A quick letter to my friends in the LGBTQ community:

I don’t exactly know what to say in perilous times such as what happened in Orlando the other night nor should I have to open my mouth to form an opinion of the events that led to the deaths of so many men and women inside Pulse, so I’m here to keep my pie hole shut, listen, and try to be the best friend I possibly can be. 

Regardless of your beliefs, I am sincerely praying for each of the families affected, those who are teetering on coming out to less than receptive family members, friends, fraternity/sorority brothers and sisters, etc. that you are able to live your brand of truth without fearing for your lives, employment status, and so forth.

You may look at me as just another straight married Christian man with a big mouth, but I do empathize with the acute pain:  even in the great United States of America, I am still a black man – and in some quarters, one of those slurs that begins with the letter “N” and ends with “-er”. Your pain is my pain:  When one hurts, we all ache equally.

I can tell you from experience that it wasn’t that long ago the same citizens who made a mockery of your orientation did the same thing to interracial couples, particularly those with a black man and a white woman. As a matter of fact, we know friends and associates who have been abused and even paid the ultimate price for the ones they love! Even within our societal disagreements, we are all still human and deserve to be treated as such. I’ve even told a lesbian friend that I want her to experience the same jubilation as my wife and I felt nearly five years ago on that hot August 2011 afternoon!

This is nowhere near the time for political games and passing the buck around to someone else; all violence can be stopped. However, we live in an era which neither children from Sandy Hook nor churchgoing Africa-Americans in Charleston can pray, study, and learn of the Word without being mowed down cannot be the catalysts for reform. Tell me, what are the empty words good for when young people are dying senselessly in a nightclub solely because of sexual orientation?

As we pray to God that He fixes this, we also need to push our lawmakers to enforce existing laws for all, not a select chosen few. Within my own Baptist faith, I do acknowledge that He is Alpha and Omega as His Will is done to overcome our collective prejudices and sinful ways. 

Forgive us for being burdens and causing you lasting pain due to the ignorance and intolerance of a few souls, for they do not truly represent what the Church is all about – or even looks like today. Help us to expand our hearts, minds, and souls for the lost to know God as their own Savior in these trying days and beyond even as the vitriolic rhetoric manifests itself as  homophobia and hatred of our Islamic brothers and sisters that comes from our news sources, entertainment, our own families, and even from the pulpits!

As an ally, I have your backs and unconditionally love you– even if I lose friendships, titles, etc. because of who you are. May God bless each of you and keep you near.

Sincerely,

A different brand of Christian man