In your book you quote a minister who said that gay
people have never had a place in the black church
and never will. How do you respond?
Black homosexuals have a unique role in the spirituality
discussion. We've always been at the
forefront--musicians, preachers, all of those
people--and to have the clergy say now that we
can't exist is just asinine.
And yet there's been so much made in recent years
about how difficult it is to be both black and
gay, in part because of the large role of the
church. But you don't buy that.
No, I don't. I think it takes courage to be who
you are. In general, homosexuality has been one of the
taboo issues. But when people put a face to
it--when preachers encounter gay men in their pulpits
or the gay members of their choir stand and speak it
and own it--then it changes how they respond to
the issue. So my optimism is that younger black gay and
lesbian persons will no longer tolerate the bigotry and
prejudice that has existed in our most influential
entity [the church].
What makes you so passionate about ending religious bigotry?
Because it has to. Unless it does, we're
dying as a community. When you look at Medicaid,
Medicare, and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs being cut,
the burden falls on the black church to respond and to
really be the caretakers in our community. We can no
longer afford homophobic sermons or to let our clergy
not address critical health issues like HIV/AIDS.
How will your book help effect that change?
I started the book with the Adam and Eve story. The
Creator made Adam and Eve naked, and they were
unashamed. Then they ate the apple and discovered they
were naked and they hid. And God says, "Well, where
are you?" And [Adam] says, "I hid
because I was ashamed." And God says,
"Well, who told you you were naked?"
That's the key issue for black homosexuals: to
stop allowing society or another entity to tell us
we're naked, that something's wrong with
us.
It's interesting to hear you say that, knowing how
opponents of homosexuality like to cite Adam and
Eve as proof of their beliefs.
When the Creator made us, it made us perfect. It
is really about owning who we are and honoring that.
You know, I can't give blood. I can't serve
in the military. I mean, as a taxpayer, I'm funding
my own discrimination! And then the government wants
to give money to churches that discriminate against
me. It's like, hello! All these issues have to
be raised with the homosexual person--to stand up and
say we're not going to tolerate this anymore.
You're living out loud, but what do you say to
those people who are afraid to come out?
That their voice is needed--they cannot be
afraid. A lot of them are living in glass closets.
People know that they're gay, but because they
haven't said it, they get off the hook. My point is,
no more glass closets. Just be who you are. Be
authentic to who God made you to be. Because once you
do that, that's your only power. Society no longer
can condemn you or throw you in the closet.
