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Why Being LGBTQ+ Affirming Is Not Enough
In his monumental book “How To Be An Anti-Racist”, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi made a powerful distinction of language around the topic of racism when he asserted:
“What’s the problem with being ‘not racist’? It is a claim that signifies neutrality: ‘I am not a racist, but neither am I aggressively against racism.’ But there is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of ‘racist’ isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘antiracist.’”
Going on to brilliantly unpack this concept throughout the book, Kendi transformed my understanding of racism and my role as someone who seeks to embody allyship. As the white father of a black son, this has been an important part of my ongoing education and formation. The removal of the pseudo-neutral “not racist” shifted the responsibility in me from ideological abstraction to active anti-racism. And, wow, do I have my work cut out for me!
As a queer Christian, I began to consider what these critical lessons might mean for our LGBTQ2S+ affirmations and inclusion in the church (and in the world). Having long since learned that race and sexuality injustices cannot and should not be viewed as identical parallels, I knew it wasn’t…