Leaders of the black church react to SCOTUS gay marriage rulings
theGRIO REPORT - On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, allowing federal benefits to same-sex spouses who are legally married in their states...
If the majority of states do not support gay marriage, says Davis, the numbers provide the biggest testament to the country’s wishes.
“It’s been this long and still the majority of the state has not passed same-sex legislation,” Davis points out. “There is a whole segment of our society that has been overlooked and totally mistreated, and treated as if they are not part of country at all, and that is our children. For us to then bypass our agenda of saving our children and jump to the agenda of same-sex marriage, we think that it’s wrong.”
Similarly, the Coalition of African-American Pastors spoke out this morning against the SCOTUS rulings.
‘Devastated’
“We are devastated that the Supreme Court succumbed to political pressure by voting to weaken the sacred institution,” Rev. William Owens, President of the CAAP, offered today in a statement. “They neglected our most precious children who need a mother and a father united in marriage for healthy development. The African-American community has already been plagued with problems related to children growing up in single parent households. This ruling will only accelerate the further erosion of our communities and society.”
He adds, “African-Americans pay a disproportionate price as collateral damage of the aggressive gay agenda, and it will take leaders across the country to resist the cultural shift on marriage.”
Davis also disagrees with the notion that gay rights are equivalent to African-American civil rights, and says that the latter battle is still an uphill fight.
He recalls a recent experience when a white woman clutched her purse as she stepped into the elevator with him.
“It wasn’t because I was gay or transgender, but because I was black,” Davis comments. “For us to say that was an issue of the past and far gone is wrong.”
Accordingly, Davis remains adamantly against support of gay marriage, noting that the LGBT community received “all they wanted” when civil unions were allowed.
‘Why are we considered bigots?’
On that note, the church deserves the right to stand for its belief without suffering persecution.
“If it is an okay activity to cling to our Bible, and we want to cling to it and preserve it, why are we considered bigots?” Davis asks. “We continue on our fight for biblical definitions of marriage. We say that equality to [the LGBT community] is in that civil union law, and so we’d like for Illinois to remain a state that does not recognize same sex marriage…We talk about religious freedom. This takes away from religious freedom.”
Perhaps of greater concern however, Wesley points out that the focus of the African-American community should not shift to gay rights slander, rather it should push its attention to the fact that the Voting Rights Act suffered a major hit on Tuesday.
“We as a black church will raise more issue of the Supreme Court ruling than we will of the Voting Right Act just the day before,” he remarks. “For me, there is more at stake that we should be raising our voices over than whether a gay couple has benefits.”
Follow Courtney Garcia on Twitter at @courtgarcia
