The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is the largest African American and largest Pentecostal church in the United States.
And as the largest denominational black church in the country it is also the loudest in rebuking homosexuality.
With many of the gospel music industry mega-stars from COGIC, the church's charismatic worship style shouts to a black gay male queer gospel aesthetic every Sunday. And the church is conflicted with itself.
Unfortuantely, these black gay male mega-stars are always forced to go back into the closet denouncing publicly their sexual orientation at the church's annual convocation.
Case in point: Speaking at the COGIC's 102nd Holy Convocation International Youth Department Worship Service on November 7 held at the Memphis Cook Convention Center, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, the poster boy for African American ex-gay ministries, was one of them.
"God did not call you to such perversions. Your only hope is Jesus Christ. Were it not for this Jesus I would be a homosexual today. This God is a deliverer," McClurkin told his audience.
McClurkin attributed his homosexuality to being raped twice as a child, first at age eight at his brother's funeral by his uncle, and then at age thirteen by his cousin, his uncle's son.
Confusing same-gender sexual violence as homosexuality, McClurkin misinterpreted the molestation as the reason for his gay sexual orientation. McClurkin "testi-lies" that his cure was done by a deliverance from God and a restoration of his manhood by becoming the biological father of a child.
We are talking about five students who are living a gay lifestyle that is leading them to dress a way we do not expect in Morehouse men." -- Dr. William Bynum, vice president for Student Services
When sweeping statements like this are made, it makes you want to ask Bynum if he knows if there's a difference between gay/trans/cross-dressing, since it's pretty apparent from the ignorant statement that he probably doesn't. (CNN):
An all-male college in Atlanta, Georgia, has banned the wearing of women's clothes, makeup, high heels and purses as part of a new crackdown on what the institution calls inappropriate attire. No dress-wearing is part of a larger dress code launched this week that Morehouse College is calling its "Appropriate Attire Policy."
The policy also bans wearing hats in buildings, pajamas in public, do-rags, sagging pants, sunglasses in class and walking barefoot on campus.
Senior Devon Watson said he disagrees with parts of the new policy, especially those that tell students what they should wear in free time outside of the classroom.
"I feel that there will be a lot of resentment and backlash," Watson said. "It infringes on the student's freedom of expression. I matriculated successfully for three-and-half years dressing so how is this a problem?"
It's one thing to ban droopy drawers and dressing in pajama bottoms on campus because it looks unprofessional, but when you cross into the territory of a blanket statement about gender expression, it's discriminatory. What if a male student shows up for class dressed in a sharp tailored woman's business suit, appropriate footwear, etc? to Bynum, that's equivalent to dressing up like Carmen Miranda with a basket of fruit on her head.
According to the CNN article, Bynum met with the campus gay organization, Morehouse Safe Space, which voted on the policy and overwhelmingly supported it, 27-3. MSS says on its Twitter page that "We are the ONLY LGBT Organization @ Morehouse College. We strive to find an alliance amongst Gay & Straight Students in the AUC." I think it's a safe assumption to say the "T" is there as lip service based on that vote. Given how there's already a lack of affirmation for LGB at many HBCUs, the trans issue is simply not enough on the radar to put up a fight, and that's sad.
An another article (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Bynum gives additional reasoning for the no-dresses policy that are also revealing and relevant to note.
"This is necessary, this is needed according to the students," he said. "We know the challenges that young African-American men face. We know that how a student dresses has nothing to do with what is in their head, but first impressions mean everything."
It shows you how black (and other POC) trans folk are double damned in their communities -- they are the living hurdle to cultural acceptance and thus are vilified in policies like this.
***
The article also notes that at Hampton University that would enrage me -- students with braids or dreadlocks are encouraged to cut their hair. Again, locs are becoming more acceptable in the workplace, HBCUs are concerned that aside from an afro (I assume it would only find a short one acceptable), that locs and braids even a well groomed styles, are an impediment to employment when one is already dealing with racial discrimination. It's not fair, but I'd have to say, in some parts of the country and some professions, this crap is still true. You have to land the job first, and then see if you can "go natural."
The Morehouse Dress Code Policy is below the fold.
I knew the shoe would eventually drop on this, given it is election time for the Durham city council, which voted unanimously for a nonbinding resolution to extend civil-marriage rights to same-sex couples. In the Durham Herald-Sun, columnist John McCann goes on a diatribe in support of a local minister who is, well, using the tired bible beating reasons to bounce council members by questioning their faith for voting for the resolution.
Coming to a pulpit near you -- maybe today; the primary election is Tuesday -- pandering politicians, according to Donald Q. Fozard, who shepherds the flock over there at Mount Zion Christian Church.
And if you church folks sit back in your pews and let those City Council candidates get up there and flap their gums and smile real big without checking them on their views about same-sex marriage, then you need to question your Christianity, the pastor put forth.
Back in August, the City Council voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution to extend civil-marriage rights to same-sex couples. The passage prompted a standing ovation at City Hall.
"The city councilmen are just playing political correctness to the gay community," Fozard said.
Well, let's be accurate. It technically wasn't just the men on the City Council who voted for the resolution. The women y'all elected were in on it, too. The vote was unanimous. That means all of 'em approved of the measure.
"From Bill Bell all the way down to Howard Clement," Fozard said. "The people who believe in God should turn them out of office."
From this past Sunday's sermon, one would think the Rev. Donald Q. Fozard Sr. likes saying the word faggot. The pastor of Durham's Mount Zion Christian Church hollers the word's last syllable as if he were exorcising a demon, or as if he were a movie star who understands that notoriety rises when you do something incendiary.
"Faggots across the nation, heading churches. Homos on the pianos. Faggots in the choir. What kind of spirit is leading that church?" he asked his 150 worshippers.
The 26-year veteran of Mount Zion, who is known in Durham for preaching through a loud speaker mounted on a white van, has a boxer's build, bloodshot eyes and wears a white smock adorned with 13 gold buttons. He speaks in an intimidating tone, which is amplified by a microphone and echo machine.
...Then Fozard continued with his own spectacular show. "And now? Men with men, women with women? Let me remind you of Sodom and Gomorrah. That sin will bring fire from heaven. I tell the homosexual man: repent, turn and get a woman. I tell the woman who wants to get married: get yourself a man."
(If Fozard stresses the last syllable of "faggot," he sounds out each vowel and consonant of "homosexual".) "The Reverend Al Sharpton says it doesn't matter who you sleep with?" he said. "I'll tell you one thing: the Reverend ain't no Reverend. All of them are running around saying it doesn't matter who you sleep with! They want that little 1 percent of faggots that go to vote."
Nice to see McCann endorsing the views of someone so, um, well, rational.
Really, I'm glad all of this nonsense surfaced, if only to prove that that the message I delivered in my NC Pride keynote address was sorely needed here -- we have to challenge the use of religion to hinder progress on civil equality, particularly when these homobigoted pastors in the community try to lay claim to the believe that there is only one view on LGBT rights in the faith community -- their own.
The homophobia in the black church has to be called out, particularly by those in religious communities that are open and affirming. We need more of this. Many, many of areas LGBT-supportive showed up at Pride, marching in the parade and with booths on display. Their interpretation of the bible clearly doesn't match Fozard's or McCanns -- nor should it have to. It's precisely why we have separation of church and state. Religious beliefs have no place in civil law.
A case here has captured the attention of local media and has exposed the pathological world of the closet, and the hypocrisy and jealousy of an anti-gay pastor who allegedly took the life of an North Carolina Central University student Latrese Curtis, who was "in the way" between him and his roommate, who was the object of the Pentacostal minister's sexual obsession. (WRAL):
Robert Lee Adams Reaves is charged with first-degree murder in the January 2008 stabbing death of Latrese Matral Curtis, 21. rivers discovered her body the morning of Jan. 30, 2008, along Interstate 540 near Louisburg Road. She was stabbed nearly 40 times in the head, neck, chest and stomach. See the autopsy report.
Prosecutors have said in previous court hearings that Reaves killed Curtis in a jealous rage because she was having a sexual relationship with his roommate, Steven Randolph, who had rebuffed Reaves' advances.
"Bishop" Robert Reaves of Cedar International Fellowship in Durham has had a checkered past that would have raised some red flags in his congregation.
Reaves, Wake County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Lindow said in opening statements, has a long history of trying to mentor young men and make sexual advances toward them.
"Steven was not the first person Reaves made sexual advances on," she said. "The same pattern about approaching young men started years earlier and ended with the death of what he viewed as an obstacle to that - Latrese Curtis."
Yes, Reaves must have been preaching anti-gay bigotry even as he engaged in illegal activities that include criminal sexual conduct in Marlboro County, S.C. He was convicted of third-degree sex charges on Jan. 1, 1988. He was also charged with simple assault and battery in 1982 in South Carolina.
Testimony has begun in the trial, and Steven Randolph, who is a former N.C. Central University basketball player took the stand and said that he engaged in a sexual relationship with Curtis, who was separated from her husband, and when Reaves found out about this, it made him fly into a rage, allegedly leading to the brutal slaying of Ms. Curtis.
Hours after Randolph had his first sexual encounter with Curtis, Reaves asked him about his sexual habits and preferences and raised the possibility of his working for an escort service, according to testimony..."He asked me if I was a freak, as far as sexually," Randolph testified Thursday.
Randolph testified that in the fall of 2007 he did not immediately recognize the pastor's proposals as sexual advances toward him. But Randolph said once he realized Reaves' intentions, he told the pastor he was not homosexual or bisexual.
That encounter made Randolph so uneasy, he testified, that he not only left the house immediately to seek refuge with friends, he also got a gun from his cousin to keep in his bedroom.
Randolph told of an unusual string of events in the ensuing months: His girlfriend received phone calls from unidentified young men, threatening to end Randolph's aspirations of becoming a professional basketball player; his tires were slashed; and weeks later his girlfriend's tires were slashed outside her home.
In even more sordid detail, Randolph also testified that Reaves, during one of the propositions for sex, told the basketball player that he could live rent-free in the house if Reaves could perform oral sex on him.
Again, here we see a pious man of the cloth, unable to reconcile his tortured worlds of religious indoctrination and his homosexuality, turns into an alleged deviant predator -- and murderer.
"It would have been the very back passenger seat," Deputy Alfred Sternberg said. "If you go behind that, there's a rail for where that seat is, and that's where it was."
Frequent guest writer Rev. Irene Monroe has a timely essay on black LGBTs tying the knot and how the level of acceptance and support that is making it possible for couples to come out and celebrate their unions openly, even with the flack of conservative churches to contend with. -- Pam
Black queers are tying the knot by Rev. Irene Monroe
More and more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people of African descent are marrying.
An idea that was once thought of as an anathema to black queer identity, marriage, in our LGBTQ communities, is being celebrated and on the rise. And many of us are now proudly walking down the aisle to tie the knot.
"Is it no longer a white thing?" Jeff Nelson, a white gay resident of Cambridge asked me as I was dashing off to perform the nuptials of two lesbians of color -- Gigi DeRosa and Fulani Butler of Roxbury -- on September 20.
With black local pastors in Greater Boston and beyond still ranting and raving that their reasons for opposing same-sex marriage are prophylactic to combat the epidemic level of fatherlessness in black communities nationwide, and to stem the demise of the nuclear black family, what makes us still forge forward with this act?
And with many of our family members not in attendance at our nuptials, for reasons ranging from shame to religious indoctrination, what message are LGBTQ Americans of African descent hearing now about same-sex marriage that we didn't hear before?
Right: Fulani Bulter in tux and Gigi DeRosa in gown.
The reason for the shift comes both nationally and locally.
On the national front, civil rights leaders of the 60's such as the late Coretta Scott King, Representative John Lewis, NAACP Chair Julian Bond, and Reverend Al Sharpton publicly offer their support for same-sex marriage. As a matter-of-fact, John Lewis filed a friend-of-the court brief in the Massachusetts case that led to our state becoming the first in the country to legalize marriage equality. And, during a June 12, 2007 Capitol Hill ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down anti-miscegenation laws -- that was sponsored by several straight and queer civil rights organizations across the country -- the Legal Defense & Educational Fund of the NAACP released a historic statement in support of marriage equality explaining why the struggle for same-sex marriage is indeed a civil rights struggle:
"It is undeniable that the experience of African Americans differs in many important ways from that of gay men and lesbians; among other things, the legacy of slavery and segregation is profound. But differences in historical experiences should not preclude the application of constitutional provisions to gay men and lesbians who are denied the right to marry the person of their choice."
As someone who works in IT, it blows my mind that people still send dumb*ss offensive emails that surely will get them into trouble. And double down bonus dunce points for Morehouse College administrative assistant Sandra Bradley for thinking the email would remain within her circle of homophobic girlfriends. (Southern Voice):
Morehouse College President Robert Franklin is promising to take "prompt and appropriate action" after two members of his staff forwarded an email of a stylish gay wedding ceremony and one made anti-gay comments.
The email, sent to Southern Voice after making the rounds through Fulton County government, included the following lines from Sandra Bradley, an administrative assistant who works in Franklin's office. The email includes more than a dozen pictures that show a lavish wedding ceremony between two unidentified black gay men earlier this month.
"I can't believe this wedding. It's 2 men. They don't smile in a lot of pictures and they look like a few brothers I've seen in the streets looking STRAGHT. Black women can't get a break, either our men want another man, a white woman (or other nationality that's light with straight hair), they are locked up in jail or have a "use to be" fatal disease. I'm beginning to believe Eve was a black woman and we Black women are paying for all the world's sins through her actions (eating the apple)," Bradley wrote.
Bradley appears to have received the email from a coworker at Morehouse, both of whom used their work email addresses.
The two men in the photos, Michael Cole Smith and Jamil Smith Cole, posted the pictures on Facebook and the images were downloaded and added to the chain mail.
***
While this is obviously a story about homophobia, it's also an illustration of the level of desperation out there of a slice of black women who are weary of the lack of available "marriage-worthy" black men. It doesn't mitigate the above incident, but it does give an opening for discussion of the latter issue, which was covered by NPR earlier this week -- "Black Women: Successful And Still Unmarried." It notes that if you are a black woman with an advanced degree, statistically the odds are that you've never married.
New research from Yale University suggests that highly educated black women are twice as likely to have never been married by the age of 45 as white women with similar education.
Hannah Bruckner, who leads the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course at Yale University, says the disparity can be partly explained by a difference in dating preferences between some black men and women.
"Black men are more likely to marry outside of their race, and black women are more likely to marry outside of their education," she says.
Bruckner says that is compounded by tough competition for a smaller pool of highly educated black men.
So many of these women, if they do marry, may marry a blue collar man, but for others, like Sandra Bradley, they hold onto their anger with a level of toxicity that is directed at all of the real and perceived obstacles for black women re:obtaining a wedding ring.
One may wonder why these successful women just don't expand her conceptual dating pool? There are reasons for that as well, according to the article.
Niambi Carter, 31, has a Ph.D. and is an assistant professor of political science at Purdue University, admits that she has been hard-pressed to find a black mate with a similar level of education.
But she says it may be just as hard to find an interested man who is not black.
"Black women are not seen as marriageable by those outside of their race," she says. "We are not seen as adding status."
Ah, there's the rub. Even with an advanced degree and polish, many black women do believe the deck is even stacked against them if the expand their color horizons.
The women interviewed also mention something that rings true for me as a woman of color -- that for many of us (regardless of sexual orientation), we have been raised with a sense of obligation to pursue excellence to overcome the racial and economic barriers faced by our predecessors. That all-consuming pursuit for some comes at the expense of cultivating relationships -- particularly if one has to work through school rather enjoy the freedom of undergraduate college life for those who have more time (and fewer personal obligations) to do so.
It's a quandry to say you can be happy single when all the social and media signals are blasting heterosexual images of marriage. It's probably as irritating as being gay and having to endure the endless imagery as well. But you see how this despondency turns pathological and hateful.
Ms. Bradley needs to take a look in the mirror and re-evaluate the negative, ignorant and hateful energy she typed into that email because it reflects such poor self-esteem; does she really think black women would be better off marrying some closeted SGL man who won't tell her about his same-sex encounters but will treat her with a nice big rock on her finger?
It's educational to feature a contrast between two people, both struggling with their sexual orientation and ending up with polar opposite results in their quests. The stories of exorcism victim "Jeffrey" and San Diego-based gospel singer Tonex are worlds apart in terms of self-acceptance. "Jeffrey to Tyra: "I'm healed"
Talk about unbalanced coverage about something that needs in-depth discussion. A few months ago there was a YouTuibe that made its way around the internets that showed a Connecticut teenager being put through a fundamentalist exorcism to rid him of "homosexual demons." In a "whatever happened to" moment, Tyra Banks featured the young man, who claims the Holy Spirit cast out that demon and that he is now an "ex-gay." (Rod 2.0):
"Jeffrey" tells Tyra: "I am healed by the power and authority of the Holy Spirit that came into me that day .. and removed the unclean spirit from me. Because I do not want to live the homosexual lifestyle. I have nothing against them if they want to live that way but they have a choice to serve ... the Lord."
The teen says that he has been struggling" with his "sexuality since [he] was five years old" and adds that in his teens he began to "cross-dress" and wear women's clothing. The teen also defends Patricia McKinney, the self-proclaimed "prophet" and pastor of Manifested Glory Ministries in Bridgeport, and explains the convulsions and vomiting seen on tape: "That is the unclean spirit moving ... out of our body. It tends to shake and move in ways that are not natural."
The boy appears unsure of himself and coached. He is also concealing his identity and wearing a "beard". (It probably won't be the last time, either.) Why did the parents allow the minor to appear on national television?
Good question. This is so sad. And the fact that there is no competent mental health professional to counter the "ex-gay" meme being spouted here is unconscionable.
It is, however, important to expose how fear of ostracism within one's faith community for minority gays is so powerful. It's common for many to go back into a padlocked closet than risk social rejection. After all, a black man is not a man, unless he is heterosexual and with a woman. The bible-beating goes on and on, so I'm not surprised at all by this young man's decision to say he's cured. Of course some may see this as "curing" works, but all I see is a sad case of a teen whose high-profile exorcism in an oppressive church left him with no other decision in his mind but to comply. But that's just my 2 cents.
Rod also reports that the teen, after the exorcism, went to a LGBT-affirming church, but then returned under the thumb of Manifest Glory, the family's church. They were pleased with the results of the exorcism. This is so sick.
***
In the world of black gospel, you won't find any closet doors kicking open, but you know the genre is full of talented brothers and sisters who are padlocked in tight professionally. One did make the decision to come out strongly in support of his own identity and for LGBT rights. Tonex sat down with Darian Aaron of Darian Out Loud to tell his story.
Gospel Artist Tonex Opens Up About Sexuality
Stellar Award winner and Grammy nominated gospel recording artist Tonex has dealt with rumors regarding his sexuality for almost his entire career. The son of the late Rev. Dr. Anthony Williams and a minister himself, the accusations of homosexuality have been an enormous threat to his livelihood, ministry, and future as a respected leader in the black faith community in his native San Diego, California.
In 2007 with the release of The Naked Truth and the infamous YouTube video (that has since been pulled) where Tonex's use of profanity and secular posturing shocked gospel music fans; it seemed inside this talented singer was a ticking time bomb ready to explode. In that video Tonex emphatically denied being gay, but that was two years ago.
In a recent interview with The Lexi Show produced by The Word Network, Tonex' boldly opens the closet door in a way that I could never imagine anyone else in the gospel music industry having the courage to do. As a childhood victim of molestation, Tonex' refuses to blame his same-sex attraction on this experience like many of his colleagues who "struggle" with homosexuality (i.e. Donnie McClurkin) and corrects the interviewer when she attempts to frame the discussion in this way.
"It wasn't a struggle. And then people like to blame the struggle on molestation. No. Just say you were attracted to men and be honest and quit blaming it on that experience", says Tonex'.
On homophobia in the black church: "The church has completely faggotized everybody who's gay, sends them to hell over the pulpit and the church literally screams hooray and are happy about that. And yet, we celebrate the pastor who has a clean record and a clean look, but yet he is still doing the same thing that the same gender loving people are doing. I believe that there's holy ghost- filled fire baptized gay people."
Darian's exclusive interview with Tonex is below the fold.
Editor's note - I changed the title of this piece to further convey the depressive funk I've been under since the situation I am talking about in this post caught my attention. I know I am wandering into dangerous territory with the headline and the subject in general. I would sincerely hope those responding here and other places that this post may appear not take the easy road to offer polarized opinions. I hope I haven't.
I went to bed depressed Tuesday night and when I rose from my troubled sleep to post on my blog, my depression hadn't abated.
It got to the point where I was considering not posting anymore. I'm still halfway considering that option.
My mental malaise started when I was looking at anti-gay Stand for Marriage site emanating from Washington, D.C.
Over at Essence.com there is a frank piece about adultery in the church by Dr. Betty Price, the wife of televangelist Dr. Freddy Price, Jr. of the Ever Increasing Faith Ministry. He's from the "prosperity gospel" approach to Christianity.
Apparently the rampant fornication by the men up in the pulpit (with the wives looking the other way), has reached the boiling point for Price, who started receiving letters from women who were engaged in affairs with pastors. A common thread -- access to money, and coercion by the pastor using biblical bullsh*t. Her book is sure to rock more than a few boats in a faith community rife with denial and hypocrisy.
The first letter was from an older, mature woman. She'd just bought a luxury condo but lost her government job after 25 years of service. Her self-esteem was very low. She didn't know what to do because she was financially strapped. And, she was older and didn't think she would be able to find another job in this economy. She reached out to her bishop for counseling. They began an affair. It's been going on for three years. The second woman was from a different church. She works on a committee in which she interacts with her pastor daily. They began spending long hours together. Then the affair began. Now, she is desperately trying to get out but doesn't know how.
Both of these women said they know what they are doing is wrong but expressed they don't have the strength to leave. Both ministers have threatened and coerced these women. They told them, "If they stop the affair then they would be dishonoring God." However, both women expressed they were benefitting financially in the relationships. They were stuck. Unsure of what to do.
Do you even have a second thought that these same women probably condemn LGBTs, even as they engage in this behavior? Price recounts her own brush with her husband's "itch", and this is another reason she has written the book 'Warning to Ministers, Their Wives and Their Mistresses'.
It bothers me to know many ministers have mistresses sitting right up in the church. Their wives and children are subjected to public humiliation. Some ministers even have children with their mistresses and leave their wives. I've talked to a lot of women and they say that in all the churches they've attended the ministers have been unfaithful and run around. I personally know so many that it's scary. These women know what they are doing. Don't be fooled. I wrote my book because I want to expose these types of men, and women, who do this.
This piece, with new and reworked related posts, ran in Salon. --Pam
“At the Intersection: Race, Sexuality, and Gender,” a comprehensive report released this week by the The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, is an excellent look at some the third rails of cultural discussion that usually results in most conversations falling into silence for fear of conflict, offending someone, or having to realize one's own biases in front of others.'
One cannot develop cultural competency if the conversation is encouraged, but not taken in by those who need to listen and absorb the information to break down barriers. We saw the schism in the last election.
The November 2008 passage of Proposition 8 in California clearly showed what could happen when a group listens solely so it can repress others. Research has revealed that organizing efforts by religious and conservative forces were extensive, proactive and heavily funded. Such an observation is important because it also reveals that progressive – or in this case, LGBT-specific – organizing efforts were less effective at listening, canvassing, targeting and activating Californians in the same ways that conservative forces were. This ineffectiveness was a result of many significant forces, some of which included lack of access to populations historically left out of debates, basic information about these populations, and the resources – including cultural competency needed – to effectively reach the targeted populations.
* Nearly all LGBT people of color say protections from violence and workplace discrimination are important; issues strong majorities of all Americans support in opinion polls. Violence and discrimination are also the most salient issues that connect three critical groups — non-LGBT people, communities of color and white LGBT communities. * Religious attitudes are a major source of sexual prejudice. For LGBT people of color, many of whom are regular churchgoers, the conflict is acute. More than half of LGBT people of color interviewed feel treated like sinners by their ethnic and racial communities, and faith communities are among the places LGBT people of color feel least accepted;
* LGBT people of color view the world first from the point of view of race and gender. Most feel there is as much racism and sexism among LGBT people as there is among non-LGBT people, and racially motivated violence and discrimination are more prevalent than violence or prejudice based on sexual orientation;
* LGBT people of color are serious media consumers, but they do not find enough information or see accurate media representations of themselves;
“This report is a catalyst for the continuing conversations we all know are necessary to turn the reality of our diversity into inclusion of every member of the LGBT community,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “There are no simple ‘answers’ to the challenge of inclusion but creating a space where diverse voices can be a part of a dialogue presents opportunities for us to grow as a movement.”
The findings are no surprise to me and are not probably a surprise to others, but where there is little agreement is the matter of who is responsible for effecting change (does this fall solely on the shoulders of out LGBTs of color, something tossed out there quite frequently when I raise the issue) and what are the methods of bridge building that need to be implemented. Take the quandry of the conservative black church, for instance.
Already fearful of losing connections, friendship and emotional shelter provided by their faith community if they come out, black gays and lesbians in the church now know that the homophobes in the pews and choirs, along with the bigoted pastors spewing hate from the pulpit, feel empowered to destroy those ties because of their own fear and ignorance. It makes you want to weep.
One of Washington's largest black Baptist churches was upended several months ago by a female member of its choir who e-mailed messages to anti-gay Bishop Alfred Owens Jr. of the DC-based Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church outing more than 100 church members as gay, mostly male choir members, saying "I will be leaving the choir at the top of the year because 80 percent of the tenors are homosexuals and act more like a female in choir rehearsal than I do." That's so raw that you don't even know where to begin.
NOTE FROM PAM: Journalist Karen Ocamb makes some spot-on observations in this piece. I will have a post in the same vein up later. For as long as I have been covering the post-Prop 8 rallies, town halls, and strategy meetings, I have never seen the high-octane grassroots activists sit still and hush up for anyone as they did for former Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand on Sunday. This is what complete respect looks like.
Hildebrand was brought to Los Angeles by Courage Campaign Founder Rick Jacobs for the Next Steps Meeting during which activists discussed ballot language for an initiative to repeal Prop 8 and how to proceed - whether they wind up going back to the ballot in 2010 or 2012.
But the meeting was not all sweetness and light and healing of the fractured and hurt LGBT community. Jeffrey King, director of In The Meantime, a health and awareness group for black gay men and one of the few people of color in the room, challenged Hildebrand and the marriage activists about their approach to the black community. Be careful about comparing the struggle for marriage equality to the historic movement for civil rights, he said, because many people in the African American community see that as a sign of disrespect.
Hildebrand made clear his fondness for and attraction to African American men, gay and straight, saying he meant no offense. But he also made clear that marriage equality IS a civil rights issue - though as a white man - and as marriage advocates - he and the group needed Jeffrey's help in reaching out to the black community on the issue.
The issue seemed settled as Hildebrand moved on to take other questions - he later sought out Jeffrey for a personal one-on-one conversation.
Whether we go back to the ballot in 2010 or 2012 will likely be answered in the next few days. Equality California is announcing their recommendation Wednesday and the Courage Campaign has set a financial benchmark of $200,000 by Thursday (money to do the necessary research on ballot language - the ballot is due to the attorney general's office by Sept. 25). If they fail to meet that amount by then, Jacobs says it means they will have to wait until 2012 to return to the ballot.
But there are deeper issues at stake here, one of which is this: no one has seriously addressed cultural competency in relation to the intensely complicated issue of marriage. Actually, political consultant Richie Ross, who received his training from United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez, did discuss the impact of culture on Latino voters at the big meeting in San Bernardino - but no one really followed up.
Let me put it this way: if you heard an elected or community leader say something you perceived to be homophobic - even if they followed up with an apology - wouldn't you always have that slight in the back of your mind when you heard that person's name?
So how do you imagine straight (and some LGBT) African Americans might feel if you even mentioned "gay marriage" after weeks of having blamed the whole race for passing Prop 8? The very few largely unpublicized utterances of apology - or perhaps more accurately, "mistakes were made" - by some LGBT leaders is not sufficient to sooth the hurt that caused.
And then there are the nuanced slights that escape notice by many whites but are tossed in the ever-expanding pile of reasons to distrust white gays.
In a piece by the WaPo's Darryl Fears, A Sanctuary From Hate, you get a good look at the specific struggle that black LGBTs face in the religious black community and by the white gay sphere. The article profiles Bishop Rainey Cheeks of Inner Light Ministries in the Washington D.C.'s H Street area.
For 16 years, it has served as a sanctuary for a small community of black gays and lesbians who say they feel shunned from all directions -- by black men and women who give them cutting looks of disapproval, by mainstream black ministers who condemn homosexuality, and by white gays who make them feel unwelcome in subtle ways, such as switching from hip-hop to country music in a club when too many black men hit the dance floor.
At Inner Light, members say they can be themselves. In the pews on a recent Sunday, a woman adoringly placed an arm around the shoulders of her girlfriend. A man with a linebacker's strong build sat near the front wearing mascara. And condoms sat in a basket near the door in case any worshipers wanted to grab some on their way out.
About two thirds of the people in Inner Light's pews are gay or lesbian, and some, but not all, are in the closet when they return to their homes. Rev. Cheeks preaches safe sex and by speaking frankly and providing those condoms, it underscores the tragic explosion of HIV/AIDS in the black community in DC.
Nearly 60 percent of men in the city who contracted HIV through sex with men are black, according to a D.C. government survey released in March. Every minister and deacon at Inner Light Ministries has had a close encounter with the disease. Four of them are HIV-positive, including deacon Ronnie Walker, 54, who said that 20 years ago he had unprotected sex with a partner who never mentioned that he was sick and dying.
Cheeks, 57, contracted HIV in the early '80s, when few people knew much about the strange new infection that was sending so many gay men to their graves. Much to the bishop's chagrin, HIV continues to ravage his city almost three decades later.
The article speaks frankly to the attitude of denial, damnation and self-loathing that leads to unsafe-sex and the epidemic in the community. The story of Ronnie Walker, who is HIV-positive, and cheated repeatedly on his wife over the course of seven years of marriage, beginning on the night of his honeymoonwhen he slipped out to have sex with his best man.
There were rumblings on several blogs, Twitter and Facebook about this sad news earlier today, but it has been confirmed that E. Lynn Harris has died of a heart attack at the age of 54. A visiting professor at the University of Arkansas, Harris spun tales of black and gay life on the printed page and it made him a rare bird in a world, sadly, where the closet is still the rule for many gay black men. Publisher's Weekly named Harris "the best selling African American male novelist of the 1990s."
His first novel, 1994's "Invisible Life," told the story of a law student torn between feelings for his girlfriend and another man. "It's difficult for a lot of Black men to be honest about [their sexuality]," Harris said in an interview.
More books, many about black men struggling with their sexuality, followed, including "Just as I Am," "This Too Shall Pass," and, his most recent, "Basketball Jones." Harris also wrote a memoir, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted." According to his Random House biography, Harris was named one of Out Magazine's "Out 100," Ebony Magazine's "Most Intriguing Blacks" and one of New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101."
News of Harris' death spread virally after a post at ArkansasSports360.com reported the news. Harris was a graduate of University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the school's first black male cheerleader, and was also a visiting English professor.
The news broke this morning across Twitter, the uber-popular instant message social networking platform. Patrik Ian Polk, the director and creator of Noah's Arc, was supposed to meet Harris this afternoon for lunch and Tweets the details to Rod 2.0: "I called his hotel in Beverly Hills, to confirm lunch and hopefully laugh about the erroneous reports of his death. When the operator transferred me to a hotel manager, I knew something strange was up. This is unbelievable."
This is so sad. Dr. King and Coretta Scott King are rolling in their graves over the way some of the members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization the slain civil rights leader founded, are treating the Rev. Eric Lee, the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the org.
Lee stood up against many of his fellow members and opposed Proposition 8 in support of marriage equality. Now his status as a straight ally has put his head on the chopping block for the small-minded, narrow-thinking people around him at SCLC. (NYT):
Mr. Lee said that his opposition to Proposition 8 had "created tension in my life I had never experienced with black clergy."
"But it was clear to me," he added, "that any time you deny one group of people the same right that other groups have, that is a clear violation of civil rights and I have to speak up on that."
In April, Mr. Lee attended a board meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Kansas City, Mo., and found himself once again in the minority position among his colleagues on the issue of same-sex marriage, but he was told, he said, by the group's interim president, Byron Clay, that the organization publicly had a neutral position on the issue.
A month after that he was told to come to Atlanta to meet with the National Board of Directors. When Lee said he could not come on short notice he was sent two letters from attorneys for SCLC that he faced suspension or firing if he didn't "explain himself."
The thing is, since the chapters are autonomous (Lee was elected by a local board), it's a question whether the national board can do a damn thing other than look like top-down homophobic bullies. Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, who is chairman of the local board has contacted the national board to clarify if any SCLC regulations have been violated -- there has been no response.
Mr. Lee, the former pastor of In His Steps, an African-American Wesleyan church in Los Angeles that he described as "very conservative," said he saw failures both in the leadership of the conference ("Dr. King would be turning over in his grave right now," he said) and the largely white anti-Proposition 8 movement that did not more actively seek the support of church-going African-Americans.
"The black church played a significant role in Proposition 8 passing," Mr. Lee said. "The failure of the campaign was to presume that African-Americans would see this as a civil rights issue."
And he's right. Anti-Prop 8 forces readily admit that outreach to the black community was poor or non-existent. The challenges of reaching the religious conservative black community (non-church attending blacks voted no different than the rest of the pop) are myriad. One approach that has been launched recently by Equality California and the Jordan/Rustin Coalition. This ad hits the mark, featuring, Xavier and Michael Boykin-Haggood, along with three of their five children, Dante, Emmanuel and Fatima, who live in LA's Leimert Park neighborhood.
A terribly disturbing video appeared on Youtube recently, apparently showing the members of the Manifested Glory Ministries of Connecticut subjecting a teenager to a psychologically devastating and physically violent ordeal in the name of exorcising his 'homosexual demons'. It amazes me that this sort of abuse can be justified by religious faith.
A huge WIN on marriage equality and it shows that fighting back on Prop 8 requires on-the-ground engagement and media visibility of not just lesbian and gay families, but ones of color. This ad features a gay black couple, Xavier and Michael Boykin-Haggood, along with three of their five children, Dante, Emmanuel and Fatima. The family lives in LA's Leimert Park neighborhood.
Michael (to the children): Has everyone said grace? Alright.
Xavier and Michael (nodding): We have five -- five children.
Xavier: You know Michael and I have been planning what our day was going to be like for eleven, twelve years. And now you tell me I can't get married? I'm free to love who I love.
Michael: At its core level it's just totally unfair to actually take away anyone's right[s]. And so I have no doubt that this will inevitably be turned back the right way.
As same-sex couples who were able to legally marry last year celebrate their one-year-anniversaries, Equality California (EQCA) and Jordan/Rustin Coalition (JRC) are together launching an education and mobilization campaign on the freedom to marry in LA's African-American communities. The effort includes a TV commercial, on-the-ground organizers as well as an office dedicated to the campaign, which will be based in South Los Angeles, a predominantly African-American community.
"Jordan/Rustin Coalition is happy to partner with Equality California as we do the work to open the hearts and minds of all Californians, including those in the Black community, on the question of marriage for same-sex couples," said Ron Buckmire, JRC board president. "Our partnership includes a multi-media campaign, outreach and public education and even the nuts and bolts of staffing and supplies. I am confident that together we will see the day when full LGBT equality is restored to our state."
"As we celebrate this one-year-anniversary of marriages in California, we are proud to be working with the Jordan/Rustin Coalition to have conversations with African-Americans about marriage for same-sex couples," said EQCA Marriage Director Marc Solomon. "As people really get to know our families, they will see they have the same hopes, dreams and concerns as any other family and simply want the protections and dignity that marriage affords."
The office is slated to open later this summer. JRC, EQCA, and a coalition of grassroots and community leaders rooted in South Los Angeles will work collaboratively to organize outreach events and lead door-to-door efforts to talk with African-American Californians.
A Blender named Beth did this video, "Gay Civil Rights Movement is Our Civil Rights Movement," and wanted me to share it with you. The provocative piece is worth your time.
Making this video has left me drained, speechless and sad. I am triracial: African American, Native American and various flavors of European American. Although we're triracial, my family and I primarily identify as African American. Mormonanswerman (a YouTube user) has claimed that African Americans do not like to have comparisons drawn between the GLBTQ civil rights movement and the African-American civil rights movement. Speaking as an African American, the comparison holds true. The history of discrimination may be be different, but the effects of hatred, bigotry and bias are the same.
My wife and I were appalled to read Pam Spaulding's account of the meeting of her group with the Black Caucus at the Legislature (DN April 8).
During the segregation era we (who are white) did civil rights work in various parts of the United States, including the South. The insulting and uncaring treatment the LGBT group received from Rep. Alma Adams shows a lazy disregard for her constituents. I'm willling to bet that neither Adams nor Rep. Parmon have suffered a moment of discrimination in their own lives. They are probably unaware of the statements from Julian Bond (do they even know who he is?) and other members of the NAACP.
For this my wife, my friends and I, both black and white, battled with police brutality, barbed wire and teargas? Meanwhile Adams and Parmon use any restroom, sit in any section of the movie house, ride in any part of the bus and drink from whatever water fountain they choose. Such outright hostility toward matters of social justice on the part of African-American legislators is disheartening.
Robert L. Hobbs, Durham
***
State needs to take stand
Five years before I was born, in my hometown of Greensboro, several men were put on trial for morality crimes.
There was an article in the Greensboro Record about the trial and the sentencing. Men were pressured to "out" others for additional, media sensational trials. It amounted to a witch hunt.
Some men were sentenced to hard labor for consensual homosexual activity. In my hometown, just five years before I was born! I was astonished and deeply saddened.
I wrote the governor of Iowa and mentioned those trials. I commended him and his state for taking a real stand for justice.
These stories must come to light.
I have followed Pam Spaulding's blog for a couple of years now. Please Pam, don't give up on North Carolina. We need well-spoken activists like yourself, who are willing and smart enough to keep these issues before the public.
I very much appreciate what you and Equality NC are doing for our community.
Dan Valdes, Atlanta
I honestly expected more feedback, but maybe I shouldn't have because of the third rail of race factor. That's part of the reason why many minority elected officials can get away with statements like "I'm a minister" to justify support of a marriage amendment. People are often afraid to call them out, because the fear of the race card, irrelevant in this matter, will be tossed out. And that's enabling.
The result is that minority LGBTs are often left twisting in the wind to take on the hypocrisy and ignorance alone. The problem is compounded by the fact that there are too many LGBTs of color in the closet and unwilling (or feel unable) to come out and challenge these misguided views, leaving a very small presence to "represent." And that only furthers the impression to these lawmakers that the LGBT movement is only white and male.
Some of you may not know a lot of hip-hop artists, but Xzibit is probably well-known because he hosts the hilarious "Pimp My Ride" (one of Kate's favorite shows -- the 2005 rehab of a rat-infested Pacer was her #1 show). Anyway, Xzibit was recently interviewed by Clay Cane, and had something to say about hip-hop and homophobia.
When all of that drama came out about Diddy and the gay club, you made a comment on your MySpace about homophobia and hip hop. Do you think homophobia is a big issue when it comes to hip hop?
It started as just common place; it was just part of the language. I think the overtones that it creates, is not what really exists. I don't think if you are gay and you go to a hip-hop club that you'll get beat up for being gay. That's not what is going to happen. I think words are the way that people express themselves-just like if you say bitch on a rap record for a long time you can rally thousands of women that will say that's incorrect. You can't focus on one single thing or bad aspect of what happens in hip hop and try to blanket it. That's not the root of the problem. It exists, I think it's how you portray it, and it's how you use it. You gotta paint with a broad brush when you talk about homophobia because it's a lot of things that exist in hip hop that aren't exactly right, but it's part of the landscape.
But, were you surprised at how people freaked out about what you said on the radio about going to a gay club with Diddy? No, people want to draw eyeballs to their sites-that's not even what I said. If you're going to quote me, at least quote what I said. But, it's more exciting to say, "He took me to a gay club." The problem I saw was, it's not they were trying to get headlines, but the fact that they were trying to say it's a negative thing-period-to be gay. You know what I'm saying? Off top! You can't really shoot people down because if we're going to start that we might as well start from square one and jump off the slave ship! [Laughs]
Hmmm. Drama, Diddy and the gay club? I must have missed that one...
Again, rendered invisible. It's hard to believe, given the explosion of HIV/AIDS in the black community, that the 10th annual State of the Black Union (SOTBU) symposium, held last Saturday and broadcast on C-SPAN from Los Angeles, had not a single guest on to discuss that topic -- or the controversy over Proposition 8 and homophobia the black vote, both real and perceived.
Journalist Karen Ocamb has a great piece over at Bilerico that's worth your click. A snippet:
Every year, Tavis' SOTBU is appointment television for me. I find it informative and incredibly inspirational. This year was no exception.
But every year - other than 2005 when AIDS activist Phill Wlison and politico Keith Boykin appeared during Tavis' "healthcare" summit in Atlanta - I come away disappointed that there are no openly LGBT African American participants. Notice I say "open" because there have been occasions when my "gaydar" went "boing!" - but truthfully, I'm not good at spotting closeted gays, especially among those who have "passed" as straight for so long.
Since the Feb. 28 SOTBU summit followed Barack Obama's historic election as the first African American president - ushering in the promise of progressive change - I figured Tavis would surely bend toward inclusion and include LGBTs among the representatives from Black America.
This year's theme was "Making America As Good As It's Promise" - something the LGBT community in California (and nationwide) have been fighting for well before Proposition 8 stripped same sex couples of their "fundamental" constitutional right to marry.
And there is no bigger constitutional case than the one before the California Supreme Court on whether to invalidate Prop 8. Many civil rights groups (including the 100-year old NAACP - Raymond C. Marshall argued for them before the high court) have filed amicus briefs supporting the challenge brought by gay rights groups on the premise that NO minority should have their fundamental rights put up to a vote and eliminated by a slim majority. What then becomes of the Equal Protection Clause of the US and California Constitutions? And - who's next?
And as I said above, it's beyond belief that HIV/AIDS is not on Smiley's radar. The Black AIDS Institute has been at the forefront of chronicling the disaster that is unfolding (in its report " "Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic") while Smiley is leaving his audiences in blissful ignorance...it's not our problem. How wrong he is.
Pastor Donnie McClurkin's Gay Church
Case in point: Speaking at the COGIC's 102nd Holy Convocation International Youth Department Worship Service on November 7 held at the Memphis Cook Convention Center, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, the poster boy for African American ex-gay ministries, was one of them.
Coming to a pulpit near you -- maybe today; the primary election is Tuesday -- pandering politicians, according to Donald Q. Fozard, who shepherds the flock over there at Mount Zion Christian Church.
From this past Sunday's sermon, one would think the Rev. Donald Q. Fozard Sr. likes saying the word faggot. The pastor of Durham's Mount Zion Christian Church hollers the word's last syllable as if he were exorcising a demon, or as if he were a movie star who understands that notoriety rises when you do something incendiary.
A case here has captured the attention of local media and has exposed the pathological world of the closet, and the hypocrisy and jealousy of an anti-gay pastor who allegedly took the life of an North Carolina Central University student Latrese Curtis, who was "in the way" between him and his roommate, who was the object of the Pentacostal minister's sexual obsession. (
"Jeffrey to Tyra: "I'm healed"
Gospel Artist Tonex Opens Up About Sexuality
Over at 
In a piece by the WaPo's Darryl Fears, 
There were rumblings on several blogs, Twitter and Facebook about this sad news earlier today, but it has been confirmed that 
This is so sad. Dr. King and Coretta Scott King are rolling in their graves over the way some of the members of the 
