From The Washington Post-Gay men and lesbians will be represented in the coalition of groups marching this weekend in commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington. But the question of whether gay equality is a “civil right” – the way Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of rights denied to people on the basis of their skin color – remains a matter of disagreement, particularly among black Christians.
The issue came up last week during a news conference for faith leaders involved in Saturday’s event. The conference was attended by mostly African American clergy, several of whom raised concern that a prominent presence of LGBT advocates at the event would be divisive for the civil rights movement.
Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson of the National Action Network, which is organizing the Saturday march, said at the news conference that it was alright to disagree on the topic.
“We have not thrown away our theology…Jews marched in the march in ’63, and they don’t believe in Jesus. If we can make room for those people, we can also make room for people whose gender selection is not in line with the church,” Richardson told the group during the news conference. “This ain’t a march issue …. We gotta stay on point, because the devil wants us to get distracted … We have made room for the LGBT community to be present at the march while making it clear that this is not a platform to advance anybody’s agenda other than the agenda that we have in common.”
More here-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/08/20/some-black-clergy-not-comfortable-with-lgbt-movement-sharing-mantle-at-civil-rights-march/
No comments:
Post a Comment