Timeline is a regular feature in each issue looking back to events and milestones that have helped us evolve into the community we are today.

Early August, 1996

In response to the burning of black churches in the South, writer Dan Woog contributed a guest commentary titled “Why the Gay Community Must Support Black Churches.” In his column, Woog lamented over the way many black and white churches have turned their back on gay men and women. While discouraged by the hypocrisy and contradictions of the church, Woog took even greater pains over the way black churches were being targeted. Woog further pointed out that when a bigot engages in hateful rhetoric against one person, every human being is affected and reduced. And when one group targets another group with violence, all other groups suffer.

The black and gay communities have not always agreed with one another, Woog pointed out. (Black leaders resenting the way white leaders of gay organization portray the fight for equality and acceptance as a civil rights struggle and white gay leaders angered that black groups have not taken a firm stand at our side.) Regardless of the differences between the black and gay communities, Woog was still calling for mass support. It was Woog’s hope that the gay community would send a message to the rest of the country. Although the church burnings were geared toward one group of people and confined to a specific area, every individual, regardless of race, location and sexual orientation was affected by the violence.

The reality, according to Woog, was that just as black churches were being burned, there was no guarantee that gay community centers and homes couldn’t be burned down as well. Completely disillusioned, Woog drew money from his own personal account and set up a “Gay/Lesbian Church Fund.” The premise, as Woog intended, was to encourage the community to contribute to the fund. All monies raised went towards the Anti-Defamation League’s efforts to rebuild the churches, with the understanding that it would be noted that the donated funds came from the gay and lesbian community. Just as it is our right to choose our partners, Woog firmly believed that religion, despite its problems, was an individuals choice and personal freedom.