BLACK CHURCH LEADERS CALLING FOR SUPPORT FOF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Florida House Representative Michele Rayner delivers an impassioned speech vowing to challenge the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed by Florida’s Republican-led legislature and now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, during a rally on the front steps of city hall in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Saturday, March 12, 2022.  Photo: Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times (AP)

Historically, the Black Church in the south has not directly supported the LGBTQ+ community. However, NBC News reports that Black religious advocates are now rallying behind the Pride community to protest the passing of the "Don't Say Gay" bill in Florida.

Religious leaders joined a panel to support the need for legislation that protects both religious liberty as well as LGBTQ+ rights.

The recent legislative actions against the LGBTQ+ community have jeopardized the ability for the Equality Act to get signed. This results in preventing both religious and LGBTQ+ populations from gaining important protection from discrimination.

Therefore, advocates for both the Black Church and the Pride Communities see how collaboration works for the benefit of both groups.  Rev. Cedric A. Harmon of Many Voices, a Black church organization, said it’s time for Black religious leaders to take the initiative and drive forward the movement for LGBTQ+ rights.

“This is something that the church, I think, often is too reticent to do — to speak out in support of legislation that addresses historical discrimination against the LGBTQ community,” said Harmon, who identifies as same-gender-loving and has worked with religious leaders to advance LGBTQ rights. “So this is the perfect moment to lift the voice of Black religious communities and Black religious leaders to say, ‘When we talk about LGBTQ concerns and issues, we’re talking about members of our own community.’”

More than 70 percent of Black LGBTQ adults are religious — either highly religious, 31.7 percent, or moderately religious, 39.3 percent — according to a 2020 report from the Williams Institute, a sexual orientation and gender identity research program at UCLA School of Law.

The Equality Act passed the House in 2021 but needs to bypass a filibuster in the Senate, per NBC. The panel also noted that beyond the divide between the religious and LGBT community, there is an overall concern for the safety of LGBT people. The Human Rights Campaign reported seven trans people were killed this year and most of them were trans people of color.

Kendra R. Johnson, executive director of Equality North Carolina, told NBC the church should utilize its influence to fight for everyone’s civil rights. “It is a community of organizers that has a deep understanding of what it is to be pushed out of the systems that should serve all of us,” she said.

[For the complete text of the source article, please see: https://www.theroot.com/black-church-leaders-called-to-support-lgbtq-rights-1848873887]