Hysteria and hyperbole the response to homosexuality in black churches
At 15 I decided to do two things: first to come out at school as a gay teen, and also to be born again in the blood of Christ. Being articulate I was quickly seen as a potential preacher in the breakaway church that I eventually spent four years of my life in.
Innocently, I did not think my emerging sexuality was a problem with my religion. I truly believed in the idea that God is love and that Jesus was more concerned with the idea of love than of hell and damnation. This, however, was not the case for the congregation. Time and again their obsession with the evils of homosexuality were supported by a reasoned and passionate condemnation from the pulpit.
There was strangely no overt hatred or even disgust in this condemnation, only arguments that claimed to be about love and forgiveness. However, I was distressed enough by my position as lay preacher and my real belief in God to contact a support group.
This turned out to be a big mistake.