The story of Hagar in biblical text provides insights into the experiences of many African American same gender loving/lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals within communities of faith. We can and should aim to make their experiences more positive,

1. Invisible
Same Gender Loving in African
American Faith Communities
D. Kelley

2. Hagar
Genesis 16:1-13

3. The Egyptian

4. Taken

5. Given Away

6. Used

7. Objectified

8. Oppressed

9. Disregarded

10. Driven Away

11. Named

12. Seen

13. Heard

14. By the Lord

15. At some time in our lives, whether black
or white, [gay or straight], we are all
Hagar’s daughters. When our backs are
up against a wall; when we feel
abandoned, abused, betrayed and
banished…. – Weems

16. Sexual Submission

17. Did Hagar have a choice? Do today’s “Hagars”
have a choice?
What are their options? If they say no, what
would the consequences be?

18. Hush!
LGBT individuals in many African American
congregations are like Hagar in that they are
enslaved by cultural norms that keep them
captive; they can be who they are, but they
cannot say who they are.

19. Dominant Scripts
• Definitions of what it means to be feminine
or masculine
• All LGBTQ individuals are promiscuous
• Women are objects
• African Americans are Hypersexual

20. The Mask

21. Scars that are hidden still wreak havoc on the
lives of those who bear them, especially
when the stories connected to their
inception are brutal.

22. We know who you are
but never tell us who you are

23. The Black church’s “discomfort” with
the LGBT body points to anxiety with
human bodies in general, whether they
are LGBT or not.
– Kelly Brown Douglas

24. Devalued While Producing for Others
• The Egyptian: Why didn’t Sarai and Abram
refer to Hagar by name?
• She was useful to them because of what she
was able to do for them
• How does it feel to be used?

25. Much of black heterosexuals’ anti-homosexual
sentiment exists as a means of countering the
perception of black sexuality being perverse in
order to survive and gain respectability and
acceptance by the majority” – H. Griffin

26. The unseen, the not talked about, the unheard
historical voices of scripture; the ones no one
preaches about, or talks about in
churches, mirrors Lesbian women in many local
faith communities.

27. They are often unseen and unheard, but welcome
to offer gifts of music, arts and more as long as
they are not transparent regarding their true
identity.

28. The God Who Sees
Hagar gave this name to
the Lord who spoke to
her: “You are the God
who sees me,” for she
said, “I have now seen
the One who sees me.”
- Genesis 16:13

29. Black churches have taken a stand regarding
past injustices; Black church leaders have
ironically not taken a similar approach on
sexual oppression and oppressive religious
and societal actions against black women,
lesbians and heterosexual, and gay men.–
Horace Griffin

30. Instead blacks often internalize this country’s
racist sexual depictions of a black sexuality
that is out of control and in need of salvation
by Christianity. – Horace Griffin

31. We’ve historically addressed issues of
oppression from the outside; not so good at
addressing the oppression from within our
own culture

32. BUT there are some African American
communities of faith who are addressing
tough issues and doing it well! I applaud
them!

33. Moving Forward

34. The God Who
Wants His Followers to See
Then he turned toward
the woman and said
to Simon, “Do you
see this woman? -
Luke 7:44

35. What are some steps we can take?
How does silence harm the African
American community?

36. “Telling” about it is different from
“talking” about it
Dialogue

37. "It will require a willingness to respect the
genuine differences in one another and to see
them as the strength of our coalition, not the
bane of our existence."

38. Image Credits & Resources
Flickr/Creative Commons
www.123RF.com
www.creationswap.com
www.devianart.com
Flunder, Yvette. Where the Edge Gathers: Building Communities of Radical
Inclusivity
Griffin, Horace. Their Own Received Them Not
Eds. Marvin M. Ellison, Kelly Brown Douglas. Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources
for Theological Reflection
Weems, Renita J. Just a Sister Away: A Womanist Vision of Women’s Relationships
in the Bible (San Diego, CA: LuraMedia, 1988).
Tupac. Keep Ya Head Up, Instrumental. www.hulkshare.com