MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

Gay Exorcism Caught on Film

The following is very disturbing, but if you ever doubt the absolutely urgent importance of what MyOutSpirit.com, HRC's Religion and Faith Progam, IWR, Soulforce, Empowering Spirits Foundation and so many others do - watch this video again. Then join and HELP.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE updated 12:09 p.m. PT, Wed., June 24, 2009

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."

ORIGINAL MSNBC ARTICLE

Cast the first stone... How will the church respond to Jermaine Jakes?

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.

Spread love,
Azariah Southworth

National Black Justice Coalition "Power of Us" Conference April 24-26

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 committed 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.

Thought for the Day, MLK Day, 2008

"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

Homosexuality against African culture, says op-ed

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."

Miss Cleo, lesbian

The story by Greg Hernandez in a recent issue of The Advocate tells of famed infomercial psychic Miss Cleo's coming out.

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.”

Thank God you are straight (and male)

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.

Our Voice

I’m in the middle of reading a great book right now. It’s called The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation.

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.

Other thoughts came to mind also.

Black, Christian, and Gay

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.

There's been a discussion going on at a burst of light following Oprah's show featuring black "men who have sex with men" on the "DL." Donald asked of Oprah,

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.

Commentary: Black church history comes out of the closet

A commentary in The Advocate from Atlanta-based author Herndon L. Davis explores the role of the UFC and Fellowship 2000 in Black and gay America. Here's a clip:

Too many of us took the abuse and shrugged it off when the gay-bashing sermons came our way. We quietly thought to ourselves, I deserve it, and then moved on. Sadly, many of us still have that particular slave mentality. Although we may not take physical abuse, the emotional, verbal, and spiritual abuse we do take is far worse, more painful, and significantly more devastating as it drives and eventually destroys our lives...

Unless we stand up and speak out to the black church and demand a relook, reconsideration, and a refreshed analysis of scripture, spirituality, and our lives as godly men and women who also happen to be gay and lesbian, we will forever be doomed to the abusive and bloodied hands of condemnation of the black church.