Gay Marriage and Black Church Folks Part 2

 When people go out on a first date, all of the advice columnists and dating gurus say the same thing: If you are in polite conversation, never talk politics, religion  or (unless it is only a booty call), sex. In a crazy way, it is almost like saying there should be a separation of church and state when being social.   In our government, it was one of the tenets of “our” founding fathers in forming this somewhat perfect Union. I put “our” in quotes, because during the formation of this great nation,  African-Americans were not really a part of the policy formation.  I am just trying to be historically accurate.    

Lately we all have been inundated with the media’s coverage of Black Churches and their stance on marriage equality, and their insistence on trying to influence government policy to prevent other citizens from gaining equal rights.  If the truth be told, I have become very tired of the back and forth conversation of whether the civil rights of the LGBT population and its movement are on par with those of African-Americans. I feel that battle will never end, and I think that this upcoming Presidential election is not the place nor the time to give into that sentiment. 

I recently read an article that talked about how the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) plans to divide Blacks and Latinos on the issue of marriage equality by using the churches.  This insidious plan is actually brilliant.  Why do I feel it is insidious?  I think that using one’s religion to influence potential governmental policy in a country that was founded on the principals of separation of those entities, all while getting a tax shelter is just shady.  As we continue to ask the average citizen to vote on issues like marriage equality, maybe we should start the petition to make churches pay taxes?  Someone told me that I was being too punitive, because this causes collateral damage to other religious groups that just want to worship.  However, every state that has passed a ban on marriage equality, forced the issue of common law marriages between a man and a woman to not be recognized, so I say quid pro quo.  Why do I think it is a brilliant plan?  It is brilliant because NOM figured out a way to not only get its agenda across the nation on the backs of citizens who are already society’s marginalized people, but they have also found a way to  create a riff with the two groups of people, who on the surface are a big supporters of the Democratic Party: Black folks and the LGBT population.

There are many black ministers who have had plenty to say on the issue of marriage equality. Sometimes, they go as far as channeling a Johnny Cochranesque  rhyming scheme  to make their point.  In any other instance, I could ignore them, however, it seems that NOM and its supporters have figured out one thing that has always been said about the Democratic Party.  The party has a history of sometimes taking its African-American and LGBT voters for granted, like a late night booty call.  They have in the past believed that no matter what they do, when they make that 2 a.m. call, we will pick up the phone. 

My parents were staunch Democrats.  I think that their political ideals were formed when they arrived in the United States in the early 60’s from Honduras.  They arrived during the John F. Kennedy years.  During those times, it seemed that the Democratic party was making an effort to be at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement.  Because their skin was dark, my parents were viewed as Black, and the fact that Spanish was their first language was truly secondary.  They saw the party doing what it thought was right and fair for Black people.  The Black church played a HUGE role during that period, so much in fact, that in many of the Black households of the time, next to the picture of Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr., there was a picture of JFK.  The messages from the pulpit in those times were based on mobilizing to be treated fairly, because we were human beings not being treated equally by the majority. 

As a gay member of the Black population, who grew up in the church, to watch the pulpit be used as a way to not treat people fairly, makes me sad.  Needless to say, my parents voted Democrat every year until their passing, and until I got more politically aware, I realized that many choices were automatically based on the Democratic Party ideology to which my parents introduced me.  I think that most African-Americans from my generation who call themselves Democrats may have started like me.  As time marched forward it is clear that the political ideology lines have crossed and now there are liberal minded/moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats. This translates into meaning that we all have to look at the bigger picture, and do our own research when it comes to placing a vote for ANY candidate.

Getting back to the brilliantly insidious plan, it seems that NOM sent their minions armed with money and the promise of upholding these entities and their biblical principles.   However, if one really looks at the many “biblical” laws in Leviticus and some of the other chapters, they will see that many have been ignored, forgotten, or just tossed to the side. This is because in the God-filled eyes of current decision makers, those laws are not applicable to THEIR modern needs, for example polyester, body tattoos and piercing, shellfish, and many other things including the “laws” regarding marriage as this diagram shows.  

-->So as the National Organization of Marriage uses the beliefs of the church to their advantage to impact policy and legislation, I hope that these voices from the pulpit remember that playing into NOM’s divisive hands will leave those preachers of the Word open for some other entity to do the same thing to them, and somehow I don’t think that a chicken sandwich will be their salvation.  While this impolite conversation of politics, religion, and sex continues, it is time for us in the LGBT population to take off our collective earrings, take off that wig, slather some Vaseline on our faces, and get ready to rumble. 

Keep Laughing. Stay Fabulous.