African American: Resources of particular value to the African American community.

A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Lesbians and Gay Men into African American Congregations

Gary David Comstock, 2001 (format: Book)

Comstock interviews African American religious leaders from a variety of denominations in a conversation concerned with the church as a welcoming community and addressing how to welcome lesbians and gay men into African American congregations.

(categories: African American, All, Inclusion and Welcome)

African American Roundtable

Pacific School of Religion Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (format: Website)

The African American Roundtable at Pacific School of Religion seeks the full inclusion of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in communities of faith by fostering dialogue about faith and sexuality among Black church and faith leaders.

(categories: African American, All)

Living at the Intersection of Transgender Street and Black Boulevard

Carla Robinson, 2019 (format: on-line-video)

A sermon about the intersectional justice issues at for black transgender women. The preacher, Carla Robinson, also appears in the video “Out of the Box.”

(categories: African American, All, Personal Stories, Transgender)

Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for Gay & Transgender Justice

(format: website)

Many Voices is committed to creating a national movement for gay and transgender justice from within the Black church, providing quality materials for use in African American and all churches.

(categories: Additional Resources, African American, All, Going Deeper)

Resource Guide to Coming Out for African Americans

Human Rights Campaign, 2012 (format: Free Download)

People of color may face unique challenges when they come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. To address these issues, the HRC Coming Out Project has developed a resource on coming out in the African-American community. The guide includes the stories of several amazing people from the African-American community who have left their indelible mark on this country.

(categories: African American, All, For Youth)

Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity

G. Winston James, Lisa C. Moore (eds.), 2005 (format: Book)

Forty writers address the question of how same-gender-loving black people affirm themselves as sexual and spiritual people. These sacred narratives are a canon for survival–holy texts proclaiming the divinity of their lives, the righteousness of their love, and the sanctity of their being.

(categories: African American, All, Personal Stories)

The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality and Black Communities

Delroy Constantine-Simms, 2001 (format: Book)

Contains 28 provocative essays which explore the often volatile relationship between black gay men and lesbians and others of their race.

(categories: African American, All)

The New Black

Yoruba Richen, 2013 (format: on-line-video)

The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community’s institutional pillar—the black church and reveals the Christian right wing’s strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda.

The New Black takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets and provides a seat at the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.

(categories: African American, All)

Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians And Gays in Black Churches

Horace Griffin, 2006 (format: Book)

Griffin offers new approaches to understanding scripture and homosexuality through pastoral theology and black liberation theology. He provides a historical overview and critical analysis of the black church and its current engagement with lesbian and gay Christians, and shares ways in which black churches can learn to reach out and confront all types of oppression in order to do the work of the black community.

(categories: African American, All)

To The Contrary: The Welcoming Movement

PBS, 2013 (format: On-line Video)

An excellent resource for congregations considering starting an Open & Affirming Process, PBS’s “To the Contrary” has produced an episode on the welcoming church movement that profiles diverse Open and Affirming UCC congregations from Michigan and Arizona and a Black Baptist/UCC congregation in Washington, DC. The documentary shares the struggles of congregations becoming O&A and the joys of congregations living out their O&A commitment, stories of young people finding churches that accept them as gay and clergy who find the courage to come out, about parents who learn to love their children and churches that learn to celebrate all their members.

(categories: African American, All, Beginning the Journey)

Umoja: Unity in the Community

Roland Stringfellow, 2015 (format: free-download)

Umoja is a Swahili word that means Unity. African-American communities, however, are deeply divided over homosexuality. Many families and congregations are unsure about supporting loved-ones who come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), especially when the Bible appears to teach otherwise. Many are brokenhearted and confused in the midst of hurtful words and damaged relationships. This study is designed to help.

The Umoja Project is designed to facilitate safe, non-threatening dialogue about the diversity of human sexuality and the tension that sometimes exists within African-American faith communities in relation to LGBT individuals. Film and group discussion will help all participants (regardless of their position on this topic) explore the social and emotional impact of the exclusion those who want to be a part of the church community, but do not feel welcomed.

(categories: African American, All)

Unlearning Homophobia Series

(format: On-line Video)

A compilation of three groundbreaking films—Straight from the Heart (parents acceptance of their lgbt children), All God’s Children (Exploring homophobia and it’s effects on the African-American community), and De Colores (lives of families of gay and lesbian Latinos and Latinas as they struggle to accept their gay children).