One of the things that really pisses me off is the Jurassic attitudes of my people when it comes to gender issues. It's mind boggling to me that a child who is a frequent visitor of the court system or is on drugs gets much unconditional love in the family and the Black church. Let that same child be gay or transgender and that unconditional love and understanding becomes non-existent.
I was heartened to see the Black Church Summit that was recently held in Atlanta January 20-21. Its stated goal is working to reverse the hateful rhetoric coming from African-American church pulpits. More than 200 ministers took part in this NBJC (National Black Justice Coalition) sponsored event at First Iconium Baptist Church with the keynote speeches given by Rev. Al Sharpton and Bishop Yvette Flunder. Several Black conservative pastors were invited such as Rev. Bernice King and Bishop Eddie Long among others but they refused to attend. (Guess they didn't want to jeopardize their faith-based hush money.)
This conversation took place because conservative Republicans are using the gay marriage issue to manipulate Black ministers and create a wedge issue designed to gain minority votes. The GOP increased its share from 8% to 12 percent in the 2004 election despite pursuing policies that have clearly NOT benefitted Black Americans.
"These anti-marriage proponents are pandering to the Black church for their own agenda. It is imperative that religious leaders realize and recognize the
contributions of the LGBT community and the impact marriage discrimination will have on African-American children and families," said Sylvia Rhue, religious affairs and constituency development director for NBJC, said in an interview.
"We have sat back and allowed the right wing to shape the political agenda," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. "Now it is important that the Black church break the backs of those who are trying to use homosexuality as a political weapon."
Sharpton also criticized some Black churches for their role in the 2004 election, explaining that right wing outsiders "came in and invaded the Black church with homophobia." He argued that religious right was not really concerned about same-sex marriage but more concerned about having the "same president" in office.
"They couldn't come to Black churches to talk about the war, about health care, about poverty. So they did what they always do and reached for the bigotry against gay and lesbian people."
Calling the 2004 election tactics an "insult to our intelligence," Sharpton said the religious right "should not be allowed to play this game" in the future. "If we had not been fooled, maybe some of the states that went red would not have gone red."
"It's time for our church to have a nonpunitive discourse on human sexuality," Bishop Flunder said in her remarks. "It's time for Black folk to get together and have a conversation so we can eliminate the opportunity for others to defile and separate us."
Amen. Now let's see if they will follow through on that.