Edward McClelland, author of “Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President” said in his NBC-Chicago Ward Room column on Monday that Black clergymen should be giving more credit to white politicians for the defeat of the gay marriage bill in the Illinois House last Friday.
McClelland said that we should all be thanking the 64 white legislators that stood up for traditional marriage.
In his Ward Room column, McClelland wrote, “After the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act was not called for a vote in the state House of Representatives, the African American Clergy Coalition gave the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus all the credit for killing it.”
McClelland also commented that gay marriage supporters were also wrong to blame the defeat of the bill on black legislators, who they say gave in to pressure from conservative clergymen.
Apparently eleven of the 20 black House members were ready to vote “yes” to the bill, while only four were prepared to vote “no,” and five of them were undecided, according to McClelland.
Co-chairman of the African American Clergy Coalition (AACC), Bishop Larry Trotter of Sweet Holy Spirit Church in Chicago, said that he agrees that white legislators should be given credit as well as the black legislators for defeating the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.
However, he defended the AACC by saying that the efforts of the black community were important for two reasons. The first, being that black church members strongly believe in the Word of God.
The second reason, according to Trotter is that politicians and black churches have a historical relationship. He expounded on this by saying that politicians come to the black churches to get their blessing during times of campaigning for elections.
Trotter went on to say that the same politicians rarely come back to the black churches after they have been elected. However, he continued, black churches called back the politicians before the vote on gay marriages because the black caucus vote was needed in the House.
Trotter stated that the AACC and the Archdiocese of Chicago, with whom they have a partnership, would continue to fight for traditional marriage beliefs as stated in the Bible.
According to Trotter, there won’t be enough votes in the House next year also to push through the gay marriage bill and he said that he is glad that Illinois won’t become the 13th state to support the unbiblical act.
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