I started this post months ago and it was going to be about black lesbians, hence, the photos. Honestly though, I forgot what I was going to say about them. What’s on my heart now are gay black christians, and here are my thoughts…
I don’t know how we do it. No matter how much is stolen from us and how badly we’re beaten, raped, and emotionally abused, miraculously, black love forges on.
But look there! Way in the back! Bearing the weight of all these things, plus ostracism from their own community are gay black people.
I can never imagine how it must feel to believe that you are a walking sin; that a part of who you are, something that you can’t change, is in direct conflict with God’s Law. What a triumph and a relief to discover, and know in your heart, that these things are not true. To know this is to know God’s Love.
Great! We’re over that hurdle, now it’s time to fellowship, right?
Wrong. Most black churches not only condemn homosexuality as a sin, but seem to believe that it is among the worst sins. Separating the holies from the hellbound is sort of a tradition in the Christian church, it hurts me to say . It’s not just that most black Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin, it’s that we have no love in our hearts for the “sinners”. We fear gays like they’re contagious. The further we are away from them, the more “Christian-like” we become. Since Christianity is such a huge part of black American culture, this exclusive attitude not only hurts black gays who want to fellowship, but all gays, since their mothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends likely claim some kind of Christian affiliation.
I have to admit that I was once one of those Christians. Homosexuality was not to be discussed, it was to be condemned, and that was that. There was no close association or friendship with gays unless your aim was to convert them. I don’t know how it happened, but gradually I started seeing gays as, well, human. God opened my heart and I started to learn acceptance. Then one of my good friends came out to me. I cannot describe the amount of love that God poured into my heart that day. He turned mere tolerance into an open-armed embrace. His love and compassion was so powerful that I almost couldn’t contain it. God also let me feel the terrible pain of someone so lovely and good who hated herself because of what other Christians had taught her. She’s still struggling today.
We have to band together as one family and eradicate anything that would separate us. The church is ONE body in Christ. God is LOVE in its purest form, and He makes NO MISTAKES ♥
