The "terrible" hypocrisy of Chicago's first black lesbian mayor

"In probably 90% of the black churches, she would be dismantled or invited to leave," said Reverend Martha Simmons, black preaching specialist and consultant for a PBS special show about the black church.

There is a cruel irony in the election of Lightfoot of which few, if any, speak. Many of the black voters who asked her to run their city would not dare to ask her to run their own churches because she is a gay woman. Women and LGBTQ members are still treated as second-class citizens in many black churches in the United States.

Two of the largest black church groups in the country still do not officially accept women, clergy or bishops. And while largely white denominations such as the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (United States) affirm gays and lesbians, most black churches in America still have a policy of do not ask, do not say 'LGBTQ members to live in the closet or to indulge in self-hatred.

Yet Lightfoot was able to convince many of the faithful, including those who say "God did not create Adam and Steve," to vote for her. She got the vital support of a black mogul who recorded in the Gospel and grew up in a church that considers homosexuality as a sin. She converted skeptics by campaigning in black churches. One of the city's most prominent black pastors said that she could not have won without the firm support of the Black Church community of Chicago.

His victory is greater than Chicago or politics.

How did she do it?

The answer to this question lies in a particular way of thinking of the black community that is both "beautiful" and "terrible".

What does the terrible look like

Ask many talented and ambitious women who attend traditional black churches and they can talk to you about something terrible.

Ask these black church groups about their attitude towards women and LGBTQ people and you will hear everything except a blunt statement from both groups on an equal footing.

According to Simmons, some of these men are threatened by women leaders breaking barriers, like Lightfoot. Do not talk to them about changing times or changing faces of politics.

They think, "Why should I believe that women's roles have changed when they do not serve me? "Why should I believe that, especially considering the number of women at the seminary.There are now more women in the seminary than men," said Simmons. "Do you really believe that men will help women get jobs that only men were able to obtain before?"

And then there is another terrible tradition in the black church that I saw first-hand: the many LGBTQ members who were humiliated by their congregations.

Once, I attended a black Baptist church where the senior pastor did not allow women to preach and taught that homosexuality was a sin. There was a problem: his right arm was homosexual and virtually everyone in the church seemed to know it.

This man was a pillar in the church. He was one of those unsung heroes who performed church duties – he attended boring late-night meetings because he was forced to do so, bringing the meals to isolation, organizing the pastor's program. . I can not think of a time when he did not have a smile on his face.

He was, however, killed by a young man whom he had invited to his home. I thought that sorrow would break the tacit agreement of the church to never talk about her sexuality. But when I asked one of my friends who attended his funeral he had finally spoken openly about who he was, he reacted with contempt.

"Of course not, it was completely whitewashed," he said. "Some speakers even claimed that he loved women."

Why are so many black churches like this, the answers could fill a book.

Here's one of Reverend Otis Moss III, senior pastor of one of Chicago's largest black-dominated congregations. He points out how often blacks are told by America that they are not welcome.

"Those who have been traumatized are transmitting their trauma and for some it gives them the feeling of being able to hold power over someone," he says. "Those who have been retained are able to say to another:" You are not completely human. "

Lightfoot, however, entered one way or another into this black subculture of trauma, repression and contradictions and convinced enough black religion followers to vote for it.

She made skeptics a believer because of another tradition in the black church that is not terrible.

It's beautiful. "

What does the beautiful look like

Moss, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, knows this side of the black church and shows how it works in politics.

His father was a close relative of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Former President Barack Obama frequented Trinity, and Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whose fiery sermons almost derailed Obama's first presidential candidacy, led the United States. Church for over 30 years.

Moss says that there is a tradition of pragmatism in the black church in which the faithful care more about the leader who can deliver than one who can quote a doctrine.

It tells the story of a politician who tried to answer questions about his sexual orientation before a black church elder cut him off:

"Child, I do not care who you go out," said the eldest. "I just want to know what your policy will be."

It's in this vein of pragmatism that Lightfoot has tapped.

Moss is impressed by the way Lightfoot appeared in many black churches and answered all the questions. He says that she could not have won without strong support from the black church.

Lightfoot ran as a stranger. She was not part of the political machine in Chicago that many blacks were suspicious of. She had never held a political post before. It turns out that many black practitioners also felt strangers to Chicago.

Former federal prosecutor, she capitalized on the indignation caused by the murder by a white policeman Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, to launch his campaign reformer.

"Racism is a great equalizer," said Moss. "Regardless of your sexual orientation, we are always struck by the same political machine that tries to marginalize people of color."

A crucial moment for Lightfoot came when she got the support of one of the most well-known personalities of the Black Church community of Chicago. Willie Wilson is a prominent businessman and gospel music impresario among older followers attending a black church in Chicago. He ranked fourth in the mayor's primary, winning the highest percentage of black votes.

Wilson echoed the church's elder from the Moss story – Lightfoot's political positions were ultimately more important than his piety. He said that his sexual orientation was not a major concern for him.

Now here is the sticky part. Some say that the pragmatism of many black churches is actually just a whimsical word for hypocrisy. For example, how are the voting habits of black worshipers different from those of white evangelicals who support Trump and oppose the rights of homosexuals?

Moss does not see it this way. He has another term to describe the difference between what the faithful profess and what they practice. He calls this a "beautiful contradiction": black religion followers can adopt a doctrine that excludes a group of people, but reject those scriptures once they have come to know and love such a person.

He remembers a story that he heard from another black pastor. The man had directed the funeral of a transgender person from his congregation. A deacon stood up during the service and said that he could not attend the ceremony because the person to whom they were saying goodbye was dressed as a woman.

Then another group of deacons stood up and told how that same person had been a force in the church who had done so much to help people. "She will be buried with all the honors," said a deacon before sitting down.

Relationships prevail over doctrine in many black churches, says Moss.

"When you have a relationship with someone, you see the sacredness of God flowing through them in relation to a doctrine that has stuck in the back of your head," Moss said.

Jonathan Walton, professor of religion and society at Harvard Divinity School, amplified Moss's point of view. He says it's simplistic to say that most black churches are homophobic and anti-women.

He says that black devotees who voted for Lightfoot did not challenge the black church tradition; some acted within it.

"Are we really changing when we go to the polling booth or are we just as pragmatic in our religious spaces," Walton said. "Do I want us to challenge homophobia, sexism? Absolutely? But do I think black churches are just bastions of homophobia and sexism? No, not absolutely."

Yet, what about gifted women who will never be able to preach or become bishops? What about members of the LGBTQ community who can not be recognized for their total humanity – like the help of the gay pastor?

I'm talking about help in Walton, and he says that even this story has hope.

"It's what's beautiful and terrible both in our community," he says. "It's beautiful because this brother whom everyone knew to be homosexual had probably found life in this community and held authority in this space that he probably would not have anywhere else.

"What's terrible, though, is the conspiracy of silence around a certain aspect of his identity and the fact that people feel compelled to love him despite his sexual orientation."

Why Lightfoot's Victory Is Greater Than Chicago

This "beautiful contradiction" could however change.

Simmons, the PBS consultant, said that a new generation of practitioners and black pastors did not care about gender issues and sexual orientation. According to her, too many of them are struggling to pay for their education loans and fear being shot in the street.

"They do not have time for this foolishness about who loves who," says Simmons, who runs a live chat every Monday on his Facebook page about black church issues. "The young people look at it and say, 'No, no, we're gone, we do not have the time to do this hypocrisy and specialize in minor tasks as long as we continue to die. "

The election of Lightfoot could be a sign of this change.

Moss is confident that the black church will eventually develop to fully affirm the women and members of the LBGTQ community. He envisions a day when Lightfoot, or a politician like her, could actually kiss her partner at a celebration of victory in a traditional black church. And the cheers did not stop.

"I can not wait to be there," he says.

Some might think that such a moment of hindrance would be terrible. But for others, a word would describe such a moment:

It would be beautiful