Outing black pastors

Two American activists have had enough of the "men of God" who use their pulpits in black churches to spew homophobic hatred. Jasmyne Cannick and Keith Boykin have launched a delightfully nasty blogging campaign against some of the creepiest pigs out there.

On Monday the pair inaugurated a five-part series called "Outing Black Pastors." The campaign is "geared at exposing the hypocrisy preached by Black pastors as it relates to lesbians and gays, featured a profile on two Black pastors each day this week.... People from all over the country have logged on and shared information regarding the lives of the pastors profiled."

This from a press release that just arrived in my in-box: "From New York to Los Angeles, Black gay people have been the backbone of the Black church," said Boykin. "Through this network, we've discovered that many homophobic black pastors lead secret lives outside the church. We're not naming any names, yet, but by doing this, we hope to confirm information from our sources and empower the Black lesbian and gay community to speak out."

They may not be outright outing, but both activists are drawing attention to that hoary old chestnut, the idea that those who scream out the most hatred are themselves the most conflicted about their own sexuality: "Which leads us to an obvious question, are these pastors gay?"

Which pastors, you ask? Keith Boykin's here, and Jasmyne Cannick's here.

Smells like queer spirit.