As time went on, that notion was proven wrong. In the black community, HIV/AIDS grew and grew and grew. And now we are living in a modern epidemic in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. It is sad to say that as of early 2009, 3 percent of Washington, D.C.'s residents are living with HIV or AIDS. According to health officials, the 1 percent threshold constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic.

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Black male D.C. residents between the ages of 40 and 49 make up most of the residents that are infected, with nearly a 7 percent rate of infection. Why are we not getting the message to protect ourselves and each other?

Let's try to start from the beginning. Back in the days of slavery, the church was a place of salvation for black people, because it was the only place we as black people could make the rules of our own place of worship. It was a place of sanctity for black people to let loose life's stresses and the stresses of working in the fields or homes of their owners.

Even years after slavery has ended, that place of worship still has remained a place to call home, a place to let go of life's burdens and feel love and acceptance. But being gay quickly changes that love into hatred and that acceptance into rejection in the black church. Today many black gay men don't feel that the black church provides that love and acceptance they so long to have.

If a black gay person is born and raised in a church and that church rejects him or her, there may be damage that has to be repaired. There may be some self-esteem issues that the individual needs to deal with.

Think about it: The one institution that you held near and dear to your heart, mind and spirit has left you in the cold to suffer and die (spiritually). When that happens, sometimes people like to get their pleasures from other things like drinking, drugs or sex. Having your self-esteem diminished by an institution that you've trusted for so long can have powerful consequences -- it can obliterate you from the inside out.

Unfortunately homophobic black churches abound. An example is a church in my area, in D.C., that is run by Reverend Willie Wilson. His church, Union Temple Baptist Church, even reportedly receives funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and even had initial involvement in the Million Man March movement. Yet, Rev. Wilson has said some nasty things about gay people.

In a speech of his a few years ago (2005), he said,

"...Any time somebody got to slap some grease on your behind, and stick something in you, it's something wrong with that. Your butt ain't made for that. [In the background, the church audience voices its approval.] You got blood vessels and membranes in your behind. And if you put something unnatural in there, it breaks them all up. ...Lesbianism is about to take over our community. ...We live in a time when our brothers have been so put down, can't get a job, lot of the sisters making more money than brothers. And it's creating problems in families. That's one of the reasons our families' breaking up. And that's one of the reasons many of our women are becoming lesbians ..."
Here is the link to Rev. Willie Wilson's speech.

What I want to know is how can a church like this receive HIV/AIDS prevention funding? After all living in a homophobic environment is a risk factor for HIV! What sort of attempt is this at HIV prevention if homophobia is the norm in this church?

Why, in 2009, with such high rates of HIV, can there still be men of faith like this who are openly and proudly homophobic?

Unfortunately Rev. Wilson is not the only homophobic man of faith in Washington, D.C. Bishop Alfred Owens is also in the heart of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in D.C. His church is a large one known as the Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church. In his Palm Sunday sermon in 2006, he said:

"It takes a real man to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. I'm not talking about no faggot or no sissy. Wait a minute! Let all the real men come on down here and take a bow ... All the real men -- I'm talking about the straight men. You ain't funny and you ain't cranky, but you're straight. Come on down here and walk around and praise God that you are straight. Thank him, that you're straight. All the straight men that's proud to be a Christian. That's proud to be a man of God."
You can listen to Bishop Alfred Owens' full speech here.

Instead of spouting this sort of ugly hatred of gay people, what these churches need to do is help gay black men stand up and say, "I love myself too much to hurt myself or anyone else."

This is my plea to these churches -- please help my community help themselves!

But all is not lost. There are gay-friendly churches that our gay black brothers and sisters still choose to visit on their Sunday mornings/afternoons/evenings, even in the Washington, D.C and Baltimore, Md., area.

Here's a list of life-affirming churches from an organization known as Operation Rebirth. Operation Rebirth notes that the churches that are part of this list accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation. So check out this list for a friendly, supportive life-affirming church.