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The Black Church Experience for College Educated Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals

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The Black Church Experience for College Educated Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2017 Damned to Hell: The Black Church Experience for College Educated Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals Edwanna Andrews University of Central Florida Part of the Sociology Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Andrews, Edwanna, "Damned to Hell: The Black Church Experience for College Educated Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5590. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5590 DAMNED TO HELL: THE BLACK CHURCH EXPERIENCE FOR COLLEGE EDUCATED LESBIANS, GAYS, AND BISEXUALS by EDWANNA ANDREWS B.A. University of Central Florida, 1999 M.A. University of Central Florida, 2004 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2017 Major Professor: David A. Gay © 2017 Edwanna Andrews ii ABSTRACT Despite increased acceptance nationally towards same-sex sexuality, intolerance within the Black Church against those who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) continues to persist. As one of the most important institutions in the African American community, the significance of the Black Church makes the religious experience particularly influential. LGBs frequently experience homonegativity in the Black Church in the form of homophobic laced sermons, Microaggressions, and church gossip. The stigma LGBs encounter around homosexuality in the Black Church has created a dissonance between their religious beliefs, faith, and sexual identity. This study explores the multifaceted experience of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals in Black Church. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of Patricia Hill Collins’ Intersectionality and Erving Goffman’s stigma, this research focuses on how the intersections of one’s religious and sexual identities is impacted and influenced by stigma experienced within the Black Church. This study is based on 14 in-depth interviews with lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals who attended the Black Church and reveals the complex relationship LGBs experience trying to integrate their religious and sexual identities. Additionally, participant narratives provides insight into the impact of homonegative stigma sexual minorities experience in the Black Church. iii To my heart and greatest gift Austin Spencer Andrews, I am forever thankful that I was chosen to be your mother and I have been blessed by your patience, encouragement, and support these past four years. I love you more, more. To my mother Eunice A. Randall, thank you for always being there to cheer me on and keep me grounded. Your constant love, prayers, and support was everything that I needed to push forward to complete this degree. To M.J. I look forward to the day you can be your authentic self with your family. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I acknowledge the many, many, many people that have impacted me on this degree journey. My dissertation chair Dr. Gay, thank you for honoring your 2013 promise of not retiring before I finished this degree. Your teaching, guidance, support, calmness, and real talk helped me through the toughest parts of this journey. I will forever be grateful for you and will truly miss coming to your office! Thank you also to Dr. Amy Donley, Dr. Liz Grauerholz, and Dr. Ty Matejowsky. I am grateful for your willingness to serve on my committee; your feedback, edits, and advice were always everything that I needed. Thank you for challenging me. Over the past four years I have been honored to be supported by my awesome ‘Queen Science’ cohort. Our countless homework and study sessions gave me the strength to keep moving forward. Jenny, thank you for always being on stand-by every time I freaked out about something telling me “you got this.” Sara V. I greatly appreciated your advice and technical skills. Traci Milbuta thank you for your unconditional support and academic guidance ensuring I would successfully complete this degree without any issues. Additionally, I am extremely grateful for my family- my aunts, uncles, brothers (their spouses), cousins, and others. All of you kept me focused and I thank you for the words of strength, reassurance, and your unending faith that I would complete this process. Andre thank you for being on this last degree journey with me and for simply being there through it all. I must acknowledge my “Village” of supporters- friends, colleagues, students, and strangers who refused to allow me to give anything less than my best or allow me to ever give up. You all will never know how much your words of encouragement, pep talks, wisdom, and presence kept me v motivated to continue pushing through every day. To my Sista Circle, ladies I did it just like you knew and said I would. Thank you for keeping me strong these past four years- Love Ya Ladies! Lastly, I acknowledge this dissertation would not be possible without the individuals that consented to sharing their experiences with me. I am truly honored that you trusted me to tell your stories. It is my hope your narratives will provide a better understanding of experiences sexual minorities have behind the doors of the Black Church. I also recognize the impact the Black Church has had in my life; from attending Church of Christ with my Grandma Lillie Bell and Granddaddy as a child to joining and serving at Fountain Head Baptist Church as an adult. Through the Black Church I found my faith and developed my relationship with God which has been an unending source of strength and power for me throughout my life. There is no doubt the Black Church is truly a powerful institution and I pray that it will cease to be place of pain and trauma for sexual minorities. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS TERMINOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 5 The Black Church ....................................................................................................................... 5 Homonegativity in the Black Church ......................................................................................... 7 Religion and Attitudes towards Homosexuality ......................................................................... 9 Impact of Religiosity in the Black Church ............................................................................... 12 Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Black Church Religious Experience ............................................ 14 Pastoral Influence...................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................. 20 Intersectionality......................................................................................................................... 21 Stigma ....................................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER FOUR: METHODS ................................................................................................... 30 The Call for Research ............................................................................................................... 30 Methodological Framework ...................................................................................................... 31 Recruitment ............................................................................................................................... 32 Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 34 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 36 Sample....................................................................................................................................... 38 Growing Up In The Black Church ............................................................................................ 38 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER FIVE: THE STRUGGLE WITHIN ........................................................................... 42 Homonegative Messages .......................................................................................................... 43 Christian Identity vs Sexual Identity......................................................................................... 45 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER SIX: CHURCH EVANGELISM ..............................................................................
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