Next, it’s time that the Black Church and the African American community begin engaging in an open and frank conversation over the issue of homophobia. For far too long, we have dodged the bullet on this reality, and the end result has been catastrophic for all of us. Because of a massive stigma and fears of castigation, many live dual realities – on the one end pretending they are fathers and husbands, and on the other, living on ‘the down-low’. Not only has such an existence denied people the opportunity to live openly and freely as they choose, but it has greatly contributed to the skyrocketing number of HIV/AIDS cases among African American women who may be unaware of the activities of their husbands/boyfriends. As we continue discussing Pastor Long’s alleged crimes, we must ask ourselves, would this have been such a big issue if it were a heterosexual allegation?
—The Rev. Al Sharpton, taking a giant step forward in untangling the mess that is the black and religious communities and homophobia, using Eddie Long as the sacrificial lamb
[via]
EARLIER:
Bishop Eddie Long: ‘Faith Is Being Strengthened’ By 4 Men Accusing Me Of Sexual Molestation
reason
The answer is no. The true question is if it should be a huge deal if it was a heterosexual allegation? The answer is yes. Both actions are despicable and puts ones innocent partner at risk of contracting HIV or another sexual transmitted diseases. That does not even account for all of the other emotional trauma one puts them through. Being a spiritual leader comes with increased responsibility, making the act even more egregious regardless of who he was bedding. Boys or girls.
Fitz
I am standing to applaud him. Well, not really. But I would. It is a HUGE thing for gays, for blacks, for gay blacks, etc, that he even acknowledges that there are dangerous adverse effects of homophobia within the black community. That is big. Because he isn’t demonizing gays.. he is laying ownership of the problem where it belongs. (at the bigot’s door).
TruthTeller
Hmmm. I don’t know. Isn’t he backing up the theory of “down low” men having secret sex being the cause of AA women’s AIDS rates?
reason
@Fitz: It is actually not that earth shattering, Sharpton has been supporting gays including marriage for a very long time. Sharpton and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is extremely pro-GBLT, are discussing ways to eradicate homophobia. They are also addressing the issue of our community scapegoating the black community to the point that they are driving allies away. http://www.theloop21.com/politics/exclusive-charles-rangel-julian-bond-al-sharpton-black-leaders-weigh-lgbt-rights?page=3
ewe
1. I tend to like Al Sharptons point of view but he is apparently in the dark about HIV. HIV has nothing to do with being down low or a black woman or a gay man or a straight person etc. It is only due to a virus being transferred from one person to the next. Sharptons (smoldering homophobic) morality needs a self check at the very least.
2. To answer Al Sharptons question whether this would be a bigger deal if it involved women instead of men, i say no but not entirely for the same reason he probably feels. While it’s true these foul mouthed religious evangelical flip tarts chant hate against homosexuals proving only their own ignorance, this disgraceful Eddie Long is the ringleader being brought to task for leading the antigay mantras AND more importantly for being a self hating vile closeted hypocrite while he does so.
ewe
Remember to ask whether Al Sharpton would have even brought up the topic of HIV but for the fact this story involves homosexual encounters and for that i am very disappointed in his ignorance.
Sug Night
I doubt it would have received this amount of press. However, had been “grooming” young girls to be his sex puppets, all the while preaching abstinence before marriage, for example, perhaps it would have been as big a deal.
I find his story more about being one of the world’s biggest liars and hypocrits.
reason
Sharpton brings up HIV often, he seems to like to talk about those things that make a lot of people uncomfortable including homophobia.
Mike D
I totally changed my view on Rev. Al after reading this statement he made a few years ago:
“There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people’s bedrooms and claim that God sent you.” – Al Sharpton Denounces Anti-Gay Black Mega-Church Pastors
In the past, he may have sometimes deployed questionable tactics to get his point across, but with age has come a certain amount of maturity that unfortunately has gone unnoticed. I applaud his current stance on LGBT issues – especially for the Black community.
ewe
@Mike D: I agree with you but his statement here blames black men for giving HIV to black women without acknowledging that the men also have to deal with having HIV too. It’s homophobic against male homosexuality. What else is new?
TruthTeller
He does say “greatly contributed” (to HIV rates), but “greatly” is a vague term. To be fair, though, he’s really not denying that straight people often give HIV to straight people (having caught HIV in other ways besides male-on-male sex). But he probably should have brought that up as well so his statement doesn’t seem sort of gay-blaming.
UMB
Acting all offended and screaming “racism” and “pos-phobia” whenever anyone says the words “HIV,” “Gay,” “homophobia” or “black” near each other is counter productive. It would be naive and irresponsible to ignore the very real problems within black communities concerning HIV and homophobia. 50% of people diagnosed with HIV in the US in 2008 were black while only 11% of the US population is black. Ignoring problems because they have to do with racial and cultural boundaries is in fact racist itself. Pragmatism, not naive political correctness, is the way to deal with HIV.
Mark
“As we continue discussing Pastor Long’s alleged crimes, we must ask ourselves, would this have been such a big issue if it were a heterosexual allegation?”
*cough* TigerWoods *cough*
Cam
@ewe: said..
”
1. I tend to like Al Sharptons point of view but he is apparently in the dark about HIV. HIV has nothing to do with being down low or a black woman or a gay man or a straight person etc. It is only due to a virus being transferred from one person to the next. Sharptons (smoldering homophobic) morality needs a self check at the very least.”
____________________________________________________
Your comment is like saying “Not using condoms has nothing to do with HIV, it’s a virus and has nothing to do with condoms.”
What Sharpton was saying is that the hiding and lying that people on the “Down Low” do can contribute to the spread of HIV. IF their wife is on birth control she is going to ask them what the hell he is doing with a condom in his car, and according to psychologists buying and using condoms is avoided because it makes them deal with the fact that they are planning to have sex with a man and can’t blame it on a “Momentary Lapse”.
As for Sharpton, I”m always stunned by how supportive he is of gays. He has apparently been pro-gay marraige for ages!
Scott in NYC
I really wish the gay community did not throw its support behind any voice, especially when it comes form the left, that supports gay rights without even giving a nod to the rest of the person’s stances. I am sick of one-issue politics. Al Sharpton is horrific anti-semite, his disgusting past is literred with all sorts of scandals. LIves have been ruined or ended becuase of this man, and he says, “Hey, we need to face homophobia!” and he’s suddenly a hero for many gay people. NOnsense. We can do better than this.
ewe
@UMB: Everything you say is true and should be brought up in the public square but without a homosexual scandal as its impetus which seems to always be the case. So the question begs… Is there really such concern for HIV in the black community or is it just easier to scapegoat gay MEN?
ewe
@Cam: That’s true. One can have safe sex and not get HIV so your example about condoms is window dressing and mute. Many people believe in equality only because they fear something being taken away from them would be next if they encourage that process. If you care to notice, it is homosexual sex that is under attack. I don’t hear Al Sharpton bitching about black crack head whores spreading HIV, just “down low” black men. I think Al Sharpton is an asset to civil rights but he is not an expert when it comes to gay issues. Closeted gay men or straight men having gay sex is not always an HIV issue. Sharpton should not have linked the two. It is manipulative and takes away from what Pastor Eddie Long is really guilty of.
ewe
@Cam: If anyone here had linked this story to black men on the down low spreading HIV, this entire site of commenters would have taken them to task for racism so it is no different when Al Sharpton inserts HIV into this topic when it has nothing to do with nothing regarding Eddie Longs alleged sexcapades with other guys to accuse him of homophobia.
Black Pegasus
The reason this is a HUGE story is because of the disgusting hypocrisy involved! Bishop ‘Eddie Longs for Cock’ has made millions off of his Hate Mongering and Condemnation of our Gay Brothers and Sisters. Most Americans will ultimately forgive someone who has committed a personal failing (i.e Bill Clinton), but when you’re exposed as a fucking hypocrite, there will be no mercy for you!
I commend Mr. Sharpton..
Black Pegasus
Here is another Black Pastor giving ‘Eddie Longs for Cock’
a verbal beat down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP14F0aPXSU
t money
sug night took the words out of my mouth!
Scott in NYC
Don’t believe me about Sharpton? Here’s a piece of a column from years ago that describes some of his past. Tell me what you think of it…and if it bothers you at all that the media bow to this and rarely mention any of this (all true and fully dcoumentable and never denied actually):
1987: Sharpton spreads the incendiary Tawana Brawley hoax, insisting heatedly that a 15-year-old black girl was abducted, raped, and smeared with feces by a group of white men. He singles out Steve Pagones, a young prosecutor. Pagones is wholly innocent — the crime never occurred — but Sharpton taunts him: “If we’re lying, sue us, so we can . . . prove you did it.” Pagones does sue, and eventually wins a $345,000 verdict for defamation. To this day, Sharpton refuses to recant his unspeakable slander or to apologize for his role in the odious affair.
1991: A Hasidic Jewish driver in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section accidentally kills Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old black child, and antisemitic riots erupt. Sharpton races to pour gasoline on the fire. At Gavin’s funeral he rails against the “diamond merchants” — code for Jews — with “the blood of innocent babies” on their hands. He mobilizes hundreds of demonstrators to march through the Jewish neighborhood, chanting, “No justice, no peace.” A rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, is surrounded by a mob shouting “Kill the Jews!” and stabbed to death.
1995: When the United House of Prayer, a large black landlord in Harlem, raises the rent on Freddy’s Fashion Mart, Freddy’s white Jewish owner is forced to raise the rent on his subtenant, a black-owned music store. A landlord-tenant dispute ensues; Sharpton uses it to incite racial hatred. “We will not stand by,” he warns malignantly, “and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.” Sharpton’s National Action Network sets up picket lines; customers going into Freddy’s are spat on and cursed as “traitors” and “Uncle Toms.” Some protesters shout, “Burn down the Jew store!” and simulate striking a match. “We’re going to see that this cracker suffers,” says Sharpton’s colleague Morris Powell. On Dec. 8, one of the protesters bursts into Freddy’s, shoots four employees point-blank, then sets the store on fire. Seven employees die in the inferno.
If Sharpton were a white skinhead, he would be a political leper, spurned everywhere but the fringe. But far from being spurned, he is shown much deference. Democrats embrace him. Politicians court him. And journalists report on his comings and goings while politely sidestepping his career as a hatemongering racial hustler.
When Sharpton came to Boston to promote his campaign last week, for example, the news coverage was uniformly upbeat. The Boston Herald noted the “joyous singing and thunderous applause” that greeted the “civil rights leader,” whose “energetic visit left many enthusiastic about his presidential bid.” The Globe announced the arrival of “the colorful and controversial 48-year-old community activist” with a story listing the places and times of his public appearances. The only allusion to his ugly record was a vague quote from a local minister: “He obviously has a lot of history and controversy to overcome.” That was quickly countered by Sharpton’s own self-description as a man known “for my fights against racial profiling and discrimination.”
Well, that isn’t what Steve Pagones or the family of Yankel Rosenbaum or the loved ones of those who were burned alive at Freddy’s Fashion Mart know him for. As they can testify, Sharpton is a vicious liar and a dangerous bigot. As a matter of moral hygiene, his party and the press should be able to say so, too.
Jeffree
Sharpton *may* be taking such a vocal stance for two other reasons:
1) Long preaches against homo.sexu.ality, has promised to help “deliver” themselves from the life style while allegedly being a MSM.
2) Long is a pastor & a church leader who allegely used his position of power to score “dates” with parishioners in the guise of helping them to “become men”.
That’s a serious breach ofpastoral ethics.
Sharpton is one of few religious leaders with a national platform who has vocally stood for LGB rights for at least a decade. Let’s not turn him into a saint, per se, but remember his voice does matter.
tlj
I really can not say if the issue would be of this magnitude if it were a heterosexual allegation but I can say there are many in the pulpit that manipulate and prey on vulnerable women in the church and in time just as God has allowed the church to be shaken because of these allegations there will be a set time that God allows that to be revealed as well. All I can say is the church is in serious trouble and we need to wake up. Only God will have the last judgement and all I can say is we all, whether heterosexual or homosexual,need to take a look at our lives and know if we go to sleep tonight and do not wake up in the morning “Did I live a life pleasing to the God I say I love so much?” Sin regardless of what it is separates you from God. Homophobia is FEAR of discrimination against homosexuality/homosexuals. My Bible tells me that God does not give us a spirit of fear but of power and a sound mind so that in itself tells me God has nothing to do with homophobia so to tell the African American community we need to address homophobia is not the issue. The issue in the black church is lust and lots of it and that is what needs to be addressed!! The black church can’t deal with the issue of lust because most of the pulpit has an issue with it so you can not address something you have not been delivered from yourself. Wake up people!!
TruthTeller
Scott in NYC : But Sharpton often gets airtime because he’s good for ratings. Even people who hate him want to hear what he has to say, if only to roll their eyes.
Scott in NYC
@TruthTeller:
I am sure he gets ratings, I disagree that it is okay to have him on and never discuss his digusting past. The “deference” he is shown – as the column I posted details – bothers me to an extent I can’t articulate. Any objective viewpoint would reveal this guy to be among the worst the world has to offer…yet, he’s some sort of hero.
The gay community is building allies these days. Why must we join the chorus of people who are willing to bring in someone who has done immense damage to so many lives? Isn’t there someone else who can take that place? Why must we fight the good fight with someone who has been the catalyst to so many ugly fights…ones that have ended in the DEATHS of multiple people? Are we just surrendering and saying, “Well, this is the best we can do.”
We should never settle. That’s not what got this ball rolling in the first place. It shouldn’t be what keeps it rolling now.
ewe
@tlj: You wake up and keep your god to yourself. It amazes me how you shirk responsiblity for your feelings and blame people by using your own concept of god. I should say “delusional god” because that is more accurate. You are nuts and i don’t appreciate you thinking your psychosis will be accepted or tolerated any ol place you damn well want to defecate just because you dress your fanaticism up with the word god. Just save it for your temple and those that believe your simple rules about existence. I find it pathetic and small.
tlj
@ewe: All I can say is wow! Based on your comments you are not a believer therefore we are unequally yoked and I can not and will not waste my precious time to even challenge you on your comments. Your interpretation and respons to my comments gives me even more conviction that the world is in trouble. You are in my prayers.
tlj
@ewe: I just realized the site I was on. I saw Al Sharpton’s name as part of the Eddie Long scandal and clicked on the site without identifying the tupe of site I was on. No wonder you responded the way you did to my comments. I am defintitely out of place on this site. Had I known I was on the queerty site I would have never even responded. Wow!!
ewe
@tlj: So you decided to come back a second time and respond again right? YOU HYPOCRITE. The point is too keep your filthy hateful religious garbage to yourself.