No single article that I have ever written or protest
that I have participated in has garnered as much attention
as the Outing Black Pastors campaign that I did
with my colleague Keith
Boykin .
It was a simple idea hatched in a casual conversation
of Black gay activists while in Washington D.C. Frustrated
with the increasing number of attacks on same-gender
loving people by Black pastors, we decided to take
action. The action in this case was calling out Black
pastors on their hypocrisy as it relates to the gay
community and their relationship to the current Bush
Administration.
The outline of the campaign was straightforward.
Each day for one week Keith and I profiled a Black
pastor highlighting his relationship with the Bush
Administration, recent homophobic gay comments, and
ending with the question, is this pastor gay? Starting
with mega church pastors Bishop Eddie Long and T.D.
Jakes, we included profiles of other prominent pastors
including Los Angeles' Noel Jones and Bishop Charles
Blake, D.C.'s Reverend Willie Wilson, Chicago's Reverend
Gregory Daniels, New Orleans' Bishop Paul Morton,
Georgia's Creflo Dollar, and ended with a joint profile
of ex-gay gospel singer Donnie Mclurkin.
For the record, there is nothing wrong with asking
a question. My experience has shown that the people
who are the most adamant on certain issues also tend
to be dealing with their own issues. People who are
comfortable with who they are usually don't care as
much about what other people are doing. Which lead
me to an obvious question, are these pastor's gay?
Remember that despite all of his racist rhetoric,
Senator and former segregationist the late Strom Thurmond
fathered a Black daughter to everyone's surprise.
Conservative pundit and frequent Republican candidate,
Alan Keyes caused a stir during the 2004 Republican
convention by labeling Vice President Dick Cheney's
lesbian daughter a sinner and calling homosexuality
"selfish hedonism." Alan Keyes' daughter Maya is a
lesbian.
Being able to point out the hypocrisy that exists
in our community is why we have a democracy.
To date, I have received over 1,000 emails regarding
this campaign and they still continue to come in.
While a good number of the responses that I have received
regarding this campaign are positive, I will say that
I have received many threats against my life for "bringing
harm to a man of God." And if the email wasn't
a threat against my life I was blasted for speaking
badly about men of God, not notifying the pastors
ahead of time and put on notice that I was going to
be on a direct path to hell, as opposed to a more
scenic view.
Do I have remind you that anyone can claim to be
a man of God? Jim Jones said he was a man of God and
because of him 913 people, many of whom were Black
are dead. President Bush claims he is a man of God
and was called upon by God to lead this country and
look at where we are today. Reverend Craig Ward of
the Brookins African Methodist Episcopal Church considers
himself to be a man of God, but he was still arrested
in Oakland for trying to negotiate a 20-dollar oral
sex act.
So you see, claiming that you are a man or woman
of God does not automatically elevate you to sainthood,
at least not in my book.
The other issue that people took offense to was not
notifying the pastors ahead of time that they were
going to be the subjects of a vicious attack.
Well, I don't recall a memo ever coming across my
desk saying that this Sunday's sermon was going to
condemn me and those like me to hell. But I am supposed
to send them advanced notice on what I plan to do.
Seems like a double standard to me.
Depending on what you believe, heaven and hell are
both up for interpretation as is religion period.
I find it hard to believe that someone who has never
been to hell and does not know for a fact who's in
hell, knows that I am going to hell. Until you can
send me a link to a Mapquest with clear directions
on how to get to Lucifer's lair, I reserve the right
to question your claim that I am going to hell, or
even heaven for that matter.
To date, the campaign never specifically "outed"
anyone as it pertains to his or her sexual orientation
and possible secret sex lives. However, we did expose
in depth the ties that certain Black pastors have
with the Bush Administration, which is equally dangerous
and harmful to Black communities.
In order to institute change, sometimes you have
to deviate from traditional methods. That was the
case with this campaign. We pushed the envelope and
brought the discussion of homophobia in the Black
church and President Bush's Faith Based Initiative
to mainstream Black America. Had we done just another
article about yet another Black preacher spewing hate
against gays, we probably wouldn't have garnered as
much attention as this single campaign did.
In the words of the great Malcolm X, "usually
when people are sad, they don't do anything. They
just cry over their condition. But when they get angry,
they bring about a change."
This campaign was a way to fight back and to challenge
the validity and authority of people using God and
religion as a way to oppress a group of people. It
sent a clear message that there are those of us in
the community, gay and non-gay that are tired of the
hypocrisy and double standards where it concerns same-gender
loving people and took this conversation out of the
Black gay community and introduced it to mainstream
Black America.
Personally, I feel that it is my right and my responsibility
to get up each and every day and fight oppression
in all of its many forms, government, big business,
and yes the church. I feel especially duty bound to
take up the issue of homophobic Black pastors so that
they can redeem themselves before it's too late and
go to heaven with me and everyone else,
including lesbian and gays that have earned a place
up there.
Our campaign may have been the first of its kind,
but it is a part of a much larger movement of oppressed
voices beginning to speak up for themselves. The days
of silence on these issues are long gone on the Black
community.