The Black Church and the Curious Body of the Black Homosexual

Abstract

Many people often talk about how silent the Black churches are on sex, sexuality, and homosexuality. I do not think that silent is the right word. They speak constantly about matters of sex and sexuality. And Black Clergy are not particularly shy of talking about homosexuality. As a Black gay academic who is radically estranged from any church at all, I marvel that so many Black gays and lesbians continue to maintain their faith in their churches even as their very lives and bodies are Sunday after Sunday ridiculed, trivialized, and preached against as abominations. In my opinion, there is no body (literally) more contested in Black churches than the curious body of the black homosexual. It is not silence that provokes this short essay. Rather, I want to call attention to the manner in which the Black homosexual has become a curious body in the paradoxical orientation of the Black Church to the public and private spheres that frame its religious and spiritual interests. How is it that Black clergy can be characteristically liberal and progressive on public matters of civil and human rights and conservative or preservative on private matters of marriage, the family, and sex? For purposes of this essay, I will confine my discussion of homosexuality to Black gay men and lesbians. My intent is not to discount the experiences of transgender, bi-sexual, and transsexual members of the Black community. Rather, it is merely a means of maintaining focus on an otherwise insurmountable topic.