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Black folks, what the hell is your problem? For a race of people who have faced the worse bigotry, discrimination, and racism, in HISTORY, to turn around and do that to another group of people UNFATHOMABLE. And to hear Black people says that they resent the implication that the fight for Same Couple Marriage is a civil rights issue, makes it even worse. And to top it off, the Black church seems to be at the forefront of this “Campaign of Nonsense.” Oppression is Oppression! How hard is that to understand!
In a recent article, some Black clergymen stated their opposition to this struggle being “co-opted” by Gays and Lesbians. Yet here are some of the reasons that they used to justify their arguments. We know what we have gone through as an ethnic group, said Rev. William Gillison, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church. Bishop Michael A. Badger, pastor of Bethesda World Harvest International Church, said that he doesn’t doubt there is discrimination against gay people but that it is hardly on the order of what African-Americans have encountered and still face. If you know what discrimination feels like, how can you in good conscious turn around and do the exact same thing? Do they think their are no Lesbian and Gay parishioners in their church? Ignoring the situation is not going to go away. And just like the Civil Rights Struggle that Black folks went through, Lesbians and Gays are not going to quit. We aren’t going back in the closet, and we are not going to let you marginalize us. Hell, that sounds like a Civil Rights struggle to me. Do you really think the struggle is different? Let us count the ways.
| Civil Rights Struggle | Black | Lesbian/Gay |
| Employment | Unemployed or under employed | Employed but can be fired WITHOUT CAUSE just for being Lesbian or Gay. Don’t ask, Don’t Tell |
| Housing | Could be denied housing | Can be denied Housing |
| Health Care | Could be denied health care | Can be denied health care and BANNED from being with dying partner |
| Violence | Beaten, raped, or killed for being black | Beaten, raped, or killed for being Lesbian or Gay |
| Education | Not allowed to read, inferior education. Told you never contributed to society |
Inferior education and told "family is not a real family." Told there have been no gay people of consequence in history. |
| Goverment sactioned discrimination | Local, State and Federal laws against you. | Local, State, and Federal laws against you. DOMA |
| Marriage | Told you couldn’t marry or marry "outside of your race." | Told you can’t marry, PERIOD! Have EXACT same tactics used against you that were used against Black folks! |
| Religion | Told the bible said you should be slaves and accept your fate | Told that the bible is against you! |
Lastly, and this sums up what should be Black folk’s opinion, “at the end of the day, it doesn’t affect the church at all” said the Rev. John Young, pastor of Fellowship Christian Center. EXACTLY! What the hell are Black people tripping on? Why are you doing the devil’s bidding?
In time, history is going to show that the Black church, and far too many black folks in general, were on the wrong side of this battle. If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, which side would he be on? THINK ABOUT IT!
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