From David Mixner's Blog

From David Mixner's Blog

Julian Bond On Homophobia In African-American Community
by David Mixner
Copyright by David Mixner
Oct 18 2010
http://www.davidmixner.com/2010/10/julian-bond-on-homophobia-in-african-american-community.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DavidMixnerCom+%28DavidMixner.com%29


Julian Bond is a living legend in the African-American civil rights movement and without question one of my personal heroes. At the forefront of every human rights struggle since the 1960's, he currently is Chairperson of the NAACP and a professor of history at the University of Virginia and a scholar in residence at American University.

In a powerful OpEd piece for The Amsterdam News, he takes on homophobia in the African-American community. He weaves the stories of the epidemic of suicides and hate crimes with the hypocrisy of Atlanta minister Eddie Long. The article is a must read for everyone. Here are some heady excerpts:

Homophobia is rampant in Black America, and it is driven by preachers like Long, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the most virulently homophobic Black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement. Black Christians are more likely to describe homosexuality as morally wrong than white Christians, and homosexuality is a major topic among many Black pulpits.

Mr. Bond continues:

Bible-based discrimination is an old story for Black Christians, and it is peculiar why we tolerate it against others when we reject it when aimed at us. White Christians found support for enslaving people of color in the Bible’s pages, which also offers support for condemning homosexuality.

Some who object to gay rights believe homosexuality is a choice, but science has demonstrated conclusively that sexual disposition is not an option or alternative that some select. It exactly parallels race—I was born Black and had no choice. I couldn’t and wouldn’t change it. Like race, sexuality isn’t a preference—it is immutable, unchangeable and the Constitution protects us all against prejudice and discrimination based on immutable differences.

The consensus of the scientific world is that homosexuality is as ordinary as left-handedness—it is not an illness or disease.

Bond concludes:

We need to sweep these prejudices away, as the Supreme Court did in 1967 when it eliminated the ban on interracial marriage.

If you’re worried, as many ministers profess to be, that your church will someday be forced to perform same-sex marriages, never fear. Our Constitution protects the autonomy of any religious community to determine to whom they will or won’t offer the matrimonial rite. Your sanctuary is safe, but please, don’t block the doors to city hall to those loving couples who want the same marriage and civil rights protections you now enjoy.