ABSTRACT
Although many of them do not support anti-gay discrimination, evidence from mediabased and empirical surveys indicates that significant numbers of people in the USA, including black people, see homosexual relationships as unacceptable and morally wrong (Crawford et al. 2002:179-180). Black churches hold a central and uniquely influential position within black culture and society in the USA (Lincoln and Mamiya 1990). Both directly and indirectly, black churches have been identified as fostering homophobia-a fear or contempt for homosexuals and behaviour based upon such feelings-playing an important role in its genesis, legitimation and weekly reinforcement in black communities (Dyson 1996). Indeed, theologically-driven homophobia, aided by black nationalist ideology, supports a strong and exaggerated sense of masculinity within black communities that, along with homophobia, takes a significant but generally unexamined psychic and social toll on people’s lives. These forces adversely shape the lives not only of black gay/bisexual men but also those of black heterosexual males and females.
