“Lesbianism is about to take over our community”: The Homophobic “wisdom” of Reverend Willie Wilson

I’m late on this one…

During his sermon on July 3, 2005 Reverend Willie Wilson of Washington D.C.’s Union Temple unleashed a homophobic and sexist rant, which included the claim that “lesbianism is about to take over” the black community. One of the most prominent ministers in D.C., Wilson is also the Executive Director of the Millions More Movement march, which will commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Million Man March in October of this year.

Included among Rev. Wilson’s “insightful” observations is the notion that

Sisters are making more money than brothers and its creating problems…that’s one of the reasons many of our women are becoming lesbians.

Huh? Seems like a classic case of masculine anxiety, as if women choose same sex relationships solely out of a dissatisfaction with men.

While I agree with the tensions associated with "sisters making more money that brothers”, the reality is that the tensions are rooted in the inability of black men to see their self-worth as being more than making money and being the primary “provider”. Bruh if you ain’t got a job, pick up a broom and sweep the floor; hit the hamper and do some laundry; hell, pull out a pot or two and get to cookin’, and guess what, just because your labor is now relegated to the domestic sphere, that don’t make you any less of a man—just like working in the kitchen don’t make women any less of a women or a human being.

But then Rev. Wilson just gets vile. On lesbian relationships he states:

anytime somebody got to slap some grease on your behind and stick something in you, its something wrong with that. Your butt ain’t made for that…No wonder your behind is bleeding.

WHOA. What’s up with this cat? And this was in a church, right? And this cat considers himself a community leader? And we want to blame all the misogyny and homophobia in the black community on some rappers…?

Activists like Phil Pannell and Keith Boykin were of course ON this. Wilson’s diatribe comes months after Boykin’s celebrated hug of Louis Farrakhan, the head of the Nation of Islam and the spiritual figurehead for the Millions More Movement march. During their embrace, Farrakhan promised Boykin that black gays and lesbians would be welcomed at the march. That’s a hell of a welcoming speech by Wilson—It recalls some of the equally vile comments made by Bishop George Augustus Stallings of the Imani Temple who responded to charges of homophobia during the planning stages of the 1995 Million Man March with the quip:

What do you want, some milquetoast, sissy faggot to lead you to the promised land?

Farrakhan was silent then and thus far has been silent about Wilson.

Equally maddening is the coverage of Wilson’s comments in the mainstream press. BlackAmericaWeb.com is to be commended for covering the controversy, but their headline Black Homosexuals Enraged Over MMM Leader’s Anti-Gay Sermon reinforces the notion that homophobic rants like that of Wilson are solely the problem of black gays and lesbians and thus their “outrage” can be easily dismissed. No Wilson’s rant is our problem…it’s my problem. One of the reasons why homophobia and misogyny continues to fester in our communities is because we reduce the targets of such practices as less than black, less than human. Homophobia and Sexism is not only divisive, they also deny us the fullness of our humanity and anything that denies any of us our humanity, needs to be put in check.

I’m done.

Read New Black Man.