Many Voices, an LGBT movement in the Black Church

Hey there,

As some of you might know, I'm a member of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington (GMCW). We rehearse every Sunday from about 6:15-9:15pm (except as we get closer to showtime, then we'll have double rehearsals starting in the afternoon). During this rehearsal, we get a break halfway through which is kicked of by announcements. And occasionally we'll have a guest come to speak to us from an organization in the community.

Recently, we had members of the DC Metropolitan Police Department's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit speak to us, and this past Sunday, we had Reverend Cedric A. Harmon, Co-Director of Many Voices, come visit to share more about the work of Many Voices as well an outreach opportunity through partnership with GMCW.

If you're not familiar with Many Voices, from their About page:

Many Voices is committed to creating a national movement for gay and transgender justice from within the Black church. Working in partnership with nationally-recognized pastors, theologians, and Christian educators, Many Voices is laying a foundation for respectful and loving dialogue. Through trainings, mentoring, and online resources that provide a safe place to ask questions, learn, and take new steps, we equip African American pastors and church members to publicly share the faith journeys that have led them to affirm love and justice for gay and transgender (LGBT) families.

As some of you might have noticed with my blog, I'm a firm believer in letting organizations describe themselves, if they've made the effort to do so, as I wouldn't want to exclude or diminish anything by trying to paraphrase it. But I digress.

It was really neat having him come to speak to us. It was particularly interesting to me, having recently joined GMCW's Marketing & Outreach Committee. I had read of and studied such things in grad school for Arts Management at American University, but obviously theory and discussion are much different than practice in reality. But I bring it up because it's great to be a part of an organization I've been a member of, in a way beyond performance, and to see all the other work manifest itself and come to fruition step by step, like this community outreach partnership with Many Voices.

Very cool, Rev. Cedric A. Harmon of @manyvoicestweet came to speak to us during our break. manyvoices.org/blog/contribut… #dcarts twitter.com/GMCWashington/…
— GMCWashington (@GMCWashington) November 12, 2012

There's actually a picture of his visist at the original tweet. Unfortunately, it didn't show up when I embedded it here.

Anyway, his visit and the organization with its work was very timely, in terms of the larger fight for civic rights and equality. Many Voices is just one actualization of a windfall, in terms of a major paradigm shift in terms of how the African-American community discusses and accepts it's LGBT members. Two major events to help this sea change were mentioned inn Ebony, in an article written right after this past election:

Black voters tend to be more religious and have historically have been slow to accept gay marriage. But national and regional polling has suggested that Black support for equal marriage has dramatically increased after President Obama and the NAACP's historic announcements supporting the position.

The article brought this up in the context of marriage equality passing in the state of Maryland, and how crucial black voters were to its success. So in all of this, Rev. Cedric coming to speak to us about the work of Many Voices...well, it's just wonderful to see progress in action, and to meet and work with some of the individuals and organizations who are helping to lead the charge towards equality.

As always, I left rehearsal that night feeling very humbled and grateful. And very excited to keep you updated about it all. And for those who made it, as you  might know, this is part of my LGBT Tuesday series. If there's an organization that serves the LGBT community you have worked with or are involved with that you'd recommend I highlight, please let me know, as well as your connection to it.

And definitely let me know what you think of Many Voices. If you've heard of it before and are engaged with them, or if you haven't and what your initial thoughts are? Whatever's on your mind, to keep this conversation going.

JR

What's hate got to do with it? Last week's FRC shooting

Hey there,

So remember that shooting last week at the "Family Research Council"? I know, that was barely a week ago. And Legitimate Rape Gate blew up on Sunday. Not saying that we, as a collective, can't focus on more than one issue at a time. But Social Media, and the 24/7 news cycle it fosters certainly doesn't help.

Just in case, last Wednesday a man entered the lobby of the FRC and shot a guard in the arm, before he was restrained and arrested. A number of LGBT groups signed on to a statement that was almost immediately released:

"We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers. 

The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence. We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident."

 View the statement and see which organizations signed on at GLAAD's website.

2 days after, FRC released a statement on its website, titled "After the Shooting, We're Still Standing". Contrasted with the joint sympathy from LGBT groups, for an organization that has actively demonized the LGBT community, if you read the statement, it doesn't take long before FRC's affirmation turns into accusation:

...I believe it was the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has recklessly labeled groups like FRC that they disagree with as "hate groups," that created this hostile environment."

Unfortunately for them, SPLC is anything but reckless in its methods. SPLC has a great page on the Family Research Council breaking down in depth why the organization fits under the label of being a hate group. They also had a well-written response to FRC's attempt to pivot the focus of the incident:

Perkins’ accusation is outrageous. The SPLC has listed the FRC as a hate group since 2010 because it has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people — not, as some claim, because it opposes same-sex marriage. The FRC and its allies on the religious right are saying, in effect, that offering legitimate and fact-based criticism in a democratic society is tantamount to suggesting that the objects of criticism should be the targets of criminal violence. (read more)

Some conservatives have nonetheless jumped on the bandwagon and used this incident to criticize SPLC for "enabling" an act like this against an organization that supports traditional marriage, and as the tip of the iceberg of a larger war on religion. There's an article CNN put out, SPLC draws conservative ire, which discussed this. Part of the main complaint is that the FRC, in being labeled a hate group, shares the stage with white supremacist, neo-nazi, and other similar groups that might more readily come to mind.

But one of the best responses to this apples and oranges argument I've seen is up on The Christian Century, written by Steve Thorngate:

When the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the FRC as a hate group, I affirmed the SPLC's move (as did a Century editorial). Others protested, often contrasting the FRC with violent fringe groups. Hate, this argument seems to take as given, by definition lacks widespread support and engages in violence. 

But that's not the SPLC's definition. And the SPLC didn't simply lob the label "hate group" at the FRC and let people react as they may. It carefully and soberly spelled out its case: the FRC doesn't just criticize gays and lesbians, it speaks of them in totalizing and demonizing ways. And it relies on junk science to do this. According to the SPLC, this constitutes a form of hate. (read more)

To further my initial analogy, sure, even if this is a case of apples and oranges, they're both still fruit. No pun or irony intended, with this...no really. Hate is hate, regardless of how it manifests itself.

But I digress. One other article I thought really put things into perspective was one from the Baltimore Sun, on the politicization of the incident:

The SPLC has its own mission and its own criteria for evaluating organizations. Whether it was right in calling the FRC a hate group is not a debate that gay rights leaders need to have. (read more)

And we're back where we started, with LGBT groups unanimously denouncing this violent act. In addition to that, Chad Griffin (president of the Human Rights Campaign) tactfully addressed the very issue brought up above a couple of days ago, in a Washington Post opinion piece, weighing in on the conversation that  has been happening while putting perspective and remaining relatively objective. I love the point that he ends with:

We welcome the calls for reasoned discourse about LGBT equality. But that discussion must be predicated on truth, not demonization. No right-thinking person can believe a difference of opinion is license to do harm. At least on that, all of us can agree. (read more).

There's much more than I can address here, anywhere from FRC threatening to sue the SPLC, to discussions of what constitutes hate. Thoughts or comments, please share them, as well as any other articles you've found compelling.

And if there are any topics, current news, or issues you'd like me to consider for upcoming LGBT Tuesday posts, please let me know,

-JR

Paul Ryan on LGBT Isuues

Hey there,

So if you're part of and/or involved with the LGBT community now you've probably seen the Human Rights Campaign's response to the GOP's VP nomination by now:

Let's go ahead and assume that there aren't only 4 things one should know about Paul Ryan, but these are the ones HRC highlighted.

Erwin de Leon, a researcher and writer in the DC area, wrote a piece for Nonprofit Quarterly, "Ryan, Romney’s VP Pick, Stirs Viral Response from LGBT Group", and among the points of his article, I love the point he ends with, explaining the promptness with which HRC responded to the announcement.

If Romney, Ryan and most of the Republican Party didn’t adopt anti-LGBT positions, then perhaps they wouldn’t have such determined and energized opponents. (read more)

One issue that has come up is the larger conversation in terms of what LGBT issues are. This has prompted numerous exchanges all over the internets and social media, such as the one below, between Dan Savage and Chris Barron:

@chrisrbarron @cjaymahoney Ryan's position and record on gay issues: advocate.com/politics/elect…
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) August 12, 2012

@fakedansavage you nor HRC nor the Advocate get to decide what qualifies as gay issues. @cjaymahoney
— Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) August 12, 2012

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. To be fair the exchange was more in depth than this selection, and I gotta give props to Dan Savage for RT'ing tweets that might be critical or disagree with him.

But personal thoughts and opinions aside, I recommend reading craigkg's piece on the Daily Kos, "ABC News: Ryan more pro-LGBT than GOP; Reality: not so much". He breaks down Paul Ryan's policy history into facts based on legislative voting records, which HRC turns into a scorecard for members of congress:

[Paul Ryan's] scores, in order for the 111th through 107th Congresses are, in order: Zero, 10, Zero, Zero, Zero. That's on a 100 point scale. (read more)

So...there's that. And don't mistake me, I don't think anyone should be a single issue voter, and I'm actually going to be blogging soon about Paul Ryan's support for the arts. If anything, it's curious when a person belongs to different groups & communities whose interests sometimes come into conflict with each other. Ultimately, I believe it's the duty of every individual to inform themselves, which is what I'm just beginning to do.

I suppose I've been fortunate that I have not been in that situation, and all the various communities I'm a part of, the different aspects of my individual identity, more or less exist in harmony with each other in my own life.

Any other articles you recommend checking out about Paul Ryan and his stance or history on LGBT issues? Let me know. Are you a member of the LGBT community that supports him? Please share why.

Also, coming up next week for Social Media Monday, I'll be blogging about Paul Ryan and the response his nomination had in social media. Definitely let me know if you've seen any particular memes are parody accounts on twitter, as well,

Until next time,

JR