“January
12, 2003," Davis remembers, "I sat through an enormous
homophobic sermon which sent me into temporary depression. On that day,
I attended the 7:30am service with two gay friends.
“At the height of the sermon, over two-thirds of the fifteen hundred
people attending were standing on their feet cheering the homophobic rhetoric
being spewed from the pulpit by my Atlanta pastor. Women were screaming
at the top of their lungs, waving their hands, and men were cheering as
if they were at a football game.
“I was too afraid to get up and leave. My friends and I just stood
there frozen in time. I literally felt as if I were going to be lynched--and
if I dared get up and leave, the pastor would say something from the pulpit
and the ushers would immediately slam the door shut, preventing me from
exiting.”
That experience sent Davis into a depression that lasted until “the
Lord spoke to me to not only write about the experience, but to also counter
it. My theological knowledge and education proves there is no condemnation
against homosexuality, but instead there exists mistranslation and misinterpretation
based upon differences in language, culture, and history.”
Davis’s book, as well as The Herndon Davis Reports, are
dedicated to “spiritually enhancing and socially empowering the
lives of the black gay/lesbian community.”
His critics can be glib and rhyming, as was Texas minister
Reverend Dwight Mc Kissic, who preached, “To equate civil rights
to gay rights is to compare my skin with their sin.” Other opponents
opt for being condescending and offensive. A chorus of black churches
has sent this message: “We don’t condone homosexuality in
our church, we heal it as we would heal alcoholism, or drug addiction.”
Herndon Davis isn’t immune to criticism, but he isn’t paralyzed
by it, either. Turning the conversation to his book, Davis says, “It
took me four months to write the first draft and an additional six months
to nail down the 16-chapters over 320 pages. Finally, I added two chapters
for the black church and community on how to love and support their gay/lesbian
loved ones.”
He spent most of last year self-publishing, distributing, and promoting
Black, Gay, & Christian nationwide. Eventually, “God
spoke to me that Los Angeles would be the place where I could find full-time
work and opportunities to promote my book further.” God’s
prediction has come to pass. In Los Angeles, Herndon Davis, the country’s
strongest voice for black, gay, Christian rights, has become a sought-after
and respected lecturer.
A Los Angeles speaking event was the venue for his latest epiphany: “I
was inspired to create an ongoing and visible vehicle,” he recalls,
“by which closeted black gays/lesbians across the country could
hear and see individuals who were also black gay/lesbian, but thriving
within their skin and not ashamed of it.” Voila, The Herndon
Davis Reports was born.
Herndon proclaims, “There is a great need for this type of programming,
but convincing corporate sponsors and advertisers that the black gay/lesbian
community is not only large, but also brand loyal, has been challenging.
I pitched the series to nearly 100 different networks, organizations,
and local television stations across the country, before it was accepted
by the Dish Network’s Healthy Living Channel.”
And what will this black, gay, Christian rebel with a
cause be doing after his television series is up and running? Confidently,
he reveals, “I will focus on pitching two of my eight screenplays
that incorporate various elements of the fear of coming out-–and
the thriving aftermath that follows.”
