Gays and the black church - show some honesty or at least some dignity

In light of what has happened regarding the son of Pastor T.D. Jakes, I think it may be time for the lid to be taken off of something.

Not that I am outing anyone but there is a paradox that must be addressed.

We have seen how the religious right plays the black and lgbt communities against one another. And sometimes their ally has been the black church.

Well to me, that is the height of irony because of one thing.

So many "mainstream" (i.e. white) lgbts say that they cannot find any gays and lesbians of color who will be open.

The reason is that many of them are in the church. Many of them are prominent in the black gospel music scene (Yes that includes BET and the Stellar Awards).

As an lgbt of color, I am privy to many things and I can honestly tell you that the main ones hooping and hollering in church and on the gospel records tend to do so for more than reasons of salvation.

A lot of it is guilt. But I really don't blame them as much as I blame the black community at large for its intentional inability to address the needs of lgbts of color.

So let me throw out a few suggestions:

Stop giving speeches about the evils of homosexuality when you know that you are on the dl or know of someone on the dl.

Stop making comments about not comparing blacks to gays when you are engaging in the same behavior that white racists did to African-Americans - i.e. the stigmatization of an entire group of people based on stereotypes and Biblical interpretations of God's words.

Stop puffing out your chests because you support endeavors to end AIDS/HIV when it isyour lack of support of lgbts of color that is the very thing which can lead to new cases of the disease.

What happened to T.D. Jakes's son may be the subject of juicy gossip amongst "upstanding church folks," but we all know that it is part of a larger problem - the intentional dehumanization of the lgbts of color in the black community.

When is the black community going to get off of its collective asses and work on solving it?

T.D. Jakes' Son Charged With Indecent Exposure

I post this not as a way to make fun or gloat. If the story turns out to be true, I hope that the African-American community (who will no doubt be talking about this in huge masses) will take it as a hint to address the fact that lgbts of color are marginalized in the black community. Let's face it - folks say the black church opposes homosexuality but if it wasn't for black gays, the black church probably wouldn't exist in the form that it does now.

Jermaine Jakes, son of Dallas pastor T.D. Jakes, was arrested on a charge of indecent exposure in January, 2009.

According to a Dallas Police Department arrest warrant affidavit obtained by CBS 11 News, Jakes exposed himself to two undercover vice detectives at Keist Park on January 3.

The affidavit says Jakes walked up to one of the detectives at the park with his pants unzipped. Jakes then began to masturbate while making eye contact with the detective, according to the affidavit.

The detectives arrested Jakes on a charge of indecent exposure.

Late Wednesday evening, CBS 11 News received a statement from Faith Johnson, an attorney for Jermaine Jakes. The statement read:

"We are aware of potential allegations involving Jermaine Jakes and are undertaking our own investigation of these allegations at this time. Given an apparent government investigation, we have no further comment at this time."

More here.

The American Family Association's fascination with fradulent documentaries

I haven't seen in yet but I'm sure the American Family Association is cooking up a response to a Michigan TV station putting the kibosh on the showing of Speechless: Silencing Christians, a one-hour piece of propaganda pushing the usual inaccurate talking points of an anti-Christian conspiracy on the part of lgbts.

I find the entire thing interesting because Speechless was made over a year ago and had been shown on "Christian" stations. In addition, it is offered on youtube and also on the AFA's webpage .

So to make any inference that the program is being censored would be a lie.

I guess it speaks to the audacity of the organization. And it fills me with dread.

How many other stations have been asked to run this mess? And how many of them will comply?

And then I am bothered by something else. On the AFA's webpage is the video It's Not Gay.

This video supposedly tells the story of "ex-gays" or people who feel that they have been delivered from the alleged "homosexual lifestyle" through the power of God. Featured in the video (and he is on the front cover) is a man named Michael Johnston.

Johnston was a prominent ex-gay spokesperson who claimed that he was delivered by God after catching HIV. However, in 2003 it was discovered that he was having clandestine sexual encounters with men in hotel rooms.

Since that time he has been been sequestered out of the limelight.

This isn't the first time Johnston has come up. Wayne Besen exposed the story. Box Turtle Bulletin exposed the story. Countless bloggers have continued to talk about the Michael Johnston story from time to time.

But the AFA continues to sell the tape even after its errors have been pointed out.

So this organization, which seems to have no problem selling a fradulent dvd, is complaining that the are being silenced because they are Christians.

Well if this is the way the AFA spreads the Gospel of Jesus, they have bigger problems than so-called "radical homosexuals." And maybe any resistance they are running up against is God's way of telling them to stop their nonsense.