Are These Pastors Gay?
Sometimes to put out a forest fire ... you have to start smaller fires ahead of it. Outing individuals is not the nicest thing to do. But our community is on fire ... fueled by the hateful rhetoric of these men who purport to follow Jesus. We can no longer be doormats, or expect anyone to come riding to our rescue. The time for silence is over. I support Jasmyne and Keith in this endeavor one hundred percent. ~~ tS
(LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK) Black lesbian and gay leaders Jasmyne Cannick and Keith Boykin kicked off a five part series entitled "Outing Black Pastors" on Monday, September 25.
The campaign, geared at exposing the hypocrisy preached by Black pastors as it relates to lesbians and gays, featured a profile on two Black pastors each day this week including Atlanta's Bishop Eddie Long, Dallas' T.D. Jakes, Los Angeles' Bishop Noel Jones and Washington's Reverend Willie Wilson.
The series can be viewed at http://www.jasmynecannick.com/ and http://www.keithboykin.com/.
People from all over the country have logged on and shared information regarding the lives of the pastors profiled.
"For far too long, homophobic black ministers have been able to spew their hateful venom from the pulpit without accountability," commented Jasmyne Cannick. "We're tired of the hypocrisy and divisive 'Christian' rhetoric that too many black pastors are spreading, and we're tired of these same ministers selling out their pulpits to the highest bidder."
"From New York to Los Angeles, Black gay people have been the backbone of the Black church," states Keith Boykin. "Through this network, we've discovered that many homophobic black pastors lead secret lives outside the church. We're not naming any names, yet, but by doing this, we hope to confirm information from our sources and empower the Black lesbian and gay community to speak out."
In a joint statement, both Keith and Jasmyne added the following.
"Our experiences has shown that the people who are the most homophobic also tend to be dealing with their own issues about their sexuality. People who are comfortable with their sexuality usually don't care as much about other people's sexuality. Which leads us to an obvious question, are these pastors gay?"
6 comments:
Keith Boykin doesn't speak for decent Black gay people like me. I see that his agenda is self-serving: creating controversy so that he can get heavy traffic on his website for money and advertisers. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
This is a touchy topic Professor, and these are desperate times.
I do not know if they have secret motives (Keith & Jasmyne), but I do know that this is necessary in the effort to stop the hateful bullshit that's been flowing like bile.
Any community which is spat upon, by church leaders at that, and does nothing ... is a spineless community undeserving of respect.
Kudos to Jasmyne & Keith!!!
Motives notwithstanding and purely irrelevant.
Taylor: I think what they have done is really quite wonderful. They have taken the idea that many of these pastors are quick to embrace, that is that I can say anything about gay people and then bible speak my way out of it if I someone calls me on it.
Each one of those pastors listed have taken some very offensive actions against SGL people and it begs the question why? Attacking gay people is not kingdom building, it is kingdom destroying, it does not embrace a "Jesus-model" it is the opposite.
What these attacks engender is press, and attention which is what Jasmine and Keith are doing in their relatively tongue-in-cheek expose. I have enjoyed watching them roast these fellas, I just hope they get a female as well.
I can understand and empathize with the frustration of Keith and Jasmyne. The rhetoric of these ministers is hateful, beguiling and misleading. However, I think we do ourselves a disservice by resorting to innuendos. The purported "outing" did not occur nor should it have in this venue. The moral and ethical voice of the same gender community must remain above the mudslinging of our enemies in the pulpit. I believe in Keith because when J. L. King used anecdotes and distortions to create a "Down Low" phenomena that painted black gay males as the cause of increased HIV among black women, Keith's voice of reason brought balance to the attention of the greater community. I do not disagree with any of the arguments or exposes' about the crass materialism of the ministers that were profiled or about the known prior past history of ministers such as Donnie McLurkin. But we will need the powerful intellects of Keith Boykin and Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes and others to wage battle in the halls of state and national legislatures, in courtrooms and the bully pulpit of national organizations committed to justice for all.
"Outings" invite retaliations and divert attention from the real issue of homophobia in our society. As a christian, I truly believe that all men will be called to account for their actions, and false prophets will face a worse judgement than the public exposure we might bring to them. This does not mean the press should back away from information that comes to them. But let's leave the tabloidism to the press and focus our energy on winning the war with righteousness and dignity.
I agree. We are wallowing in the mud. But sometimes, using the enemies tactics against him is an effective wake up call.
Righteousness is all well and good for Sunday services and grandma's in funny hats. Waiting around for the the "false prophets" to reap their "worse judgement" is just as impotent as slaves waiting on divine assistance to be set free.
Haven't we been 'dickless' long enough?
Yeah, it's dirty, throwing around innuendo ... but is it wrong? Is asking the question wrong?
When blatant and violent homophobia has been clearly connected with individuals who are themselves unsure of their own sexualities ... can asking the question be so wrong?
If anything. We don't ask enough questions.
Remember ... WE are the ones on the defensive. WE are the ones under attack and fighting for our very existence. Keith and Jasymne are being responsible by JUST asking the question, while pointing out how OBVIOUSLY self-serving these individuals really are.
I personally, would back much more ruthless tactics ... when the enemy stoops so low as to picket gay funerals. I say get the Neocon-puppet bastards by any means necessary. They are attacking us, will continue to attack us ... whether we sit limply while they do it is up to us.
It's time to WAKE UP people. No one is gonna come to our rescue. Not politicians and certainly not Jesus. WE have to help ourselves if we want to survive.
The Christians of our community really need to take a good look at what 'faith' is doing to the world ... and us.
On Keith's blog, someone mentioned that a lot of us suffer from Post Tramatic Church Disorder ... and can't see past the bullshit that we've been indoctrinated with for generations.
Wake Up and take a good look at what 'faith' has, and still is, doing to the world.
For years, listening to preachers, pastors, and ministers spit hateful and damning rhetoric about homosexuals did something to my soul. As soon as I said "to hell with Christianity and all other religions, my soul was healed. That's why now the only pastor that I trust is Pastor Pillow. The only minister that I trust is Minister Mattress. And I only go to Sofa Sanctuary.
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