i loves me some latrice royale but i completely disagree with her when she said that gay unions should not be called ‘marriage.’ history will show that separate is not equal . it seems that a few decades after we determined this and people have already forgotten. one minority should certainly show more compassion towards another for the exact reason that they have both experienced the exact same type of injustice rather than the former voting to take away the rights of the latter simply because they now benefit from the rights as part of the majority.

another history lesson on separation we need to take a look at is that of separation between church and state. people, especially christians, need to realize that this part of the constitution is designed specifically to protect their rights to practice their religions without the threat of punishment. it should not be used to take away the rights of others.

there’s been a lot of talk about the influence of the black vote on the recent gay marriage ban in north carolina. indeed, there’s been a lot of black church leaders speaking out against gay marriage (there’s been a lot of opposition to gay marriage from people of different colors and they all get their share of the blame too). i just really wish that history wasn’t so easy to forget and we uphold the dreams of people like martin luther king, jr. even his wife and widow, the late coretta scott king, fought for the rights of those in the lgbt community.

it makes me happy to see that there are strong black leaders, like rev. dr. otis moss III speak out for the equality and the distribution of civil rights for all people. below is an excerpt from his recent sermon followed by the video:

we have the fingerprint of the divine upon our spirits. there is no doubt that there are people who are same-gender loving occupying prominent places in the church but for the clergy to hide with a quick dismissive claim of poor biblical scholarship is as sinful as unthoughtful acceptance. when we make biblical claim without sound interpretation, we adopt doctrinal positions devoid of the love ethic. deep faith may resonate in our position but the ethic of love will always force you to reexamine and prayerfully reconsider your position. the question that you got wrong is the question that should be raised: ‘should all americans have the same civil rights?’ this is different than the question ‘does the church have the right to perform or not perform a religious rite?’ r-i-t-e. there is a different spelling between r-i-g-h-t and r-i-t-e. these two questions are answered in two different arenas. one in the pluralistic arena of civic debate and the other in ecclesiastical counsels. i do not believe ecclesiastical counsels are equipped to shape civic legislation nor are civic legislators equipped to shape religious rituals and doctrine. the institution of marriage is not under attack because of the president’s words. marriage was under attack years ago when men viewed women as property and children as trophies of their sexual prowess. marriage is under attack by low wages, high incarceration and lack of education. marriage is under attack by clergy who think nothing of stepping outside the bounds of marriage to sleep with ‘preaching groupies.’ same gender couples have not caused high divorce rate but our adolescent views of relationships and our inability as a community to come to grips with the ethic of love and commitment. we still mistake sex for love and romance for commitment. my father eloquently stated to a group of ministers the other day that our ancestors prayed for 389 years to get a president of color in the white house. we led over 200 slave revolts, fought in 11 wars, one civil war where 600 thousand people died, women’s suffrage. people were lynched for the civil rights bill of ’64 and the voting rights bill of ’65. he stated his father never voted and he rushes to the polls to pull the lever for every member of his family who was denied the right to vote. he said that he will not allow narrow-minded clergy or regressive politicians to keep him from exercising his right to vote and helping to shape the future of his grandchildren. the economic crash, foreclosures, and attack on health care were not caused by gay and lesbian citizens. poor schools were not created by people who desire equal protection. we have much work to do. to claim that the presidents of the united states must hold your theological position is absurd. he is the president of the united states–not the president of the baptist community convention, not president or bishop of the sanctified church. he is called to protect those who are jew and gentile; male and female; young and old; gay and straight. we, as a church, if we dare still wait from the noise of this debate will be able to hear the voice of the prophet to say that we are called to do justice, live mercy and walk humbly with god. gay people have never been the enemy and when we use rhetoric to suggest that they are the source of all our problems, we lie on god and cause tears to fall from the eyes of christ. i am not asking you to change your position but i am stating that we must stay and dialogue and not allow our personal emotional prejudices or doctrines to prevent us from clearly seeing the possibility of the beloved community. november is coming and the spirits of ella baker, septima clark, fannie lou hamer, a. philip randolph, james orange, medgar evers, and martin luther king, jr stand in the balcony of heaven raising the question ‘will you do justice, live mercy and walk humbly with god?’ emmett till and four little girls of alabama did not die for a sunday morning sound bite where you can show disdain for one group of god’s children. they died because of an evil act by men who believed in doctrine over love. we live today because of a man who believed in love over doctrine who died on a hill at calvary in the dusty plain of palestine.’

take us to church, latrice.

hallelujah, holla back.