty shops, where his clientele was largely straight, black women and gay men. The strategy was successful; Anchor Books soon acquired Invisible Life, which quickly became a best-seller. Five novels have followed, and Hollywood has optioned two of Harris's gossipy, sex-laden books for possible motion pictures.

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Harris's writing style is extremely easy to read and accessible. He produces the kind of page-turning books that can be read in a single sitting, and that appeal to a broad and diverse audience. Perhaps most significant, his work exposes bi- and homosexuality within the black middle class—in the fraternities, among professionals, amidst a segment of the population with whom the subject of homosexuality is rarely broached.

Harris's novels are romantic and upbeat. At the same time, however, he does not shy away from the explicitness and sometimes even the ugliness of homosexual relationships, as evidenced in his casual, almost brutal depictions of anonymous "trade" picked up in seedy adult bookstores. The recurring character of closeted football player John "Basil" Henderson chronicles one man's inability or unwillingness to form solid relationships with other black gay men, while using them for sex.

Although Harris documents the paranoia and fear that cause gay men to hurt themselves and one another, he also presents exceptionally grounded, proud, gay male lead characters, such as the drop-dead-gorgeous, too-good-to-be-true Zurich Thurgood Robinson in And This Too Shall Pass (1996). These characters make their choices with little hesitation and no apologies.

Within the African-American community, resistance to gays and lesbians has remained strong. It is significant, however, that Harris has been enthusiastically embraced by this community--in large measure due to the accessibility and honesty of his portrayals. Harris is surely the only out gay man who can be featured in a contest such as "Win a Dinner with E. Lynn Harris" in a national black women's magazine, as he was in Essence in July 2000. His sexuality is not an issue; his appeal is his success, which he achieved both because and in spite of the fact that he is a gay, black man.

Harris has received numerous awards and honors for his work. Abide With Me (1999) was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and he received the 1999 Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Arkansas.

Although Harris is not immune to prejudice and , his is a postmodern, gay success story. Appropriately, Harris has said that he considers himself not a gay writer, nor a black writer, nor yet a black, gay writer, but simply a writer. The diversity and breadth of his large audience suggest that this is how his readers see him as well.

The African-American gay male literary tradition consists of a substantial body of texts and includes some of the most gifted writers of the twentieth century.

Glbtq African Americans frequently experience racism in predominantly white glbtq communities and homophobia in heterosexual black society, but the multiple oppressions faced by black glbtq people are now being recognized.