We Don’t Have Empathy. We Never Put Ourselves In The Position Of Anyone Else Because If We Did, And We Operated From Love, Then People Wouldn’t Be Hurt
In The Black Community You Can Be Anything But Gay. It Becomes An Indictment On One’s Manhood. If You’re Gay In The Black Church Or In The Black Community, You Can’t Possible Be A Man Too
Journalist, Clay Cane unveils a one-hour documentary about ‘LGBTQ’ persons who are Black, Gay, and ‘Christian’ yet they struggle with their faith and identity. This topic is one of heavy controversy within the black community; and in invalid from conversations when discussing the ‘problem areas’ in the black culture.
The docu-film begins with two women, that were seeking to marry. Jonita’s family are supportive of her lifestyle but her partner [Tonyka] family [both sides] is unaccepting of her lifestyle and they have decided not to partake in the wedding ceremony including her mother [whom she holds on a pedestal]. As Tonyka explains.
It Hurts Knowing That We’re Getting Married And Mostly Friends Will Be There . It Would Mean Everything For My Mother Come To My Wedding. It Would Mean That She Finally Sees Me And Not The Thing She Considers A Sin
Later in the interview, Cane speaks with Tonyka’s mother where she denounces that one cannot be a true ‘Christian’ and ‘Gay’ according to teachings of Christ. [48min. mark]
Cane exposes the challenges that many black youth face as a result of being gay, and or transgender. A few individuals expressed being uncomfortable in their skin from an early age, and having to pretend to be [whom their parents wanted them to be], and for some that meant dating the opposite sex for their parent[s] affection, dressing the role of their birth gender, and others believing [for a very long time] that something is wrong with them, and being ‘heterosexual’ is the better life, and not a condemnation to HELL as they’ve been told repeatedly by their parent[s], family, and church.
Gender Is Who You Go To Bed As , Sexual Orientation Is Who You Go To Bed With
Spencer, spoke about his ‘struggle for survival’ and becoming saved by Atlanta’s ‘Lost & Found’ non-profit organization after coming out as ‘transgender’ to his parents in January of this year. Spencer says he was immediately kicked out of the family home and his college education funds were cut off . Thanks to ‘Lost & Found’ Spencer received shelter and managed to save money to pay for his college tuition. He has returned to school, and is currently a second semester graduate.
I Identify As Non-Binary or Trans-Masculine. I Still Say F.T.M But For Me It Means Feminine-To-Masculine. I Use He/Him, Or They/Them Pro-nouns.
I Don’t Think Gender As Two Set Things, I See It As A Spectrum And There’s Fluidity To It. I Definitely Consider Myself More Masculine, … I Just Don’t See My Self Fitting Solely To Either Side
Midway in the film, Cane speaks with members of the church who are gay and church leaders alike. First Gentlemen, Rashad Burgess and his partner have built their own church ‘The Vision Cathedral Church Of Atlanta ‘ for LGBTQ persons. Burgess express that their church is a place of transformation that allows people to get a glimpse of who they truly are, and affirming that God loves them just as equal to any other human being.
I Have The Upmost Gratitude That We Have A Place To Come, And We Are Affirmed, And We’re Not Shunned, And We Are Supported – says one member! Because I Know Of People, Alot Of Friends Who Are not Supported By Their Families, Friends, and And Still Attend Churches, Where 8,000 People Attend, And Their Pastor Preaches Damnation To Them
Del Antonio, a member of the Vision Cathedral, says that growing up in Memphis, TN he was brought up in the church, and he was often reminded that a man that lays with another a man was an abomination to God, so he often hid his sexual orientation, and suffered in silence. This ultimately led him to start cutting himself [frequently] to release his pain.
I’m Made By God, So You’re Telling Me That The Man The Made Me, Hates Me!.. I Was Molested As A Kid So Alot Of Times I Would Revert To, ..If That Never Happened To Me, Would I Still Be Gay?
Cane then asks: So do you think if you were not molested, you wouldn’t be gay?
Absolutely, You Would Like To Think That Your Are A Regular Kid, With A Regular Life, And When That’s Invaded By A Man Doing These Kinds Of Things To A Kid, You Wonder, If This Would Not Have Happened To Me Would I Have A Wife & Kids,, … I’m 18. I’m Still Figuring Out Life, And Instead I’m Wrestling With My Soul.
Interestingly, Diamond Kesawn, who works at the Lost & Found organization admits he is a regularly church attendee, and a believer in God and says that his thirst /desire for wanting to bed with men is simply a matter of choice, but yet he does not believe in the ideology and uprising of the Gay churches in Atlanta.
I Was Raised That You Look To Your Pastor As Your Spiritual Leader. You Look To Them When Your Weak , So, I Cannot Look To You, Knowing That You Do The Same Sin As I Do, And Your Comfortable With It.
Truth Be Told, I’ll Never Find Comfortability In The Gay Lifestyle.
Dr. Reverend Kenneth Samuels talked about the politics of church and why many church leaders avoid the controversy- MONEY! Samuels says there are many gay people living in the shadows of the church and are awaiting the ‘privilege’ to take their rightful place, claim their identity, and their families openly.
When I Started My Church Back In 1987, My Aim Was On Members & Money. I Thought In Order To Grow The Party Line, You Need To Follow The Business Mode On How To Grow The Church And Preach Nothing Controversial.
All We Want To Do Is Praise God, Maybe Do Some Missions Here & Here, And Go Home! If You Want To Attract Money & Members, You Don’t Address Anything Controversial Because It Doesn’t Fit The Business Module . But I Had A Crisis Of Conscious
I Could Not Continue To Stand In The Pulpit And Speak Outside Of My Own Integrity In Order To Gain People’s Amen, Applause, and Dollars.
The Real Abomination Is That If You Are A HomoSexual, And You’re Having Heterosexual Sex -That’s Unnatural. That’s The Sin, Because Your Going Against Who You Naturally Are.
As for the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Church Policy, Its More About Economics – The Tides!,
Director Of Worship & Art, Baptist Church, Dr. Tony McNeil, says ‘gay people’s money is just as green as ‘heterosexual people’s money, and there’s a certain degree of profit. Alot of times musicians need jobs so they will sit in ‘oppression’ in order to get a check.
People Will Come To Your church If They Know That The Choir Is Good, If the Music Is Good, If The Worship Is Hot and Alot of Times That Is Fueled By Gay People Who Are At The Helm Of The Worshiping Arts and Music Ministry.
Can The Black Church Survive Without Gay People?
No, We’re Teaching Sunday School, We’re Directing The Choir, We’re In The Pulpit. Some Of Us Are Out, Some Of Us Are Not, But We’re Serving.
The documentary ends with the question of LOVE? What is Love? And What Does That Mean? In religion, your taught that -GOD IS LOVE! So, If You Say God Is Love Then How Can You Separate One Person/or One Group From Another?
1 John 4:20 [KJV] If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
For me, Hannah’s story was one of the most touching tales of them all. She talked about her struggle in understanding what love meant; when all she’d known was that her birth mother had given her up, and her adopted her mother who had take her in [because she desperately wanted a girl that she could not conceive] mistreated her throughout her childhood, often teasing her about her weight, criticizing her dress attire, and later abandoned her after learning that she was ‘gay’.
Hannah was thrown out into the streets to fend for herself, and yet she still wanted to please her mother so badly that she sought a two -year relationship with a man [whom she was engaged to]. Hannah says she felt more like a prostitute during the relationship but she was homeless at the time, and this man provided the necessities that she needed to survive, and the family image that her mother wanted for her, but in 2013 she was hit by a moving truck which resulted in 23 surgeries and her mother only visited her four times in the hospital, and angered every time a gay friend would visit her. Hannah says Jesus saved her life and she decided to live in her truth from that point on.
For persons seeking to gain better perspective on this controversial issue, take a watch at the full documentary below: