Black Churches have
a very important structure in the United States African American
culture and community, they have been a source of power, strength,
refuge, and freedom for Black people. After the Emancipation of
slavery in 1865, Black churches developed to create a safe space for
Black people to create communities and to find religious enrichment,
faith, spirituality, and secular development (McMickle 1). Church
allowed for Black people in the segregated south to form political
movements, focus on issues in the community, gain leadership skills
and mobilize against white people within the church (Lapansky 63).
The idea of Black church sounds very monolithic, but that is not
true; there are many differences between Black churches such as
different ideals, values, morals, and regional differences. As
inclusive and as welcoming as the Black church has been for the Black
community, identities such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
have been excluded from most Black churches due to these identities
going against religious beliefs and the idea of “acceptable
blackness”. In this paper, I will examine the struggle of Black gay
men to find acceptance within the Black church and I will analyze how
homophobia in the Black community is derived from issues of race,
masculinity and religion. I will focus specifically on Black gay men
and men who do not fit the confines of hegemonic Black masculinity.
There have always
existed Black gay men and lesbian women in Black society and Black
churches but their identities were silenced during that time period
but during the 1960s and 70s when the LGBT Movement started to gain
visibility so did Black gays and lesbians. As more Black gay people
became visible during this time within the Black community, policing
of Blackness occurred within the Black Church. Cathy Cohen states,
“Indigenously constructed definitions of black group identity seek
to redefine and empower blackness to the outside world by policing
the boundaries of what can be represented to the dominant public as
'true blackness'”(47). Black people who do not fit within the
confines of “acceptable blackness,” such as Black gay people,
either have to conform to “acceptable blackness” or be left on
the margins of the Black community. Homophobia within the black
community is very much derived from the history of racism, slavery
and it's relation to masculinity. Throughout slavery, Black men were
weakened, oppressed, and feminized under the power of white men.
After slavery was abolished, this idea of race survival consciousness
arose in Black men, this means that Black men had to overcome and
dominate the white men that had suppressed and enslaved them for so
long (Ward 496). This constructed a Black masculinity that was
hypermasculine and dominant to survive and overpower the already
dominant and powerful white man. This form of Black masculinity that
developed has changed and fluctuated over time but its purpose has
always been to triumph over anxieties of racism, blocked social
opportunities, and as a means to express bitterness and rage toward
the dominant white society (Ward 496). The hypermasculine ideals of
Black men have become stereotypes that Black men today must live up
to and embody. The characteristics of a hypermasculine hegemonic
Black man are independent, tough, aggressive in relationships,
unemotional, controlling, and dominant (Ward 496). These
characteristics of hegemonic masculinity are instinctively tied to
homophobia, which does not just affect gay people but also negatively
affects women. These hypermasculine qualities of Black men instill a
sense of misogyny and objectification of women which can be seen
intensified in rap in Black culture. These dominant notions of Black
masculinity instilled in homophobia can sometimes be reinforced by
church-inspired homophobic messages.
Kelly Brown Douglas
states, “Black people's use of the Bible to condemn homosexuality
is understandable in the context of their historical experience, as
enslaved Blacks sought refuge and found freedom in the literalness of
the Scripture” (Ward 495). The Bible should not be read literally
it should be read within the context of it's time and culture of when
it was written; the same goes for Black churches. Black churches were
developed at a time when sexual identity and sex in general was not
discussed at all, there needs to be a revamping of the rhetoric in
some Black churches. The church inspired homophobic messages and the
hypermasculine Black masculinity work off of each other to reinforce
that a Black gay man is not a 'real' Black man nor is even a 'real'
person. These church inspired homophobic messages which are
sometimes preached in sermons instill a sense of confirming Black
hatred of gay people. This ideology of being gay can not fit in with
“true blackness” is harmful to not just gay men but all men who
do not fit within the confines of the hypermasculine Black
masculinity. Black men who are seen as timid, weak, passive and
emotional could also be questioned for not being a 'true' Black man.
Due to the representations of Black men in society and the media, the
depiction of Black masculinity as violent, aggressive, and
intimidating has greatly increased. The depiction of Black
masculinity has become so aggressive it has overpowered white
masculinity, whiteness by some of the Black community is seen now as
weak and feminine. Since a gay man is already seen as effeminate and
weak, some of the Black community might equate a Black person
claiming their gay identity is also claiming a white identity. That
is how internalized racism forms because through this idea of 'true
blackness', a Black person can not be gay and be authentically Black.
This lack of support negatively affects the Black gay male community
because they are not getting the support that they need from church
leaders, family, friends, and their community.
An example of the
negative effects that homophobia from the Black church and the
negative image of Black masculinity has had on the Black gay
community is the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s and 90s. Ward states,
“According to the US Census Bureau, black adults and adolescents in
2001 had an AIDS case rate ten times higher than whites. Observers,
ministers, activists, and researchers have reached the conclusion
that homophobia is one of the most significant factors crippling the
willingness of the Black church to respond positively to AIDS”(500).
These high rates of AIDS within the black community is directly
linked to internalized homophobia due to Black gay men being silenced
about their identities due to the stigma of homosexuality in the
Black church and Black masculinity. Some Black gay men do not
disclose their sexuality and keep it to themselves in fear of being
outcasted and rejected by friends and family. If gay men keep their
sexuality hidden or don't seek guidance that can be dangerous because
they may not be getting the support and resources that they may need
and are more likely to make risky decisions. Historically, most
activism in the Black community came from Black churches but the
church did not want to help out during the AIDS epidemic because they
felt like the Black people who were positive were not following the
mission of christ (Cohen 55). If the Black church did do something
during the epidemic, it was usually a negative response to the people
who were positive and gay. Not all Black churches were homophobic
though, since the AIDS epidemic there are Black churches that have
embraced the LGBT community and have started showing their support in
AIDS activism. Numerous Black churches throughout New York City have
established AIDS ministries to help deal with AIDS in Black
communities (Cohen 56). Black churches in certain areas are starting
to become more progressive and more inclusive of different types of
Black people. In my experience, I went to the Unity Fellowship Church
in Brooklyn, New York last year and it is a social justice ministry
that caters to people of color and it is a very LGBT friendly church.
On their Unity Fellowship website it states, “God is love and love
is for everyone” and the theology is “Not oppressive to lesbian,
gay, transgender, and bisexual people, and allows us to think and
discern through human reason and experience” (Bean 1). I was so
surprised to be at such a liberal and open-minded church that was
dedicated to only people of color; in the past I have only seen LGBT
inclusive churches at predominantly white churches. Black churches
have progressed and some are starting to become more inclusive of
LGBT communities, but it will take some time.
It is important to
recognize that Black churches are not the only source of homophobia
within the Black community and homophobia exists in other cultures
and religious groups. I chose to focus on the Black community because
it is the community that has been ridiculed the most in dominant
society for being the most homophobic. It is important to note that
the hypermasculine Black masculinity is not just at the fault of
Black men it comes from a history of oppression and abuse at the
hands of white men. As Black communities and Black churches begin to
look at the history of exclusion they faced and the exclusion they
may have caused there will hopefully be more acceptance of Black gay
men within the Black Church.
Works Cited
Bean,
Carl. "What We Believe."unityfellowshipchurch.org.
Unity Fellowship Church Movement,
2013. Web. 12 May 2013.
Cohen,
Cathy J. “Contested Membership: Black Gay Identities and the
Politics of AIDS” (1996).Queer
Studies: An Interdisciplinary
Reader. Eds. Robert J. Corber and Stephen Valochi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.46-60.
Lapsansky,
Emma J. ""Since They Got Those Separate Churches":
Afro-Americans and Racism in Jacksonian Philadelphia." American
Quarterly (1980): n. pag. Print.
McMickle,
Marvin A. "The Black Church, A Brief History."aaregistry.org.
African American Registry, 2002. Web. 12 May 2013.
Ward,
Elijah. "Homophobia, Hypermasculinity and the US Black Church."
Culture, Health &
Sexuality
(2005): n. pag. Print.
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