Press Releases

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Beyond Gay Marriage: The Implications of Race, Religion, and Class - A Public Symposium at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Chicago, IL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Johari Jabir

CHICAGO, IL - The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry African American Roundtable project will present a public symposium on gay marriage entitled, "Beyond Gay Marriage: The Implications of Race, Religion, and Class." Designed for activists, scholars, pastors, and church lay people, this free public event will be held on Saturday, June 26 at 11:00 am at St. Martin.s Episcopal Church, located at 5710 Midwaypark in Chicago, Illinois.

The current debate over gay marriage raises several important and unaddressed issues about race, religion, and class. Many supporters of gay marriage, for example, equate the struggle for gay and lesbian marriage equality with the African American civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. This argument has received a negative response from the African American community in general. It has also provoked vicious attacks by African American ministers against Black gay and lesbian people. Rev. Gregory Daniels of the United Truth and Change Church in Chicago recently stated, "If the KKK was opposing same-sex marriage, Reverend Daniels would ride with them."

This gay marriage symposium will address several of these complex issues and feature national religious leaders and scholars from the African American community, including Victor Anderson, Professor of Christian Ethics at Vanderbilt University; Irene Monroe, Harvard University doctoral student and religious columnist; Johari Jabir, Visiting Artist/Scholar in Residence in African and African American Studies at Duke University; and Lynice Pinkard, Associate Pastor of First Congregational Church in Oakland, CA.

For more information, please contact Johari Jabir.

Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, housed at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, works to advance the well-being of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people and transform faith communities and the wider society by taking a leading role in shaping a new public discourse on religion and sexuality through education, research, community building, and advocacy.

The Center's African American Roundtable project is a collective of African American lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender religious scholars, leaders, and activists from throughout the U.S. The purpose of the African American Roundtable is to address the theological concerns of African American LGBT people faith. For more information, visit the Center's web site at www.clgs.org.