What about the gay members of Eddie Long's church?

The situation with Eddie Long and his wife continues to get interesting. Long is the minister of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in GA embroiled in a scandal which led to him paying off four young men who claimed that he sexually coerced them. Yesterday, Long's wife said she plans to file for divorce. She then retracted the statement.

Now, it has been announced that the plans for divorce is on again.

It's a sad situation regarding hypocrisy in the black church which no one wants to address. The black church will knowingly embrace gang members, drug dealers, people who have sex outside marriage while attending church. But an upstanding openly gay or lesbian is enemy number one to it. To this day, there is have been no adequate discussions on this conundrum.

Long's scandal is also a case of possible kismet. He benefited immensely from his very public stances - including a huge rally - against marriage equality, even to the point of conveniently getting some of that "faith-based initiative money" doled out by the Bush Administration.

Long's ministry received over $1 million.

But now Long is losing more than just money. He has lost his name, his reputation, and standing.

However, there are victims in this situation in which no one is talking about - the African-American gay and lesbians members of Long's church and other churches like his.

Let's focus on them for a change.

The following interview is from when the scandal began with a gay member of Long's church. It's hard to watch, particularly when he states the reason why many gay men still attend the church.

His words underscore the fact that the reason why black gays and lesbians flock to negative environments like Long's church because it's difficult for them to find any support or positive reinforcement in regards to their sexual orientation from any other place - even those which are supposed to be "gay-friendly."

The interview with this young man should send a message to the lgbtq community at large that we need to do more to embrace our all of own, even those who don't fit the stereotypical "white-bread" supposed normal definition of being gay in America:



Related posts:

Eddie Long wants his money back

Eddie Long's accusers speak out even after settlement

Anti-gay pastor Eddie Long's fifth accuser in lawsuit

Eddie Long scandal underscores failure of the black church

Eddie Long scandal - Chronology of what has happened and where we are now  
 

Know Your LGBT History - Shameless

One of the problems with having to deal with negative gay images on television and in the movies is that it taints efforts to push three-dimensional images.

No one is completely good nor evil, and the images we see should reflect that. However when a group is faced with having to see nothing but negative images, it makes them hypersensitive to the point that they rail against any image deemed negative while totally forgetting that a good two-shoes image of the gay community is as debilitating as a negative image.

With that in mind, I bring you Shameless, a Showtime television drama which is based on a British drama of the same name.

It tells the story of a dysfunctional family led by an alcoholic father. All of the characters are interesting, to say the least.

However for the purpose of this blog, I want to focus on one of the children, Ian.

Ian (Cameron Monaghan) is a 15-year-old gay young man working at a grocery store. He is having an affair with his employer, the Muslim owner. He is also messing around with the local thug, Mickey.

He is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier. Ian is a very complex character.  One could say that he is the anti-Glee character. No doubt, he would give both folks on the left and the right in this so-called culture war extreme palpitations.

I personally like the characterization. He is merely a young man dealing with life has thrown his way, whether it be a dsysfunctional family life, or a gay orientation.

The following clips shows several scenes in Ian's life, particularly his relationship with Mickey. The thing I really like about this relationship is how it's not sugarcoated. Pay special attention to 2:30 to 4:10. Some folks may find it a bit intense:



Past Know Your LGBT Posts:

'NOM pushing phony google polls' and other Friday midday news briefs

NOM Fail: 'What sound does cash make?' edition - The irony is rich. NOM attacks Cuomo for getting campaign donations due to his push for marriage equality while it continues to hide ITS donors.

Nicolosi Retracts Claim of Gay Cure through Antidepressants - Another anti-gay lie down the drain.

Minnesota for Marriage pushes “polls” via web ads - So NOM is now pushing phony push poll ads in Minnesota. Love what that secret money can buy. Of course the goal of these ads is not to gauge response but to push NOM's phony talking points into the minds of Minnesotans.

Anti-Gay Justice To Georgia: ‘You Can’t Discriminate’ Against A Transgender Person - Holy smokes! You have to read this one.

AFA Warns That Same-Sex Marriage Leads to Building, Car and Dog Marriage - Ugh, I say. UGH!

'Porno Pete' tries to besmirch World AIDS Day

Yesterday was World AIDS Day and while there were much necessary information put out there, there was also some unnecessary nonsense.

Our friend, Porno Pete LaBarbera is exploiting the day to whine about the supposed "high risk" of being gay.  It's really nothing we haven't heard before. We all know it's his obsession with gay sex.

And following that obsession, LaBarbera is into demonizing gays and throwing out his idea of what exactly gay sex is rather than solving the problem. Let's break down the fallacies of his points:

1. LaBarbera:  

Recognize HIV/AIDS as a predominantly “gay disease” in the USA (as some LGBT leaders like Matt Foreman have admitted)

Problem - LaBarbera distorts Foreman's call for gays to do more to stop AIDS. What Foreman said is no different than what Phil Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, wrote in this brilliant piece, part of which reads:

There are many reasons why we are so disproportionately impacted by AIDS. But, chief among them is that we've not taken ownership of the AIDS epidemic and responsibility for ending it. Many of us continue to believe that AIDS is someone else's problem. Even as our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, get infected with HIV, develop AIDS and die.

I get the sister from the Black Philanthropy conference's concern about stigma and image. But we can't be more concerned about 'our image' than we are about our lives. Having a raging epidemic run through our community unchecked is actually the last thing we need.

Wanting something to not be so is not the same as it really not being so or doing something about it. AIDS in America today is a Black disease ... unless we do something about it.

Or when Julian Bond said the following:

It is time for the African-American community "to face the fact that AIDS has become a black disease" and find ways to defeat it, the chairman of the NAACP said at the international AIDS summit.

This speaks to another point. LaBarbera cites a CDC fact sheet on AIDS which shows that new infections are higher among young black men than they are among younger white men.


2. LaBarbera:

Stop pretending that all lifestyles are at equal risk for AIDS – because HIV is NOT behaviorally- or lifestyle-neutral. Instead, teach students in school health classes the DOCUMENTED REALITY that certain behaviors, especially male homosexual sex, are especially high-risk for contracting HIV (and other STDs like hepatitis).

 LaBarbera conveniently omits the reasons why people are at risk. The CDC flyer which LaBarbera cites above also says that lack of proper information and social discrimination leads some MSMs (men having sex with men) into high risk behaviors. LaBarbera seems to be saying "stop gays from having sex" when the problem is a bit more complex than that.

Religious right group posts article celebrating passage of anti-gay Nigerian bill

Apparently the Alliance Defense Fund isn't too busy trying to keep graduate students from having to learn about counseling gays.

The right-wing organization is also all about passing along articles celebrating the persecution of gay and lesbians abroad.

From its webpage is the following:

Nigeria: Citizens Celebrate Ban of Same-Sex Marriage

All Africa Global Media: Nigerians have continued to celebrate the banning of same-sex marriage by the Senate, commending senators for outlawing what they regard as abnormality and a licence for immorality.

The link in question is to a very biased article about the recent decision by the Nigerian Senate to outlaw marriage equality. The bill also outlaws gay advocacy and public displays of same-sex affection

According to the AP:

Under the measure, couples who marry could face up to 14 years in jail, and witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars.. 

The article cited by the Alliance Defense Fund only quotes supporters of this bill. They call gay marriage something that is degrading and detestable. The article even admits that the bill is to discourage homosexuality and also that the idea of imprisoning gays and lesbians is a good thing.

The irony is stark.

At the same time the Alliance Defense Fund is claiming to defend graduate students against religious persecution, the organization seems to be celebrating the actual persecution of gays and lesbians.

What would Jesus do, indeed.

'Marriage equality will lead to women marrying computers?' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Maryland, Marriage, Appliance: 'What's to stop a woman from marrying a computer?' - You aren't reading this wrong. An anti-marriage equality spokesperson actually said that marriage equality could lead to women marrying computers. Good Lord.

Maryland Religious Leaders Launch Anti-Marriage Equality Coalition - And speaking of those same zany folks from Maine . . .

Obama On World AIDS Day: We Need To Do More To Show Young Black Gay Men ‘That Their Lives Matter’ - You damn right we do!

CPAC And The Religious Right Kiss And Make Up - At the expense of GoProud. GoProud is that conservative gay group always whining about the "Gay Left." As you can see, GoProud has it arrow aimed at the wrong target.

Imagine a world without AIDS

I can't talk. I won't talk. All I can do is pray:



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