Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South

Thanks to SGL Universe (at the right side bar or click here):

Read the "Sweet Tea" story here

"Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South" is the title of a new book written by E. Patrick Johnson. Johnson, a professor at Northwestern University, chronicles the lives of black gay men who were willing to share their experience of growing up black and gay in the South. Ranging in age from 19 to 93, Johnson was able to interview a black gay man from every state in the south.

One interesting finding he discusses in his book has to do with sexuality and religion. Johnson stated "...men who understand the South as the Bible Belt but who also, as they came into their sexuality, started to develop what they would call a personal relationship with God, as opposed to a personal relationship with a church. ... For some people, especially people who aren't particularly religious or who live in urban areas -- who don't understand why you would go to a place where the preacher or some of the congregants are going to say homophobic things -- they don't understand that if you are raised around the church from the time that you are in the womb, you can't necessarily just cut that part of your life off just because you start to come into your sexuality, because despite the homophobia, there's also lots of encouragement and nurturing that happens in the church."

Johnson hopes his book will affirm the lives of the men he interviewed, help others struggling in their sexuality, and "debunk some myths about what it might mean to be black and gay in the South."

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ALERT: Please read recent posts below (September, August, July and June) regarding LGBT African Christians seeking Church in AFRICA where they can WORSHIP and find Christian fellowship/peace-of-mind and be of service and supportive to one another. Now is a time of great physical, spiritual and emotional upset, persecution, widespread war/rioting and more and more deeply seeded cultural/spiritual illness in Nigeria, Uganda, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Sudan, Kenya and beyond...Peter Akinola, Henri Orombi and other religious extremists are forcing tens of thousands of Christians UNGERGROUND with a excluding/demonizing "witch hunt"...promoting discrimination and taking part in a ACTIVE and AGGRESSIVE dangerous persecution campaign directed against Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered Christians in Africa is IRRESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP and PREACHING. Promoting "selective" Scriptural lies about LGBT Christians at Church generate fear and hate from the pulpit and result in: