During the course of my research, I also came across a wonderful article about the intersection of ideologies of traditionally African-American churches with homophobic ideology. Written by Elijah G. Ward, it is entitled Hypermasculinity, Homophobia, and the US Black Church. It was originally published in Culture, Health, & Sexuality journal in 2005.
When I originally started this project, my first thought was that I would focus primarily on rap and hip-hop and the role of hip-hop/rap music culture fostering homophobia among a young male cohort. Though there are lots of great resources online and in databases like JSTOR that analyze these connections, I think I was alternately surprised and saddened by the discovery that religion often plays a role that is equally as significant as that of homophobic lyrics and visual media in encouraging the bullying, shaming, and isolating of gay students or effeminate male students by their peers.
Ward suggests three reasons that historically African-American churches might extol a message that is not embracing—or even tolerant—of the GLBTQ population:
1) Religious interpretation: At their inception, many African-American churches in the Christian tradition were built on a very literal interpretation of the Bible. During slavery, the promise of actual, physical, heavenly salvation was a great comfort to many of the faithful; however, in order to accept the scriptures describing a physical heavenly reward, members of the church would also have to accept passages in the Bible which might justify homophobic actions.
2) Sexual Stereotypes: The racism historically espoused by the dominant culture has—as mentioned in previous posts—continually simultaneously vilified and fetishized African-American bodies and sexualities. Because of the ABUNDANT stereotypes regarding African-American sexuality, many participants in faith communities become afraid to talk about the issues of desire, sexually orientation, and sexual practice, fearing they will confirm or reinforce negative stereotypes that racism has assigned to their culture. This effectively creates a silence in many communities in which the existence of gays and lesbians is denied or ignored.
3) Race Survival Consciousness: Ward also believes that “racial survival” is also an issue in the silence surrounding young African-American gays and lesbians in certain faith communities. Ward describes how, together with the traditional religious practices mentioned above, some nationalist groups are so concerned with the survival and preservation of the traditional (that is, binary) African-American family, traditions, and culture in the face of a dominating (or imperialistic) white culture, that they equate gays and lesbians with weakness or “whiteness.”
Ward also notes that recent studies show that, even if no longer active in their church, African-Americans still tend to subscribe to the ideology and morality that they were raised in as they pass through adolescence and into adulthood. In other words, the influence of one's faith community or religious tradition is pretty huge in relation to later socialization.
These statistics made me realize what a tough position many young men and women are in. If they were only getting the message that homophobia is a tolerable bias from popular culture, I think this negativity would be easier to ignore; these young adults could use critical thinking skills to come to the conclusion that the media is biased or has a specific agenda; that it is full of posturing and commercialization. However, I think the negotiation of such feelings would be much more difficult when the homophobia message is coming from one’s trusted pastor. It’s not at all hard to see a teen having a crisis of faith given a circumstance like this: “If I don’t trust or believe in what my pastor is saying about gays and lesbians, how can I trust anything else he says? Wouldn’t it be equally up for debate?”
As a start to a solution, Ward suggests that gays, lesbians, and allies take active roles in church reform and begin the process of demystifying black sexuality, especially in regards to the creation of a dialogue regarding the socialization of young African-American men that doesn’t include room for tolerance of homophobia.
When I originally started this project, my first thought was that I would focus primarily on rap and hip-hop and the role of hip-hop/rap music culture fostering homophobia among a young male cohort. Though there are lots of great resources online and in databases like JSTOR that analyze these connections, I think I was alternately surprised and saddened by the discovery that religion often plays a role that is equally as significant as that of homophobic lyrics and visual media in encouraging the bullying, shaming, and isolating of gay students or effeminate male students by their peers.
Ward suggests three reasons that historically African-American churches might extol a message that is not embracing—or even tolerant—of the GLBTQ population:
1) Religious interpretation: At their inception, many African-American churches in the Christian tradition were built on a very literal interpretation of the Bible. During slavery, the promise of actual, physical, heavenly salvation was a great comfort to many of the faithful; however, in order to accept the scriptures describing a physical heavenly reward, members of the church would also have to accept passages in the Bible which might justify homophobic actions.
2) Sexual Stereotypes: The racism historically espoused by the dominant culture has—as mentioned in previous posts—continually simultaneously vilified and fetishized African-American bodies and sexualities. Because of the ABUNDANT stereotypes regarding African-American sexuality, many participants in faith communities become afraid to talk about the issues of desire, sexually orientation, and sexual practice, fearing they will confirm or reinforce negative stereotypes that racism has assigned to their culture. This effectively creates a silence in many communities in which the existence of gays and lesbians is denied or ignored.
3) Race Survival Consciousness: Ward also believes that “racial survival” is also an issue in the silence surrounding young African-American gays and lesbians in certain faith communities. Ward describes how, together with the traditional religious practices mentioned above, some nationalist groups are so concerned with the survival and preservation of the traditional (that is, binary) African-American family, traditions, and culture in the face of a dominating (or imperialistic) white culture, that they equate gays and lesbians with weakness or “whiteness.”
Ward also notes that recent studies show that, even if no longer active in their church, African-Americans still tend to subscribe to the ideology and morality that they were raised in as they pass through adolescence and into adulthood. In other words, the influence of one's faith community or religious tradition is pretty huge in relation to later socialization.
These statistics made me realize what a tough position many young men and women are in. If they were only getting the message that homophobia is a tolerable bias from popular culture, I think this negativity would be easier to ignore; these young adults could use critical thinking skills to come to the conclusion that the media is biased or has a specific agenda; that it is full of posturing and commercialization. However, I think the negotiation of such feelings would be much more difficult when the homophobia message is coming from one’s trusted pastor. It’s not at all hard to see a teen having a crisis of faith given a circumstance like this: “If I don’t trust or believe in what my pastor is saying about gays and lesbians, how can I trust anything else he says? Wouldn’t it be equally up for debate?”
As a start to a solution, Ward suggests that gays, lesbians, and allies take active roles in church reform and begin the process of demystifying black sexuality, especially in regards to the creation of a dialogue regarding the socialization of young African-American men that doesn’t include room for tolerance of homophobia.
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