Rev. Gregory Daniels, a Black minister in Chicago, made the statement, "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, then I'd ride with them."
Bishop Eddie L. Long of Atlanta's mega church New Birth has called for a march from the King Center to protect the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Earlier this year, over 160 African American pastors signed a letter addressed to the Congressional Black Caucus to protect the union of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
I guess in their defense, at least the Black church took a position on the issue of gay marriage, whether it was wrong or right. Most of our Black elected officials and traditional organizations continue to be unable to do even that.
I know that I am not the only person in America who finds all of this to be very disturbing. Black folks have much more pressing issues that we need to be outraged about than gay marriage.
If Black pastors want to protect the Black family, they can start with advocating for more jobs and adequate healthcare for Blacks. One of the number one causes for domestic violence in relationships is stress derived from lack of financial resources.
Black ministers should be advocating to garner more HIV/AIDS funding from the Bush administration as a way of protecting the family, instead of pushing a right-wing agenda designed to further divide the Black community.
The Black community needs the Black church to use their influence to open the door for conversations around sexuality in the Black community. If you really want to protect the institution of marriage, let's talk about the phobias and stigmas that exist in our community around sex and sexual orientation.
The down low phenomenon did not happen over night. However, we have an opportunity to use its recent attention to discuss a much larger issue that we seem to gloss over in the Black church, homophobia.
Some down low men identify as straight and have wives or girlfriends. These men may have sex with men, but because of stigma towards gay people they stay closeted, coming home to their wives every night, possibly further spreading HIV/AIDS in our community.
Yet, we focus our resources on protecting the institution of marriage.
Look at how the Black church has gone from poverty to becoming one of the most financially powerful and visible entities in our society. Through slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement, the Black church has been able to build and maintain international ministries with base memberships of up to 50,000 people along with state of the art cathedrals that cost millions of dollars.
Throughout history, as long as Black people have existed, so have Black same-gender loving people. Where do you think they went to church at? The gay church? No. They attended the Black church and often times were the most faithful and stable support of the church. Heterosexuality has never been a prerequisite to give tithes in the Black church.
At the end of the day, Black pastors continue to be used as pawns by right wing conservatives pushing forward an agenda to further divide and marginalize our community. The very people that are "coaching" the Black pastors on this issue could care less about our community and when they are through with us, then what.
How long are we going to continue to allow ourselves to be bamboozled? The re-election of President Bush should have taught all Blacks a valuable lesson.
I am still waiting for a Black pastor to logically explain why marriage between gays and lesbians should be banned without hiding behind the Bible. Allowing gays and lesbians to marry wouldn't have affected religion at all if a separation of church and state truly existed.
There's a big difference between "religious marriage" and "civil marriage." Religious marriage usually takes place at a place of worship and is performed by a member of the clergy. Civil marriage is authorized by the state or county and can be performed by a government official. Again, conservatives were counting on the fact that Christian evangelicals wouldn't be able to connect the dots around this issue. Again, they were right.
Eleven states passed amendments to their constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. In Ohio, Mississippi, Georgia and Michigan, Black Americans overwhelmingly supported these amendments. Again, my question is now that you have successfully barred gays and lesbians from protecting their families and preserved your precious institution of marriage, are Blacks still unemployed, broke, uneducated and uninsured?
Protecting the institution of marriage is not going to pay your rent and put food on your table, unless you are one of the Black pastors who have successfully been able to use this issue to increase membership and tithes in the guise of Christianity. It will however, distract you from the issues that are really important in the Black community.
. Jasmyne Cannick, 27, frequently appears in print and broadcast media and on the web. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, a board member of the National Black Justice Coalition and co-producer of the new cable series, "Noah's Arc, America's First Black Gay Series." She is also director of public relations for the Black AIDS Institute. Email her at jasmynecannick at hotmail.com.