With a new essay on black, gay civil rights giant, Bayard Rustin, Rev. Sekou makes the case for comparisons between the gay rights and Civil Rights movements.
To deny the parallels between the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for LGBTQ civil rights obscures the fact that the forces opposing both used the Bible and Christianity to do their dirty work.
Due to the widespread acceptance of black civil rights, some members and friends of the LGBTQ community have hitched their conceptual wagons to the black freedom struggle of the 20th century. While gay rights are no trifling matter, those eager to make comparisons may want to hold their horses.
If progressive religious believers are going to provide any kind of witness to our diverse society we must reclaim the idea of “hope” from the realm of politics. Hope, as theology, is not only about finding common purpose, but about liberation.