Voices In The Wilderness?

Bob Law, the host of the National Black Network's "Night Talk" (heard in the New York area on WWRL-AM) announced near the end of a broadcast in mid-April that Rev. Calvin Butts, the pastor of Harlem's famous Abyssinian Baptist Church, had spoken out against the persecution of gays and lesbians. The statement was made, said Law, at a rally held at Canaan Baptist Church, also in Harlem.

Law, who was present at the meeting, told his radio audience that Butts "thought  that everybody had a right to determine their own destiny and that God be the final judge, which is consistent with his Bible that says, 'Judge not that ye not be judged.'" The talk show host,  who has a black nationalist philosophy, went on to say that Butts's position is not a popular one in the African-American community and that it "is definitely not popular in the Baptist church." (I've been told that a considerable number of gays attend Canaan.)

Knowing that "he was standing by himself," continued Law, he made the statement anyhow, because he was "follow[ing] a course of action based on what he believes is in principle correct," and that this belief had nothing "to do with how many people stand with him, how much money is in it for him, what kind of guarantees there are further down the line. That's the kind of leadership we [blacks] need and that's the kind of leadership we should support."

Before you start gloating that Butts and Law advocate homosexuality, check out Law's reply to a statement of concern expressed by a homophobic female listener, who sees homosexuality as "very bad" for the black community.

According to Law, Butts "didn't say he thought they should be encouraged or that he supported it or that he was not frowning on it. If there was going to be a discussion between him and a homosexual, he might try to convince the homosexual not to be homosexual."

How does one do that? I think we should send Bob Law a correspondence course in Homosexuality 101. I agree with much of Law's philosophy on achieving political and economic strength in the black community, but when it comes to gay and lesbian issues, he could use some consciousness-raising.

This article ws originally published in the New York Native (August 11-25, 1985). It was an item in a "Media Watch" column I wrote for the paper.