Black DC church leaders look to reconcile with the LGBT community!

Public apologies, minus any equivocation, are so uncommon that when they happen attention should be paid. A number of Washington, DC areas churches asked for forgiveness from the gay community.

As reported by The Root, a group of predominantly black church leaders wanted to sit down with the “LGBT community” and apologize for the anti-gay rhetoric coming from the pulpit.

“The church, the one place that should represent the epitome of love, was often the most uncaring and unsafe place for these individuals when they were at their most vulnerable,” wrote reporter Delano Squires. “Bishop Kwabena Rainey Cheeks, the openly gay pastor of Inner Light Ministries, a nondenominational church in Washington, bluntly declared that ‘the most dangerous place for a gay and lesbian person is the black church.’”

This small yet critical gesture is worth paying attention to. Over the years here, we’ve have had heated debates over the the minefields of race, sexuality and faith. Some of that talk has been worthwhile, most worthless because we knew the answer even before the questions were asked. In other words, we had our narratives all set up. Blacks either exhibited the purest forms of homophobia, or white gay activists were no different from the KKK. Not wasting time refuting either theory (no “my black/white best friend/hairdresser tells me it’s so” responses allowed). Will only add that until we drop those story arcs, it’s going to be a long time before anyone gets the equality he/she is looking for.

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