Black gay rights group asks clergy to help end homophobia

Churches have an obligation to help end the "poisoned atmosphere" surrounding the acceptance of homosexuals, the Reverend Al Sharpton said at a weekend summit organized by a national black gay rights group.

The group invited religious leaders to brainstorm ways to get their message of tolerance across to church leaders, who are some of the most influential figures in black communities. Several portrayed it as a civil rights issue. "Our dialogue is the possibility of being acknowledged, loved, and accepted. It can happen," said Donna Payne, vice president of the National Black Justice Coalition, composed of black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists.

Sharpton, a former Democratic presidential candidate who headlined Friday's start to the summit, said black church leaders need to acknowledge that homophobia affects everyone's civil rights. "You cannot talk about civil rights and limit who's included in the civil movement," Sharpton told about 150 people at First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta.

He said it is every church's obligation to help end the "poisoned atmosphere" of acceptance of homosexuals. "The church should have a front seat in the car leading toward dialogue, leading toward tolerance," he said.

In 2004, a predominantly black Atlanta-area church where Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice serves as an elder held a march calling for a national ban on same-sex marriage. The march's organizer, Bishop Eddie Long, said his followers "did not come in a march of hatred," but the event did not sit well with gay rights groups. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, has called same-sex marriage a civil rights issue and denounced proposed amendments to ban it.

"History has shown that every time a church has gone on the side of exclusion, they have been wrong," said Pat Hussein, an activist and summit participant. "Hopefully, there can be things made right."

The Reverend Kenneth Samuel, pastor of Victory Baptist Church in the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain, received a standing ovation when he called for equality for all people and an end to hate crimes targeting gays. "These are heart-wrenching issues," Samuel said. "Anytime we talk to people about identity or sense of values, we have to address them with passion and intellect along with their spirituality." (AP)