Gods, Gays, and Guns: Religion and the Future of Democracy by Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou

Author:Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: politics;political science;spiritual formation;democracy
Publisher: Chalice Press
Published: 2018-02-05T16:13:56+00:00

Who’s Going to Direct the Choir?

Author’s note:

Some 15 years ago, I wrote this essay in an attempt to push back against the growing and increasing vocal homophobia in the Black Church. It has been edited to suit this moment. Since that time, I have deepened my theological and political commitment to queer folks. To this end, I have refused to serve churches that do not allow women or gay folks in their pulpits or ministries. There is a strong possibility that my credentials in Church of God in Christ will be challenged and taken. And that is okay. I don’t want to belong to a church that dishonors the gospel of Jesus—simply taken—love.

Homophobia and the Black Church

Years ago, the late E. Lynn Harris, author of Invisible Life, was asked about being gay and Christian. During his book signing at Washington University, he responded with deep conviction, “I see no contradiction between my sexual orientation and my faith.” E. Lynn Harris’s proclamation speaks to the ongoing struggle in the lives of gay brothers and sisters as they attempt to reconcile their sexuality and spirituality. Many Christians who are very vocal in their opposition to gay and lesbian lifestyles create barriers that make this journey for inner peace quite arduous. Contempt often drips from their lips as they describe homosexuality as an abomination. When I hear such comments, I always wonder if they know that, in the book of Leviticus, the Bible also calls eating shrimp an abomination.

As a straight black preacher, I have had to come to grips with my own homophobia. One day I received an energetic call from my girlfriend at the time: “Hey baby, James and Alfred invited us to meet them at ‘The Club.’ Do you wanna go?” I hesitated. My sense of trepidation was not mediated by the fact that I am a licensed minister who would seriously be looked down upon by many church folk for going to a “den-of-sin-club.”

As a matter of fact, I could not have cared less about what church folk thought or think of me, because heaven and hell are God’s questions, so God is the only one who can answer them. It was my homophobia. You see, James and Alfred are gay brothers who have come to be good friends of ours, and “The Club” is an African American gay space. First and foremost, I did not want the brothers at The Club to think I was “like them.”

In a matter of seconds, my brain was flooded by all the sermons I had heard demonizing gay and lesbian lifestyles. Nonetheless, I decided that I loved James and Alfred more than the preachers who preached those sermons, and I went. The Club is precariously nestled in an unassuming building amidst a ghetto, a warehouse district, and an affluent neighborhood. As we opened the door, my heart sank deep into the abyss of religious homophobia.

Again, I heard Muslim and Christian ministers blaming gay folk for the problems within the black family. There

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