01/31/2008
Choir Member on Outing Spree Hits DC Baptist Church
A female choir member at the D.C. Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church has sent a letter to its pastor, outing over 100 church members, mostly male members of the choir, the Washington Blade reports:
"The outings added to the inner turmoil experienced by a large number of gays who attend services at the 7,000-member Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church, located on Rhode Island Ave., N.E., according to a gay former member who provided copies of the e-mails to the Blade. 'I will be leaving the choir at the top of the year because 80 percent of the tenors are homosexuals and act more like a female in choir rehearsal than I do,' the church choir member said in one of her e-mails to Bishop Alfred Owens Jr., the church pastor. The e-mail, sent in December, identifies about 45 fellow church members as gay. She sent a second e-mail to Owens on Jan. 2 identifying another 62 church members as gay. 'The following people I am asking you to monitor very closely and my prayer is that you will sit them down from their ministries,' she told Owens in the December e-mail. 'Because they are ushering in the presence of sin, lies, a spirit of homosexuality and sexual spirits.'"
The female choir member also copied the email to over 300 additional church members on a Yahoo group.
The pastor would likely be sympathetic to her concerns, given his past: "Owens became the subject of media attention in April 2006 when he used the word 'fag' in a sermon on Palm Sunday. 'It takes real men to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior,' Owens said in the sermon, which was recorded by the church. 'I’m not talking about no faggot or no sissy,' he said. 'Let the real men come down here and take a bow — all the real men. I’m talking about straight men … praise God that you’re straight.' The church’s web site includes a listing of twice-monthly sessions of a ministry called 'Breaking the Chains of Homosexuality,' which it says helps gays change their sexual orientation through counseling and prayer. Minister Dennis Sawyers, an expert in 'ex-gay' ministries, is listed as the leader of the church’s efforts to counsel gays."
Sylvia Rhue, director of the National Black Justice Coalition’s religious affairs program said that many gays attend that church because they like the "traditional setting" they find there. A setting, which, at this particular church, is now in turmoil.
Outing campaign roils D.C. black Baptist church [washington blade]
Posted 11:20 AM EST by Andy Towle in News, Religion, Washington DC | Permalink
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This dumb ass woman probably made up her gay list using criteria including "wears colorful shirts" or "30 and unmarried."
I am so fucking tired of these churchy assholes who think they speak for their imaginary God.
Fuckheads.
Posted by: Marco | Jan 31, 2008 11:32:01 AM
Somebody ought to confront that miserable wench and read her from top to bottom, then bitch-slap her until her face bleeds.
Posted by: mike | Jan 31, 2008 11:35:47 AM
Somebody ought to confront that miserable wench and read her from top to bottom, then bitch-slap her until her face bleeds.
Posted by: mike | Jan 31, 2008 11:36:04 AM
So much for "hate the sin, love the sinner."
Posted by: A Different Mike | Jan 31, 2008 11:40:05 AM
Re Marco and Mike: your comments are just as ignorant and sad as what this woman is doing. GOD as in JESUS CHRIST is LOVE. That is all God has towards people, and for us to have towards our fellow men/women. Unfortunately, people twist this idea and use it for their saddest, cruelest, insecurities. I would hope that instead of dishing out rude comments about this misguided stranger, we would have the compassion to try to educate her about our humanity.
Posted by: Carmine | Jan 31, 2008 11:44:10 AM
As David Ehrenstein pointed out in a column, if every gay member of every African American church left, there would be NO choirs and NO choirmasters. I hope they do ALL leave, en masse. You should not be in a place -- a church, a job, a home, any place -- where the leader calls you "faggot". Please, choirboys, DL cases, closet queens, organists, leave these places. EMPTY THESE HATEFUL UN-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.
Posted by: Strepsi | Jan 31, 2008 11:44:21 AM
I read the article and can not find where this is a baptist church. I read the whole article from the blade and it says nothing about this church's affiliation with any denomination. I also went to the church's website www.gmchc.org and found nothing about this church's affilation with Baptist ministries.
I'm just saying that Baptist should probably be removed. There is no need to slander a certain denomination when within those demoninations are good churchs who respect and care for LGBT people and who help those stricken with HIV/AIDs.
Posted by: Matt | Jan 31, 2008 11:48:14 AM
There are gay people in the choir??? Oh my!
Posted by: gay as life | Jan 31, 2008 11:49:37 AM
Every OPENLY black gay person THAT I KNOW will find this affair hilarious. We've been waiting and wanting for some shit like this to hit these homophobic straight- haired hos (phoney preachers)--come to think of it, they're hos and homos for years. That choir gal must be hard up for some dingdong, and frustrated that all the "queens" in the choir are getting more dingdong than her. Her letters are a scream!
Forgive my gloating, but I'm laughing my sodomite sissy ass off! And don't nobody tell me about airin' dirty laundry in front of Miss Anne; those sleezy, slick-haired, closeted preechin' bastards sure don't mind callin' black gays "faggots" in front of Mister Charlie.
Posted by: Derrick from PHilly | Jan 31, 2008 11:53:13 AM
Matt - the very first sentence in the Blade article starts out, "One of Washington’s largest black Baptist churches ..."
Posted by: gay as life | Jan 31, 2008 11:55:57 AM
Imagine no religion
It's easy if you try
No hell below
Above us only sky
Posted by: Henry Holland | Jan 31, 2008 11:57:41 AM
As a gay black man, I find this story sad and really pathetic. While I understand that the gay members of the choir want to express themselves through music. I believe that it is a creative measure of a person and it is a source of love and joy for them. For those of you that do not understand this fact: the church choir is an inspirational place for many people in black community. It is a way to bond with a variety of people and receive praise for your “gift”.
Many gay black men are accustomed to vicious comments directed at them by members of the black community. It is something that I have grown up with, people say things and you move on. Now the media is involved: hip hop icons making anti-gay comments, gay black men are all infected with HIV, and the list goes on and on. You suffer enough slanderous abuse and it will not even register that you have been wronged.
Posted by: Charles | Jan 31, 2008 11:58:28 AM
It's about damn time someone ushered in the presence of sin, lies, a spirit of homosexuality and sexual spirits.
Posted by: david | Jan 31, 2008 12:10:41 PM
i just knew my good sister from the east miss derrick would have some choice words to say about this, thanks hon ...
as for me, can't understand what gay people are doing in church anyway ... it's like gay republicans... don't make sense to me...
Posted by: the queen | Jan 31, 2008 12:10:58 PM
TAKE AWAY TAX EXEMPT STATUS!!
Posted by: Ty | Jan 31, 2008 12:16:33 PM
As a black gay man (I'm gonna put that on a t-shirt), I also think this is kinda hilarious!
First of all, I like how the Blade calls this woman's drunk e-mailing a "campaign" like someone gave her money to out church members. Secondly, it's no secret that members of the church are gay. "The church" as in churches everywhere.
Thirdly, it wouldn't matter unless it were true. Fourthly, it doesn't matter unless someone is getting it in during a service.
And lastly, you know the only reason she did this was because something happened. All anyone needs to do is walk up to her, hold her hand and ask, "tell me girl, which one wouldn't sleep with you" and the tears would come a-pouring!
Posted by: junior | Jan 31, 2008 12:19:50 PM
"...people say things and you move on."
Well said, Charles, and well thought. I'm not going to argue with you or any other black gay man who has reached that level of maturity; but some of us have been damaged beyond repair by what happened to us growing up in North Philly, Bedford Styvesant, Southside Chicago, Compton & South Central LA, etc.
Some folks say, "seek therapy/professional help" Hell, I gotta' believe in that shit for it to work.... I may as well see a rootworker. I'll respect what mature, positive minded black gay men have to say--what they use to make their lives work, how they help other gay folks to get over it and "move on" ; but I'll enjoy the luxury of my bitter self-pity for whatever time I have left. At this point, it's all I got.
Is my point of view of any value to young black gay folks? No.
Is my life an important example to young black gay folks? Oh, yeah: don't let those anti-gay motha' fuckas do this to you.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Jan 31, 2008 12:30:41 PM
Wouldn't it be great if they would use that time and energy towards helping the poor?
Posted by: key | Jan 31, 2008 12:38:04 PM
Why is it only tenors who are homosexual?
Posted by: crispy | Jan 31, 2008 12:42:03 PM
I have NO sympathy for gay men/women who willingly link themselves up with known homophobic churches, Catholic, Protestant, etc., for whatever reason, especially when there are perfectly good GAY churches they can go to. However, most of them say that the social cachet associated with their big bigoted churches is lacking in the gay churches and that's the real reason they go to them. Lie down with dogs wake up with fleas.
Posted by: dezboy | Jan 31, 2008 12:53:13 PM
God isn't hypocritical, people are. I am sure this woman has a closet full of skeletons that she would ruin her if they got out. As Margaret Cho says, if Jesus came back today, took a look around at what hatred, bigotry, and defamation was being thrown around by supposed Christians, he would say "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"
Posted by: FernLaPlante | Jan 31, 2008 12:55:21 PM
I find it disgusting that Black people are VERY homphobic...not that they don't have a "Right" to be (so to speak)..but how come it always seems ..Those who've gotten/Obtained THEIR rights..find it easy to Trample on the RIGHTS of others? Did this Preacher NEVER read the writings of MLK or his wife? Gays/Lesbians Marched with Blacks in order to get "thier" rights..and Gay man helped MLK with his "I Have a Dream" speech? WTF is wrong with America..? Oh - it's religion....
Posted by: Disgusted American | Jan 31, 2008 1:18:49 PM
MLK fired his gay adviser Bayard Rustin when a racist senator threatened to go public with a false allegation that they were lovers. Rustin was a major civil rights organizer and may have non-violent protest introduced to MLK. However because of his sexuality black civil rights leaders wanted him to keep quiet and move to the back of the bus.
Check out John D’Emilio's bio on him.
Posted by: Steve | Jan 31, 2008 1:46:24 PM
The real question is why would anyone who's gay actually attend that church?!
Posted by: Ryan | Jan 31, 2008 1:58:39 PM
The real question is why anyone who's gay would actually attend ANY church. Christianity is not only a dismal death cult which teaches that this life, the only life we will ever have, is a dress rehearsal for eternal bliss (or eternal torture if you happen to have the "wrong" beliefs) but it is also an oppressive political movement which needs to be confronted head on and eradicated through education and the eventual cognitive dissonance that would result once people start THINKING for themselves.
Posted by: GOD | Jan 31, 2008 2:13:17 PM