The Bilerico Project

Will Rev. Bernice King's bully pulpit at SCLC bash gays?

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

Rev. Bernice King has been bestowed the honor to be the eighth president and first women to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Co-founded by her father, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Rev. Bernice King may be a legacy pick for SCLC, but unfortunately she will not be carrying on his legacy.

As a matter-of-fact, given the homophobic vitriol Rev. Bernice King has spewed out over the years the LGBTQ community is bracing to see what next she'll say and do given the bully pulpit she now has.

Because Rev. Bernice King has been rumored for years to be a lesbian, her track record concerning LGBTQ civil rights has been less than humane and antithetical to both legacies of her parents.

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Child witches, demons, and LGBT youth

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0500

This Halloween many American children will dress up as witches. And we'll hear their laughter and see their smiles as they joyfully go door-to-door trick-or-treating.

But in some places across the globe children would never pretend to be witches because the consequences are deadly.

For example, nine-year-old Nwanaokwo Edet of Nigeria was accused of being a witch by the family pastor. Nwanaokwo's father forced acid down his throat as an exorcism, burning away his face and eyes. Nwanaokwo died a month later.

Eight-year-old Shilua Salifu of Ghana now lives with her grandmother after being accused of being a witch. Shilua's mother tried to saw off the top of her skull to let the demons fly away.

Organizations like the United Nations Children's Fund, Africa Unite Against Child Abuse, and Save the Children have stepped in where they could to stop the witch-hunt. But the phenomenon of "witch children" is so widespread throughout Africa these organizations have set up "witch camps" as shelters for children who cannot be safely place with a relative like Shilua.

Throughout history people described as witches have been tortured, persecuted, and even murdered. And it is usually society's most vulnerable who are targeted.

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Morehouse's non-tolerance for gays

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:30:00 -0500

Morehouse College has a problem with its dress-code offenders.

These dress-code offenders wear baggy pants, du-rags, flash their "bling bling" like gold chains, and "decorative orthodontic appliances" like gold teeth, and tattoos, bringing too much of black urban ghetto life to an elite college that fashions itself as the paragon of black manhood.

In Morehouse's effort to "get back to [its] legacy," Dr. William Bynum, vice president of the office of student services discussed with Safe Space, the school's gay, bisexual transgender, and queer (GBTQ) organization, the school's new "Appropriate Attire Policy" banning dress-wearing.

"And if anyone sees this policy as something that is restrictive then maybe Morehouse is not the place for you," Cameron Thomas-Shah, student government co-chief of staff told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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Is Barney Frank Relevant?

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:00 -0500

Congressman Barney Frank has been for decades the iconic image of gay civil rights advocacy on Capitol Hill.

For many years he was the lone voice and only openly gay congressman.

And as a Massachusetts resident I was once proud to say, "Barney Frank has got my back."

But as one of the most vocal critics of the National Equality March that took place in Washington this weekend, Frank has many LGBTQ Americans nationwide wondering if he has become a bureaucratic gatekeeper.

And for those under 40 many are also asking is Barney Frank now the iconic image of the generational schism of our new gay rights movement?

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Out of my Black Church, Into the Streets

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:30:00 -0500

I will not be in church this Sunday, but I will be in a place where my spiritual self will be fed. I will be participating in the National Equality March (NEM) this Sunday, carrying the banner of Faith in America, an organization that is working to stop bigotry disguised as religious truth.

And no faith community knows better than the Black Church how religion-based bigotry shapes prejudicial attitudes in this country. Religious texts have been interpreted to justify some of this country's worst crimes against our community, including slavery, lynching, and the prohibition of interracial marriage. As African Americans, we have continually experienced the harm that religion-based bigotry can cause, but today thousands of our own children live on the streets because they have been kicked out of their homes and their church for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Religion-based bigotry and prejudice are the biggest obstacles lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans face in obtaining full civil equality and equal treatment under the law. As an African American ordained Christian minister and theologian who is also a lesbian, I face religion-based bigotry and prejudice from within my own faith community - the Black Church - and feel it is time to end the harm to our African American LGBTQ youth.

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Black queers are tying the knot

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:30:00 -0500

More and more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people of African descent are marrying.

An idea that was once thought of as an anathema to black queer identity, marriage, in our LGBTQ communities, is being celebrated and on the rise. And many of us are now proudly walking down the aisle to tie the knot.

"Is it no longer a white thing?" Jeff Nelson, a white gay resident of Cambridge asked me as I was dashing off to perform the nuptials of two lesbians of color -- Gigi DeRosa and Fulani Butler of Roxbury -- on September 20.

With black local pastors in Greater Boston and beyond still ranting and raving that their reasons for opposing same-sex marriage are prophylactic to combat the epidemic level of fatherlessness in black communities nationwide, and to stem the demise of the nuclear black family, what makes us still forge forward with this act?

And with many of our family members not in attendance at our nuptials, for reasons ranging from shame to religious indoctrination, what message are LGBTQ Americans of African descent hearing now about same-sex marriage that we didn't hear before?

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The Conversation America Won't Have on Race

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:30:00 -0500

If we resided in a post-racial society then William Faulkner's words uttered in the 20th century would not ring true in this century - "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past."

With the election of Barack Obama as this nation's first African-American president many of us had hope we could finally close the door on America''s original sin - slavery.

But the vestiges of that institution lingers not only in the backwaters of America, but they also linger in the hallowed halls of Congress.

When South Carolina Republican House Rep. Joe Wilson belted out ""You lie!"" during Obama''s televised joint session of Congress address, Wilson jolted us back to Faulkner's words.

If Wilson's act of incivility were merely about Joe the Man, and not about a nation still haunted by and grappling with its shameful and unexamined legacy of racism, then the fodder and fuss that followed would not have ensued.

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Black Episcopal Congregation Celebrates Lesbian Marriage

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:00:00 -0500

Since the liberal arm of the U.S. Episcopal Church passed a resolution in July to bless same-sex unions - particularly in states like Massachusetts that legalize such marriages - so too has, at least, one black congregation within the Massachusetts diocese. On August 30th St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Cambridge housed the marriage and blessed the union of its mayor, E. Denise Simmons and her lifetime partner, Ms. Mattie Hayes.

And the historic event happened because of the fierce determination of a straight ally to Cambridge's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the church's new Priest-in-Charge, The Reverend Leslie K. Sterling, who is also the first African-American female priest at St. Barts. Having just arrived at St. Barts in February, Sterling brings a new vision to a church that has served both the African-American and African-Carribean community for over 100 years.

When I went to meet with Sterling to discuss our roles as officiates in the mayor's nuptials I asked her if she were ready to jump into this conflagration that has the Episcopal Church at the brink of schism.

"Some will leave I know, but those who oppose and stay, at least, we can talk about it in a spirited conversation," Sterling said.

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Living while Black in Cambridge

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:00:00 -0500

None of us African-American residents of Cambridge are surprised or shocked by the humiliation and harassment Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 58, of Harvard University encountered at the hands of Cambridge police.

My partner, Dr.Thea James, an Emergency Room physician who would drive from home to work was stopped all the time for "driving while black." And when the Cambridge cops realized she's a woman, and a lesbian one at that, their unbridled homophobia surfaces. Thea now takes the bus.

My girlfriend's kids and their friends hang out at the Cambridge's Galleria Mall like kids do. The Cambridge police in the mall stop my girlfriend's kids and their friends; one white and two Asians are not, because "shopping while black" is always mistaken as shoplifting.

These constant shakedowns of us have been deliberately on the down low to the public because Cambridge, proudly dubbed as "The People's Republic of Cambridge," is ranked as one of the most liberal cities in America. And with two of the country's premier institutions of higher learning - Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology - that draw students and scholars from around the world, Cambridge's showcase of diversity and multiculturalism rivals that of the U.N.

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Let the Episcopal Church say Amen

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly to overturn a three-year moratorium on the election of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queers to the episcopate. While many LGBTQ Episcopalians and their allies are jumping for joy the battle isn't over.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams expressed his concerns about the recent vote telling the Associated Press "I regret the fact that there is no will to observe the moratorium in such a significant part of the church in North America."

The conservative arm of the Episcopal Church suggests that the openly-gay Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, should resign to avoid disintegration of the Anglican Communion

But is the Episcopal Church's impeding schism really about the theological rift that sprung up after the consecration of its first openly-gay bishop?

Or, is the brouhaha really about a church in battle with itself about how to be financially solvent and theologically relevant in today's competitive religious marketplace?

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The Queerness of Michael Jackson

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:30:00 -0500

At Michael Jackson's memorial service the Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing speech that had the congregation at the Staples Center rise to their feet at times with shouts of "Amen!"

Sharpton made one particular statement in his speech to MJ's three children, addressing the reasons for Jackson's eccentricities when he said, " "I want his children to know there was nothing strange about your daddy; it was strange what your daddy had to deal with, but he dealt with it anyway."

While clearly Sharpton's statement hinted to the racism Michael Jackson endured in the music industry as an African-American entertainer trying to be a crossover success, Sharpton's statement totally ignored, as much as the black community has in their tribute to Jackson, the homophobia too - both from us and the music industry.

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Obama's upcoming hush-hush damage control meeting with LGBTQ leaders

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:30:00 -0500

The President has been an Obama-nation on LGBTQ issues since he's taken office.

The political carrots Obama dangled before us as campaign promises are now looking like merely empty rhetoric that was used to court our votes and to collect our campaign dollars.

But with a 74 percent disapproval rating the President now has with us according to the recent Washington Blade web poll that asked the question "Is Obama moving fast enough on LGBT issues?," and with many LGBTQ Democrats, especially those with deep pockets, boycotting the June 25th DNC fundraiser in D.C. that would fill the party's coffers with queer dollars, the Justice Department decided to have a conversation with us.

And in their effort to thwart off both a huge political and financial loss to him and the party, the DOJ is conducting a hush-hush damage control meeting with the nation's top LGBTQ heads of organizations on Monday June 29. In a written invitation from the White House it states the following:

The President and Mrs. Obama request the pleasure of your company and a reception to be held at the White House on Monday, June 29, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. Please respond at the Social Secretary of the White House at your earliest convenience giving your date of birth and social security number of your guest and yourself.

The purpose of the gathering is to ask us what we want?

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Obama not marching with Black Pride

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:00:00 -0500

June is Pride Month. And Black Pride contributes to the multicultural aspect of joy and celebration in the queer communities. Black Pride symbolizes not only black LGBTQ uniqueness as individuals and communities, but it also affirms our varied expressions of LGBTQ life in America.

This year will be our first Black Pride parade with an African American as president. And, no doubt, Obama's presidency engenders pride, but not much hope.

In Obama's first days many of us want to know what is it with Obama and his team when it comes to our inclusion in his transformational administration?

One of our biggest obstacles in the African American community has been and continues to be the Black Church. Obama wooed Black homophobic black ministers to win black evangelicals voters during his campaign bid.

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Proposition Hate Redux

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The California Supreme Court ruled again on same-sex marriage. This time it did to uphold Proposition 8, restricting marriage to one man and one woman. In a 6-to-1 decision the justices decided that Proposition 8 would remain part of the state constitution. And the 18,000 same-sex couples that ran to the altar to legally consecrate their nuptials before November 4, 2008, well they're the lucky ones, since our right to marry can be so easily taken away by the pull of a lever.

For a fleeting moment in 2008 we saw democracy work for same-sex couples in California. In a 4-to-3 decision, the California Supreme Court in May of that year ruled that a "separate and unequal" system of domestic partnership for same-sex couples is not only blatantly discriminatory, but it is also unconstitutional.

The Court upheld the democratic process, offering same- sex couples "marriage" and not "marriage-lite " with civil unions and put forth the following statement:

"In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

But California's same-sex couples and their allies knew the knot on this issue was not securely tied. Proposition 8, so rightly dubbed "Proposition Hate," would be the determining factor. And it was.

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Who celebrates our queer servicemembers on Memorial Day?

irene@bilerico.com (Rev Irene Monroe) — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:00:00 -0500

There will be parades all across the country this Memorial Day commemorating our U.S. service members who died while in the military. But not all of our servicemembers will be honored for their acts of bravery and patriotism.

Back in the day, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer servicemembers who died while servicing our country were either closeted about their sexual orientation or were discharged under "honorable conditions" called "Fraudulent Enlistment."

Unfortunately, today not much has changed.

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