Gay marriage advocates and religious intolerance

Jessie Daniels at Racism Review argues that “advocates for gay marriage need to work on their religious intolerance”:

The Mormon church and others on the religious right funded the political campaign to take away marriage rights in California, following on a long history of religious-sponsored vicious hatred toward LGBT people. Understandably, many LGBT people have no patience with religious arguments intended to undermine our rights. Yet, for many people, including black people and LGBT folk, the church is the central social institution. As Joe pointed out recently, most churches are still among the most racially segregated institutions we participate in. Given the fact that marriage is both a religious rite (as well as a human right) that is being defended by religious people in racially-segregated congregations means that those interested in marriage equality need a ground game that engages, rather than alienates, church folk and does so with a real awareness of racial issues. The “No on 8″ graffiti that appeared on several churches (as pictured above) following the defeat last week is not the way to win supporters. The rhetoric of gay marriage supporters that polarizes “black churches” and all religious folks as diamterically opposed to “gay supporters of No on 8″ keeps both sides locked in a symbiotic relationship in which each side significantly affects the evolution of its counterpart, as Tina Fetner explains in her new book. Such dichotomous, either/or, views of marriage equality ignore the fact that it’s religious LGBT folk who have been pioneers in the movement.

For more “really interesting conversation about sexuality, activism and religion in the wake of the passage of Proposition 8 in California” (according to Tina Fetner at scatterplot), read the full post.