In addition to my work at BEBASHI, I am also a psychotherapist. Recently, I treated a male African American adolescent who accepted that he was gay, but struggled with a lack of support from his family, who made him feel that Christianity was incompatible with homosexuality. In my career, I have spoken with many LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning) individuals, the majority of whom having experienced similar rejection, mistrust and even outright hostility from so-called "straight" people, many of who use religion as their justification. The recent International HIV Conference held in Mexico provided many examples of how our homophobia is harming our efforts to fight HIV. "Homophobia – whether propagated by government leaders, enforced by outdated laws, or perpetuated through stigma and discrimination – continues to fuel this epidemic, and should therefore be the number one enemy of those who are serious about ending this global tragedy," said Dr. Pedro Cahn, IAS President, AIDS 2008 Co-Chair and President of Fundación Huésped in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I am often asked whether I am uncomfortable being around LGBTQ individuals. The answer is no-because, I am comfortable with myself. The Bible teaches us to love thy neighbor as thyself. How many people have to die from HIV/AIDS or from hate crimes; how many young men and women have to be scarred for life, sometimes literally kicked out of their homes, before we realize that hate of any kind, for any reason, is just wrong.
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2 comments:
Gary, thank you for writing this post as homophobia is a huge issue in all communities, but as a Black gay man, my primary concern lies within Black communities. I also work as a mental health clinician and have done HIV prevention work for many years within Black LGBT communities and the impact of homophobia has clearly dealt a harmful blow to the psyche of many Black gay and bisexual men.
There has been much hype about the down low and Black men being the bridge for HIV infection to Black women. One thing I feel is necessary in order to get a better grip on this epidemic, is that in the Black community we need to work toward the eradication of homophobia and the stigma placed on homosexuality that keeps men trapped into rigid heterosexual archetypes. I don't feel everyone needs to accept homosexuality if they don't agree with it, but they don't need to talk down to, degrade, physically assault and/or kick those out of their lives who are LGBT.
Until we can wake up and realize that we need to embrace EVERYONE of our black brothers and sisters, many more of us will perish. There are too many Blacks dying to disease and urban violence to turn our backs on any members of our community. I think if our future president of the US, Barack Obama can embrace LGBT's in his Christian faith, anyone else can.
I think that BEBASHI can play a key role in helping to address some of the homophobia and stigma that exists in Philadelphia's Black community and I look forward to partnering with you and other allies to stem the tide of HIV infections in this community, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Thanks for this post!
One thing I do in terms of these challenging issues is step outside myself. What I mean is I try to put away all I was taught and view the situation with new eyes. This may seem a little difficult, but it can be done. Homosexuality is one those subjects that many are afraid of because they simply do not understand it. I cannot relate to a homosexual individual because I am heterosexual but I know how it feels when someone is presumptive when it comes to my race and my gender. Those aspects of myself is out of my control and it is something I am comfortable with and do not want to change. I would assume that many homosexuals feel this is something out of their control and may not want to change.
HIV/AIDS has been and still is linked to leading a gay lifestyle but everyone who is educated know this is not so. Therefore, I do not think it is fair to blame HIV incidence rates on the DL or homosexuality. HIV/AIDS is one of those things that can be controlled by use of a condom, dental dam, abstaining, not sharing needles. Unlike race, gender and sexual orientation contraction of HIV starts with our personal choices.
Homophobia is being afraid, homophobia is not taking responsibility for personal decisions as it relates to sexual health and social responsibility.
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