I could add something that might be worth bringing up. I was talking yesterday to a Black gay Christian friend in Detroit. He reminded me that Black gay men are disproportionately present in the music ministries of Black churches — as choir directors, members, esteemed soloists, etc. But for the most part they have to keep their identities and private lives secret or risk ostracization.

So even though LGBTQ people make up important parts of Church life, they risk trauma and spiritual pain.

That’s a conversation that needs to be had, not by me as a bystander of course, but nonetheless.