Gays and the Black Church

[kweerwolf]

After two years of public hatred toward gays from Black ministers around the country, attitudes toward gays may finally be changing in the Black church. But will cooler heads prevail as another contentious presidential election draws closer and dollars and pulpits are again up for grabs?

Fearing a repeat of the 2004 presidential election, and in an effort to counter the divisive messaging from the Republican Party and White Christian evangelicals, the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation's Black gay civil rights group, hosted a summit last month in Atlanta of Black ministers and Black gay activists from around the country to discuss publicly the widespread prejudice against gay men and lesbians within Black churches.

The first of its kind, the summit featured the Rev. Al Sharpton, who made good on his 2005 promise of fighting homophobia in the Black church.

This meeting comes on the heels of a meeting between Black lesbian and gay leaders and Nation of Islam Leader Minister Louis Farrakhan to discuss the inclusion of gays during last year's Million More Movement March.

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20060227a

[bliss_eternal]

1. This is great news!

I'm SO happy to hear this--thanks so much for posting! :hi:

[MadMaddie]

3. I am glad to hear this also....

[bliss_eternal]

4. Hi MadMaddie--

:hi:

[MadMaddie]

6. Hey You......

Hope all is well!!!:hi:

[bliss_eternal]

10. Yes,

hoping the same for you! :pals:

[William769]

2. I'm not going to hold my breath.

[bliss_eternal]

5. I don't blame you--

but I would like to remain hopeful... :hi:

[William769]

7. One thing my Daddy taught me well.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

[bliss_eternal]

9. Good words to live by--

I'm just hoping... maybe I shouldn't--but I do.

So many in the black community are being hurt by the church's (historical) views on gays. All it's created, that I can see are too many closeted gay men, fulfilling their desires in ways that hurt themselves and others. Makes me so sad...

[MadMaddie]

8. Talking about it is a major first step....

this is not a topic that's easily discussed in the black community....

[TaleWgnDg]

11. Al Sharpton at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (in Boston)

.


The Reverend Al Sharpton at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (in Boston). . . said,

"The promise of America is that government does not
seek to regulate your behavior in the bedroom, but to
guarantee your right to provide food in the kitchen. The
issue of government is not to determine who may sleep
together in the bedroom, it's to help those that might not
be eating in the kitchen." -- The Reverend
Al Sharpton, Democratic National Convention, Boston,
Massachusetts, July 29, 2004, on "answer your
questions, Mr. President."
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/28/dems.sharpton.transcript/

[TaleWgnDg]

12. Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick . . .

.

Deval Patrick, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, spoke of the varied needs of the
African-American community yesterday at the Greater Love Tabernacle Church in
Dorchester(, Massachusetts). (Matthew J. Lee/ Globe Staff)

. . . snip . . .

The Rev. William E. Dickerson II had encouraging words for worshipers at his 11 a.m. service yesterday at Dorchester(, Massachusetts) Greater Love Tabernacle Church: "This is surely your day of victory."

For one worshiper sitting in the front pew, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick, yesterday was a small victory in an effort to overcome opposition to one of his firmly held positions: his support for gay marriage.

Patrick, an assistant US attorney general under President Clinton, had come to explain who he was, and to address a belief in equal-marriage rights that has put him at odds with some ministers and members of the African-American community, who see same-sex marriage as a violation of the Scriptures.

"I'm going to step into sensitive territory here, because some have tried to discredit me and divide us over the whole question of gay marriage," Patrick said. "Don't let that happen."

"I know what Scripture says about homosexuality, and who am I as a Christian to question what Scripture says?" Patrick told yesterday's audience.

"But . . . the point is that while we debate gay marriage, there are people struggling to pay the rent and the heat in the same month, and we have got to pay attention to that."

"That," he continued, "is what we have to deal with, for Christ's sake and for our own."

. . . more at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/27/patrick_at_pulpit_lists_his_priorities/

[bliss_eternal]

13. Several of our christian DU'ers have pointed out

the ways the scriptures they are speaking of can be interpreted in more positive ways. They've also pointed out other scriptures that would challenge those that believe "biblical scripture denounces homosexuality."

I have a couple of friends that are christian that state they fail to see how one can single out those scriptures as any sort of validation that christianity should oppose gay marriage.

[TaleWgnDg]

14. Yup. I agree. However, politicians don't want to upset the

apple cart in that way. They want to obtain and retain both sides of an issue. That's politics. Here, Patrick is attempting to do it that.