About.com Article: Does Demonizing Black Christians Really Help Black Gays Or Just Make Things Worse?
Thoughts on the Bishop Eddie Long Scandal: Is the Black Church More Homophobic Than Others?
It was bound to happen sooner or later. As soon as I heard that Bishop Eddie Long was being sued for allegedly seducing teenage boys from his black megachurch in Atlanta, I wondered how long it would take before someone framed the scandal as a race issue. Well, sociologist Shayne Lee did just that in a piece published Sunday on CNN.com. In it, he insinuates that if the black church didn’t harbor so much homophobia, gays in its midst wouldn’t feel the need to stay closeted and lead secret lives. He writes:
“Many black Christians pride themselves on a plain reading of Scripture, making it virtually impossible to foster an inclusive embrace or acceptance of homosexuality. As long as African-American Christians adhere to biblical mandates as authoritative prescriptions from God, they won’t be easily dissuaded from rejecting same-sex lifestyles as viable alternatives to heterosexual norms.”
To back up his point, Lee cites Pew Research Center data indicating that blacks are more religious than other racial groups, not to mention the group most likely to consider Scripture the literal translation of God. That may be true, but that doesn’t necessarily make African American Christians more homophobic than other Christians. To imply that it does enters dangerous territory.
For years African Americans–Christian and otherwise–have been portrayed as fiercely homophobic. The term “on the down low” was coined to describe black men who have sex with other men but refuse to call themselves gay because of their extreme discomfort with their sexual orientation. Moreover, when California banned gay marriage in 2008, blacks were held responsible. Media outlets erroneously reported that seven out of 10 black voters backed a gay marriage ban. In actuality, blacks were pretty much split on the issue, just like other voting blocs were. One group, however, did vote overwhelmingly in favor of a gay marriage ban–white evangelicals.
Make no mistake. Homophobia in the church isn’t a black or white issue. Both black Christians and white Christians read the same Bible, so why paint the former as extreme homophobes and the latter as tolerant when anyone who attends a Bible-based church is likely to object to homosexuality? To pin this problem on black Christians is to engage in racial scapegoating and to deny the fact that the culture at large is heterosexist. Yet, writers such as Lee and Anthea Butler at RD Magazine seem bent on turning the Long scandal into an indictment of the black church. Butler writes:
“The Eddie Long crisis is not just a crisis for himself, the accusers, Long’s family and the church; it’s a clarion call to African-American churches to cease and desist with the homophobia…”
But this is a shortsighted view. The Long controversy isn’t just about whether the pastor is a homosexual whose religious beliefs forced him into the closet. It’s about an alleged abuse of power. The young men suing Long claim that he used his power and influence as the head of a megachurch to seduce them after they came to him for help. In this way, the scandal has less to do with homophobia and more to do with lack of character. If the allegations against Long are true, it means that the pastor is a predator–gay or straight.
But let’s stick with this idea that virulent homophobia in the black church drove Long to this behavior. If black homophobia is to blame, does it make sense that Long’s flock is now rallying to his side? You’d think that extreme Christian homophobes would abandon a pastor facing such allegations. Long’s followers, in contrast, are saying that they will stand by him whether he’s guilty or innocent. Compare this to the case of Ted Haggard, a white Colorado preacher involved in a gay sex scandal in 2006. After Haggard’s liaisons with a male prostitute became public, Haggard was driven out of his predominantly white megachurch. So, how exactly is homophobia in the church a black thing?
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