Black Churches' Attitudes Toward Gay Parishioners Is Discussed at Conference
Atlanta, GA - About 150 African-American ministers and gay activists from around the country gathered Friday to begin a two-day conference to combat what they assert is widespread prejudice against gay men and lesbians within black churches.
"Conservative black ministers in Atlanta have so far not taken up invitations to discuss attitudes toward gay men and lesbians."
-- Rev. Kenneth Samuel, AAMIA Member
Though most black Christians are liberal on pocketbook issues, they are social conservatives, speakers at the conference said. Yet getting black churches to accept gay men and lesbians has gained particular urgency over the last two years, participants noted.
The high rate of H.I.V. infection among blacks stems in part, they said, from the unwillingness of black ministers to discuss sexuality. They contended that the Republican Party and white evangelical Christians attracted a small but significant number of black votes in the 2004 presidential election by arguing for a nationwide ban on same-sex marriage and appealing to their conservative mores.
"In 2004, the religious right was concerned about re-electing George W. Bush," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke at the conference held here at First Iconium Baptist Church. "They couldn't come to black churches to talk about the war, about health care, about poverty. So they did what they always do and reached for the bigotry against gay and lesbian people."
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