August 3, 2005
Lesbians Here, There, Everywhere
How do you best diffuse negative publicity? Well, according to Rev. Willie F. Wilson of the District's Union Temple Baptist Church, you do so by identifying a problem so grave that it necessitates being labeled a "national emergency." And what emergency is that? Young, African-American lesbians.
Wilson, a firebrand preacher, community activist, former mayoral candidate, and executive director of the Millions More Movement, first stepped into hot water when in a July 3 sermon he accused lesbianism of being behind the downfall of traditional African-American families and communities. Facing reams of negative publicity and criticism from prominent homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender advocacy groups, Wilson, pictured above, recently issued a written apology -- sort of.
Stating early on that "I am not homophobic, nor am I an antifeminist" and recognizing his earlier sermon as being "intemperate," Wilson quickly moved into crisis mode, describing a "severe crisis in the Black community concerning our young girls":
...our girls, some as young as 10 and 11 years of age are engaging in same sex relations. This is occurring at an alarming rate all over the nation. At a recent local school, I am told that girls were asked to report to the gymnasium. A survey was conducted to decipher how many girls were involved in same sex relations, the number indicating that they were outnumbered those [sic] who had not by a 10 to 1 count. Teachers and school administrators indicate that a serious problem at general assemblies is preventing girls from openly displaying deep affection for each other when they gather.Wilson pointed blame at "same sex girls' gangs," though failed to offer any evidence for that claim, identify the school he referred to, or define the term "deep affection."
DCist, always alert to threats and security breaches, will keep readers up-to-date as to the presence of young African-American lesbians in the District, their aliases and affiliations, their modus operandi, and who best to call if they are spotted. Be aware -- there seem to be many of them.
Image above taken from the Union Temple Baptist Church website. Wilson's full statement can be viewed here (.pdf).
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Why do I feel like school is so much cooler now than it used to be?
I was particularly curious about this claims that girls were herded into a gym and quizzed as to their sexual orientation. Public school can't even teach normal sex-ed classes, so is it likely that they can take time out of the day to try and identify the school lesbians? And even if they could do it, how many would suddenly jump at the opportunity to tell their teachers and administrators?
This guy is a class A nut-job, and yet you hear people cheering along to his homophobic rants. Sad.
I get the impression he's actually more like a class B or C nutjob. WaPo ran an item on him yesterday that noted that his ministry has previously run an outreach program to reconcile gay members of his church and community with their families; he previously permitted his church to host a forum to discuss anti-gay discrimination. One assumes in order to solve it, though it certainly sounds as if he's more interested in promoting discrimination. Bizarre.
"This guy is a class A nut-job, and yet you hear people cheering along to his homophobic rants. Sad."
Wait, who are we talking about? Santorum? Robertson? I've lost track.
Further, he's chairing the Million Man March anniversary this year! Imagine the contradiction -- we're all about African-American unity. Expect for gay people.
And he's conducted multiple HIV/AIDS outreach programs, which doesn't necessarily imply gay tolerance, but wouldn't be the outreach program of choice for an anti-gay bigot, it would seem.
Here's the piece I mentioned: a column by Eugene Robinson.
It's interesting that he's so concerned with lesbianism, especially considering how much ire from the religious right traditionally rails heavily against male homosexuality specifically. You hear many more screeds against homosexual males than against females.
Biogtry has no place in a modern society.
Wilson should resign immeadiately.
"Further, he's chairing the Million Man March anniversary this year! Imagine the contradiction -- we're all about African-American unity. Expect for gay people."
I'm not looking to pick a fight, but many minority communities are, as a whole, pretty homophobic. and certainly this applies to the african american community -- you only have to look at the pew research study on attitudes to see that on average, black america is not comfortable with homosexuality. So yes, it's a contradiction, but he's hardly unique in embodying this one.
I realize that, generally speaking, the African-American community has not historically been open to homosexuality. That being said, a little collective memory would go a long way to correcting that. I can't help find it ironic that an organization demanding full rights and equality are at the same time engaging in the denial of those very same rights for a group they aren't comfortable with. Were MLK Jr. still alive, I'm guessing he would see the screaming hypocrisy in this.
Hold on a secopd here folks. Black America is uncomfortable with homosexuality but white America is accepting of it? I'd say pretty much every community everywhere is at least conflicted about queerdom, even in Spain or Canada, where unions are now legal. I, for one, credit the DC media's strange fascination with the seamier side of black life with the fact that DC is, in many ways, the South. On the Left Coast, this so-called pastor wouldn't get even one column inch in any decent paper. Here, under the pretense of "journalism" or monitoring the "homophobia" of the "black community" Rev. Nut Job gets Major press. I think close proximity with a large, often unruly black community leads to a kind of hidden xenophobia that expresses itself occasionally in an unhealthy appreciation for the lunatic fringe there of. Instead of worrying about Rev. Crazy Guy and how homophobic he or the "black community" is, perhaps your time would be better spent dealing with your own attitudes around race and sexuality. It's just way too easy to hoist this idiot on a petard. Doesn't anyone have any granduncles who were in the Klan or secret relief that they don't have to live in NE? Come on people. Get a hobby.
Don Miguel,
You're right, to a point. I doubt this would be a big deal at all if Rev. Wilson were not chairing the Million More Movement. He is leading the charge for a large event involving and meant to represent the African-American community. His words are, in that sense, news-worthy.
Martin
Don Miguel --
I'd agree with your point except for the fact that Wilson has been given a position of national prominence as the organizer of the Millions More Movement. Were this an isolated pastor hurling homophobia to his community, I doubt this story would have received the coverage it has. But now he's an organizing force, and one with deep local connections. The media coverage seems fair.
And your last sentences, well, they confuse me. I lived in NE (now SE) and am fairly certain I don't have Klan connections. What were they supposed to mean?
Don miguel, makes some good points: DC is not the Northeast or East Coast. It is the South. Just check out the DC-born 'Bamas that reside here. THe Black Church has, and always will have major issues with "the gay thing". They not only read, but follow the Bible -- case closed. My wife's mother is as liberal as it get on all social issues. However, she is clear about her belief: "He/she is a very nice person. I enjoy thier company, but they are gay and going to hell for it."
I guess she, George Bush and the Republican Party -- who she has been trained by the Dems to loath over the years -- have a lot more in common than meets the eye.
"I like my beers cold, my television loud and my Homosexuals flaming" -- Homer Simpson
Agreed, this is the South, and many African-Americans here came from further South decades ago. That being said, younger generations of African-Americans may not share those same prejudices, especially considering that while this is the South, it is still an urban area and overwhelmingly Democratic. It is irresponsible of Wilson to encourage prejudice against homosexuals, whether or not some 60-year olds think that it is a sin.
When did this become a Southern thing? Ever hear of the Ol' Southern Bachelor? Or the "Spinster Aunt" who lived next door. There is no evidence that the South is any less tolerant of gay people than the North. In fact, Atlanta is a gay haven. Ugh. Stop the stereotypes. Southerners are no more homophobic, racist, classist or anything than Northeners. We just have a bad PR firm.
I had smoked turkey on a petard for lunch.
Has anyone pointed out to Mr. Wilson that sexual experimentation at a young age, especially among girls, is not indicative of sexual orientation later in life or really very much at all. Both genders, but especially girls, experiment a lot at the age he points out.
Additionally, would he rather that the majority of those girls be experimenting with hetrosexual relations? I would assume that a rise in teenage pregnancies would be more concerning to Mr. Wilson as they often result in non-traditional families. (Not that I am knocking a non-traditional family lifestyle either. Live and let live.)
Better yet: Has anyone ever pointed out to Mr. Wilson that he's completely incorrect? I teach in DCPS and my students are exactly the age he describes - and I have no idea what he's talking about. Of all the things I've seen in assemblies, rampant pre-teen public lesbian sex is definitely not one of them. Plus, as has been stated, any school that summons kids to the auditorium and then asks them to publicly profess their sexual profession and level of activity is:
1. Breaking the law
2. Asking for some seriously skewed data
3. Reinforcing this kind of paranoid homophobia.
I sincerely hope he's making the bit about the show of hands up.
I think this attitude stems in part from the fear of some that with so many men in the community locked up, drug-addicted or otherwise unavailable, women will give up and turn to one another.
Long day:
I meant gymnasium. And sexual preference.
but asking kids about their sexual profession is so much funnier...:)
I'd like to point out that african-american gay men have been specifically told they are not welcome in the million more march, but let's not forget that there is a lot of racism, intended or unintentional, in the gay/queer community, too. it's not exactly easy for anyone in the "double minority" of both groups.
and it's not just homophobia we're talking about here -- wilson's son's comment that the only straight women he could have asked to his dance were "ugly," is pretty heterosexist, subjecting all women to the limiting codes of femininity, not just the women perceived as lesbians.
Well, DC is actually in the Mid-Atlantic, but I really don't think geographic location matters much in this case. Homophobia in the African-American community runs rampant across the country. Sadly, such a sermon would not be surprising from any predominantly black church, whether in NYC or Alabama.
The local media's attention to Wilson is due to his prominenece in the community east of the Anacostia. In addition, Wilson is a former mayoral candidate and, as Martin stated, leader of the upcoming MMM. So those screamining "media bias" need to think again.
HOWEVER, as a gay man, I must say that Washington DC remains one of the country's most gay friendly cities. The city's policies, though unjustly limited by Congress, are largely progressive. Straight/gay lines, particularly in much of NW, are wonderfully blurred. DC's gay-friendly environment far outpaces other mid-sized cities with large gay communities, such as Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas, etc.
So let's chalk Wilson up to what he is: a nutjob looking for press. But to use him as an example of a typical attitude in DC towards the gay community is a huge mistake.
Leave it to the readers of DCist to condemn others in response to those who condemn others. Homophobic speech is not a southern thing, its not a black thing, and its not just a religious thing.
To the man who praises the "left coast": Cali has an upcoming ballot initiative that would strip gays of domestic partnership rights. Oregon passed one of the strictest anti-same sex marriage laws last year. Washington (state) just barely avoided being ruled by a conservative Republican for the next four years. There was a brutal gay bashing in West Hollywood (yes, THAT West Hollywood) last year that left a young actor critically injured.
To those who praise the "north": a billboard in Boston with two gay men draped in an American flag was pulled down due to complaints of its "lewdness" last week. And NYC? Just try holding hands with your same sex partner outside of Chelsea and the West Village...I dare you.
My point is ignorance and hate, unfortunately, exists everywhere. Let's stop writing it off as a Southern thing (DC is NOT the South..did you all flunk geography?), a black thing, or a media concoction. And let's focus our efforts on educating people, like Rev Wilson, who desperately need it.
Celena,
Good points. Except one. D.C. is in the South. The Mason-Dixon line runs along the Maryland/Pennsylvania border, and, being the historic divider between north and south, places D.C. solidly in the south. We may not be there culturally, but for the purposes of geography we are.
Martin
Oh, Martin. Do you always have to have the last word? ;-)
i don't know if anyone saw the article on his perhaps in sunday's paper, or the previous sunday. it seemed to suggest that his theory for this evolved from his son not being able to get a date to the prom. his son came home and told him that he couldn't get a date because the majority of the girls were lesbians.
it doesn't take much of a brain to figure out that maybe, just maybe the son was mad because the girls he asked said no. to turn that into a quest against teenage lesbianism is buffoonery.
My ancient Encyclopedia Britanica set shows the Mason-Dixon line running where Martin said it did, but it also groups PA, DE, MD, WV, *and* DC as the "Mid Atlantic Region", with VA grouped with the "Southern States".
Just like the whole red-blue state thing, geography matters little on such a large scale. Sure, I bet most gays would take their chances holding hands with their boyfriends at any random location in the North over any random location in the South, but if they were allowed to choose between two options, most would probably choose downtown Austin over the Bronx anyday.
In DC, NW and the Hill may be some of the gay-friendliest areas in the country, but as this story shows, there's still plenty of fear, hatred and misunderstanding in the rest of the city.
Celena, I know this point is totally off the subject and not germane to anything, but I live in NYC and hold hands with my boyfriend wherever I want. I've rarely had a problem. You are totally wrong.
The Mason-Dixon line is so 19th century. The real line between North and South today is the Bagel-Biscuit line, that great cultural divide of breakfast food.
"Whatevs" is a good example of "its not like that here" naiveté. Yes, I'm sure you have no problem being open in many areas of NYC. Just as gay men have no problems being open in many areas of DC, Atlanta, Miami, etc.
My point (please re-read it) is that gay men and women have to fight ignorance and tolerance as a whole. Its not someone else's problem because we perceive it to be a "Southern issue" or a "black issue". Intolerant people, regardless of whether they reside in the Bronx or Anacostia, have a right to vote, too, and they are currently stripping away many of your rights.
Whether you choose to acknowledge this and fight or whether you choose to hide in Dupont or Chelsea is your choice. But don't lay all the blame on some "far off" concept of hatred, because its most likely in your backyard, too.
By no means do I mean this to be the last word. I just wanted to thank everyone for the thoughtful discourse on a troublesome topic. Good points too numerous to mention were made. I stand corrected on some and will do more reading on others. And whatever misgivings I may have about DC's geographical location, you folks think things through.
Chrisafer,
I love it... the bagel/biscuit line. perfect. i am a southern jew. i went to college in the north... bagels weren't new to me but even then i prefered biscuits... the shock to me was to find out blintzes were "jewish" give me fried chicken, a meat and three plate, grits anyday over the "northern" food choices anyday!!!
The biscuit-bagel line? What about the sweet iced tea line? Actually there are at least two lines, dividing the area where your iced tea comes sweet unless you ask for unsweet, from the area where you have to sweeten it yourself, from the area where requests for iced tea any time except possibly midsummer are met with puzzled expressions and "you mean Long Island iced tea?"
Celena,
"Whatevs" is a good example of "its not like that here" naiveté.
No, actually "whatevs" post is a good example of "Proof by Contradiction". You said, "try holding hands with your same sex partner outside of Chelsea and the West Village...I dare you." And then a real-live, real-gay New Yorker popped up and said you were completely talking out of your hat.
Anyway, a better comparison than Atlanta versus DC is say downtown Fredrick versus downtown Albany, Ga. No contest.
nananna,
Southerners are no more homophobic, racist, classist or anything than Northeners. We just have a bad PR firm.
When there's a wildly successful "Northern Strategy" to match the "Southern Strategy" then we'll talk.