Gays, God and Bishop Owens

Just so you know, your religious adviser, Susan Newman, heard the recording, too. She told me that the words "faggot" and "sissy" are as offensive to gay men as would be the words "niggers, coons and bucks" spoken from the pulpit by a white minister. Newman hastened to add that you, as mayor, do not support any form of bigotry or hate language and that you are "very supportive of the LGBT community." She pointed out that you have no control over what a minister chooses to say in the pulpit. She said she will see to it that the bishop's actions are brought to your attention as soon as you arrive back in the office next week.

So why interrupt your trip to tell you this?

Well, the D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Men and Women has issued a news release denouncing Bishop Owens's remarks. The group also is calling on you to remove Bishop Owens from your Interfaith Council.

Susan Newman tells me that the bishop is no longer a member of your council but that he now enjoys "honorary" status because of his elevation to bishop within the 77-year-old Mount Calvary Holy Church of America. Still, the coalition will probably want to hear from you on Owens's association with the council. As the coalition said in its news release, the bishop's sermon reeked of bigotry and served to alienate and insult gay men on the basis of their sexuality.

This is the way the coalition characterized Owens's remarks: "The sermon's essential message was if you are openly gay, then you are worthless; if you are gay and in the closet, then do not come out."

Sir, they made another good point, noting that the sermon was "particularly reproachable because it was delivered in a place of worship, a place that many people go to cope from the discrimination that society inflicts on them." Their contention that "the sermon attempted to erode and minimize the faith that gay men have in God" can't be ignored either.

Incidentally, you may wonder how the five mayoral candidates at the forum handled the question. On deck were D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp, Ward 4 Council member Adrian Fenty, business executive Marie Johns, Ward 5 Council member Vincent Orange and lobbyist Michael Brown.

It's fair to say that each of the candidates, with varying degrees of passion, denounced the bishop's remarks. But to my recollection, not one of them criticized Owens personally, either by name or by title. 'Course it's worth remembering that Bishop Owens is reported to have a 7,000-member congregation, and his church is a "must" stop for vote-seeking D.C. politicians.

By the way, Mr. Mayor, I put in a call to the bishop in an attempt to square his Palm Sunday sermon with his church's work on HIV-AIDS. For your information, Greater Mount Calvary offers peer counseling, sensitivity training for church members and an AIDS education and prevention program. The church also knows about AIDS firsthand, because the disease has claimed several of its members. So, in light of that, I wanted to know what's up with the bishop. As of yesterday afternoon, he hadn't returned my call.

Mr. Mayor, this is a heads-up concerning the situation waiting for you when you get back. As they used to say in my old neighborhood, sir, fair warning is fair play.

kingc@washpost.com