Earlier this month, clips of a taped television interview that gospel music sensation Tonex conducted for 'The Lexi Show'
(on the Gospel network) surfaced on the Internet and caused a heated
frenzy within the black religious industry. During the revealing
conversation, the internationally renowned music superstar (nee Anthony
Williams III) talked candidly about his homosexuality, his failed
marriage and his thoughts on the black church. As expected, when
someone touches upon such a taboo subject, it strikes a chord among
others. But as the multiple Stellar Award-winning virtuoso tells it, in
his very own words, it was a lot more than he ever bargained for.
READ TONEX'S FULL TESTIMONY ON BLACK VOICES. "You know, it's not easy growing up in a Pentecostal/Evangelical church,
where everyone is pretty much anti-gay, although it's common knowledge
that some of the most anointed musicians and singer-songwriters have,
or have dealt with, same-sex attraction at some point. For me, it was
particularly taboo because of my upbringing and the ministerial call on
my life. I then had to think about the repercussions of this
revelation. But I knew I had to get free...
"As I continue down this path of self-discovery, my prayer is that
others will see that we are your sons, daughters, cousins, nieces and
nephews silently crying inside, coping with fear and uncertainty. We
need love and affirmation. We need to know that it's okay to talk about
these issues in a safe family environment and that we will be respected
not just for our art and talents but for the beautiful human beings
that God created us to be. After all, He does not make mistakes. I
would not be here typing had it not been for the prayers of the
righteous and real friends who understand the challenge of taking the
road less traveled. May we all show love toward one another. The
greatest command is love another. Thank you for listening to my
testimony."
BRIDGEPORT,
Conn. - The video shows the 16-year-old boy lying on the floor, his
body convulsing, as elders of a small Connecticut church cast a
"homosexual demon" from his body.
"Rip
it from his throat!" a woman yells. "Come on, you homosexual demon! You
homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!"
The
20-minute video posted on YouTube by Manifested Glory Ministries is
being called abuse by gay and youth advocates, who are demanding an
investigation. But a church official this week denied that the teenager
was injured or that the church is prejudiced.
"We believe a man should be with a woman and a
woman should be with a man," the Rev. Patricia McKinney told The
Associated Press. "We have nothing against homosexuals. I just don't
agree with their lifestyle."
'Come out of his belly' The
church posted the video on YouTube but has since removed it; it is
still available on some Web sites that copied it. The church declined
to make the video available for distribution by The Associated Press.
It shows church members standing the youth on his feet by holding him under his arms, and people shouting as organ music plays.
"Come out of his belly," someone commands. "It's in the belly — push."
Later, the teenager is back on the floor, breathing heavily. Then he's coughing and apparently vomiting into a bag.
"Get another bag," a participant says. "Make sure you have your gloves."
As the youth lay back on the ground, limp, church members put a white sheet over him.
It's
nearly impossible to say how often similar exercises occur in churches
nationwide. But Kamora Herrington, who runs a mentoring program at True
Colors and has worked with the youth, said she believes it's fairly
common.
"This happens all the time," she said. "This is not isolated."
Robin
McHaelin, executive director of True Colors, an advocacy group for gay
youths, said her organization is aware of five cases in recent years in
which youths in her program were threatened with exorcism.
'I think it's horrifying' In
one case, she said, a child called to report that his caregiver had
called a priest who was throwing holy water on his bedroom door.
"I
think it's horrifying," McHaelin said of the video by Manifested Glory.
"What saddens me is the people that are doing this think they are doing
something in the kid's best interests, when in fact they're murdering
his spirit."
McHaelin
said she planned to report the situation to the Connecticut Department
of Children and Families. An agency spokesman said the agency does not
comment on complaints or investigations.
"They have this kid in a full nelson," she said. "That just seems abusive to me."
McKinney said the youth was 18. The boy confirmed he is 16 but otherwise declined to comment, citing the advice of his pastor.
McHaelin
said the boy told her staff that the church performed the ritual three
times at his request. She said the boy has been engaging in risky
behavior that she blames on the church's treatment.
McKinney said the youth went to the church last year and collapsed on the floor during a service.
"He was out of control in the church," she said. "This young man came to us. We didn't go to him."
'He didn't want to be like that' McKinney
denied the ritual was an exorcism, describing it instead as a casting
out of spirits. She said the church took care of the youth, providing
him clothes.
"He was dressing like a woman and everything. And he didn't want to be like that," McKinney said.
The
teen had been in reform school for stealing but was eager to get out
and go to the church to have what he thought were his demons driven
out, Herrington said.
Exodus
International, a Christian group that believes gays can become straight
through prayer and counseling, does not advocate the church's approach,
said Jeff Buchanan, director of church equipping.
The
Rev. Roland Stringfellow, a minister in Oakland, Calif., said he was
subject to demon casting in the 1990s when he was at a Baptist church
and was struggling with his sexuality. He said he was put in front of
the church as members shouted "demon of homosexuality come out of him."
"It caused nothing but shame and embarrassment," Stringfellow said.
McKinney
also has a weekly radio program. She talked on Wednesday's program
about being "persecuted" in recent days but did not mention the video
specifically.
"It's
been a hard time for me, but I'm looking good and I'm standing strong
because when you have a mandate like mine you're not going to say what
you want without the adversary coming after you," she said. "If you are
a true prophet you're not going to be popular with the people."
As I am making my daily rounds on LGBT news websites I came across the
story of T.D. Jakes son, Jermaine Jakes being arrested in a "gay sex
sting." The first question that came to my mind was, "how will the
church respond to him?"
I can only imagine the conversations,
arguments, accusations, etc. that are going on within the Jakes family
and the Potters House Church. I do not condone Jermaine's behavior,
however Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Any religion that professes
to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the
slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, the
social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion."
It
is important for us to understand the oppression that brings not just
Jermaine but others to the point where they have to live their lives in
secret. When we are not able to live open and honest lives (no matter
what its about) the oppression of our secrets leads to incidents like
this. It causes us to live double lives, to go out and get what we need
in ways that may not be healthy. We need to be concerned with this
oppression and why Jermaine and others feel he has to fear who he is. I
hope his church and the church as a whole will understand this and not
cast him out.
This is the time where the church needs to open
their arms wider, love Jermaine stronger, and not let him go. Instead
of calling out the hypocrisy in this situation, let us recognize the
oppression which has caused this and hope to bring it to an end.
The Black LGBT community will take center stage next month in
Baltimore as several hundred Black LGBT people, their Straight allies, family
and friends will gather along with over 50 national experts spanning 35
workshops, panel discussions, Q&As and receptions at the National
Black Justice Coalition’s "Power of Us" Conference in Baltimore, MD, April
24-25-26, 2008. REGISTER NOW!
The Power of Us National Convention - an annual historic gathering beginning in 2008 - will convene the nation's preeminent thinkers to highlight Black LGBT and same-gender-loving couples, families, high-profile activists, religious and spiritual leaders, organizers, artists, designers and more. The aim is to break down walls of homophobia and racism by educating the public of the vibrant, affirming and supportive lives of Black LGBT people and same-gender-loving activists who are commi tted to developing and honing their skills, celebrate victories, build community, and be inspired by preeminent visionaries of our and other movements for social justice and equality.
The National Black Justice Coalition is a civil rights organization
dedicated to empowering Black same-gender-loving, lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people. The Coalition works for social justice, equality, and an end to
racism and homophobia.
The National Black Justice Coalition envisions a world where all
people are fully empowered to participate safely, openly, and honestly
in family, faith and community, regardless of race, gender-identity or
sexual orientation.
"All you require is You, and your ability to think things into being. Everything that has been invented and created throughout the history of humankind began with one thought. From that one thought a way was made, and it manifested from the invisible into the visible."
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step." ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
A gentle notice to all progressive souls who need to be reminded that not all anti-gay writing comes from white heterosexual Christian Western males. On allAfrica.com, Pamela Ankunda pens a piece "Homosexuality is Against Nature and African Culture," that pleads for Westerners to realize that "Africa has got its own societal values and morals."
She says she’s actually not a psychic but more of a spiritual counselor or spiritual adviser.
“I’m more a shaman, an elder in a community who has visions and gives direction to people in their village. My clients and my students are my village. I take care of this community. If you sit down at my table, you have to take away a lesson and not just learn what is going to happen tomorrow. I also perform weddings—both gay and straight marriages—and house cleansings and blessings.”
Via exgaywatch (and the Washington Blade) comes this vignette about Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr. having an altar call for his straight male Jesus-worshippers. Ignoring the fact that Christian salvation is a gift of grace (as is one's heterosexuality, on their same theoogy), Owens screamed out in a sermon that "it takes a real man to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior!" This, of course, excludes biological males who are gay or, presumably, effeminate: “I'm not talking about no faggot or no sissy”. He then asked the men to come to the front of the church in order to thank God for their heterosexuality.
As I was reading it over lunch today, I found that I had many thoughts stirring around in my head. Of course, there are the obvious parallels between the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s and the movement that we are in the midst of today as the GLBT community strives for equality in marriage.
I came across this article in my daily blog reading via Negrophile. I wanted to post it here, because it's not often that one sees black gay couples covered and portrayed in this manner in the media. So, maybe a few more people will see it who wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
Michael Belcher and Walter Houston stand in the cold outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown Detroit. Surrounded by strangers, they're in the midst of a gay marriage rally.
For months, Belcher, 33, and Houston, 43, have watched similar rallies on TV. They've seen the crowds of mostly white men and women holding picket signs, shouting for equal rights, lining up for marriage licenses.
That's fine for San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, they say.
But this is Detroit -- a city that's more than 80 percent African American, heavily soaked in a Christian tradition and chilly toward the gay community.
"We're gay and we're black and we're Christian," Houston says, back at the couple's first-floor flat in northwest Detroit. "God wants us to do this. This is something we prayed for." The couple couldn't let white activists fight alone.
"God bless them," Houston says. "I'm glad they're there. But they cannot represent our community."
In the gay marriage struggle, Belcher and Houston represent a segment rarely seen in the national debate, but one that is important, especially in Detroit.
Last year, the couple exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony in a small church in Ferndale. They're hopeful that their ceremony will be fortified by a marriage license. But Belcher and Houston have more to overcome than legal hurdles; they're also fighting culture. They are a minority within a minority.
The article also underscores the particular dilemma black gays, and specifically this couple, find themselves upon coming out.
The African-American community and Christian churches they grew up in don't accept them because they're gay, they say. And because of their race, they don't always feel comfortable in the gay community.
Coming out as gay or lesbian can be especially difficult for African Americans, says Beverly Greene, a psychologist at St. John's University in New York who specializes in counseling gays and lesbians of color.
"More is at stake," she says. "They don't have as many places to go in the gay and lesbian community." Black gays and lesbians often depend more heavily on their community than white people do, says Greene. And the mainstream African-American church has traditionally been a safe harbor, a key social institution, not just a place of worship.
It also provides a glimpse into the church the couple attends, one where they have managed to find acceptance; safe harbour, if you will.
It's worth reading, if only because it's a rare positive portrayal of black gay men in committed relationships. Check it out if you have time, and share it with someone else.
Be bold and present our lives more fully. We are your brothers, fathers, uncles, cousins, teachers, bosses, assistants and your best friends. And some of us have taken the responsibility for raising the children that our communities tend to forget. Be bold and present the similarities of our lives. We love the women in our lives; we love you. Don't use us to regress back into a sensationalism that is beneath you - prove that you can see all of us, who we are wholly, our highs and our lows, our entire lives. True, it is up to us to tell our own stories, but we depend on you to tell the truth from your vantage point. Oprah, I beg you to do everything you are empowered to do to tell the whole truth.
And Ronn added,
Also, I think an old Roger Grimsby quote sums it all up when it comes to Oprah: "You can show as much bias with what you DON'T report." By focusing on such narrow parameters when it comes to BGM/SGL communities, Oprah does play into homophobic mindsets. I would love for a show focusing on positive role models from the same.
I think portrayals like the one of the couple in this article, which are rarely seen, might be what they have in mind. And if Belcher and Hudson were featured on Oprah, I'd tune in.
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