OPINION: Atheists support South LA pastor facing “tribunal” for LGBT advocacy



This article originally appeared on Religion Dispatches

Pastor Seth Pickens | Aaron Lee Dowell

Pastor Seth Pickens | Aaron Lee Dowell

On Sunday morning I went to a church service for the first time in decades.  

I was there as a community member to support Pastor Seth Pickens of Zion Hill Baptist Church in South Los Angeles. A few days before, I’d received an urgent plea from Teka-Lark Fleming, publisher of the local Morningside Park Chronicle newspaper, encouraging progressive Black folk to show up at Zion Hill in support of Seth’s pro-LGBTQ stance.

After publishing a column entitled “The 10 Reasons I Love LGBTQ folk” in Fleming’s paper, Pickens came under fire from church officials. The controversy erupted on the heels of internal criticism he’d received for performing a marriage ceremony for a lesbian couple last year.

See previously from Intersections’ Reporter Corps series: Growing up queer in Watts: What happens when school is still not a safe place [Read more…]

Growing up queer in Watts: What happens when school is still not a safe place



 

Watts Towers | Photo taken by Xochil Frausto

Watts Towers | Photo taken by Xochil Frausto

Discovering my sexual orientation in a violent, poverty-stricken environment was not easy. I remember the first time someone called me a “dyke” at Markham Middle School.  At that time I was a punk rocker, wearing ripped jeans and men’s shirts. I didn’t yet consider myself queer — or even really know what that meant — but I was already aware of homophobia. Not until junior year of high school did I begin to explore my identity. Jordan High was reflective of the area that I lived: It was dangerous. Race riots broke out between Latinos and Black students, and students were not welcoming of gays. I did not feel that teachers, administrators or counselors could support me. [Read more…]

Some South LA churches support DOMA, Prop 8 rulings



A member of L.A.’s premier Black gay men’s wellness organization “In the Meantime” poses at the X-Homophobia campaign for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in February 2013.

 

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