[rant] on “gay marriage” & “the black church”

when did the Seventh Day Adventists, the Southern Baptist Church, the American Baptist Church (USA), the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Mennonites, the Methodist Church, the United Pentecostal Church, the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), the Church of God (Anderson, IN), the Assemblies of God — pretty much, when did mainline white christian organizations — begin affirming the full inclusion and possibility for marriage of “same gender”* couples? have i awakened from a deep, long sleep where these groups have included and allowed — not the survival, nor mere tolerance of, but — the thriving of queer folks in their denominations? no? didn’t think so.

so why is there all of this focus on the cataclysm done to “the black church” because of one president’s announcement? of course, some religious figures [side-eyeing JHB and his horribleness] are exploiting this for their own political gain. but the media representation of “the black church” as overwhelmingly against queer folks is not nuanced at ALL. there’s more than enough queer-phobia to go around and black folks are not the only, nor the most vocal, folks participating in this ridiculous enterprise. selah.

*[a problematic phrase; and “marriage” is also a normative configuration of relationship that does much violence to non-conforming queer folks.]