How timely. I was just talking to Conrad about the legacy of the Black church, as an institution (more accurately as a set of institutions) and its importance as an independent entity in which white people (more accurately, whiteness) becomes basically irrelevant to anything.

Mrs. King's appearance at an MCC function lends miles of credibility to the "civil rights" aspect of gay struggle for parity, particularly in the region of the Deep South, where homophobia is so notorious, it's cliche. Reportedly,

Just this summer, Mrs. King spoke out when supporters of an attempt to overturn Miami-Dade County's gay rights ordinance distributed fliers that asserted the Rev. King would be outraged by the ordinance that equated civil rights with ``special rights'' for gays. Mrs. King denounced the assertion as false and the referendum lost Sept. 10.

And as for the SF talk, Patti Labelle was also there!!

So you know they "had chu'ch"! Patti's vocals are virtuosi.

Historical Note: As far as contemporary church history is concerned, the Metropolitan Community Church is very interesting. Although more traditional Christians would argue against the legitimacy of a "gay denomination", the MCCs are a logical extension of the Protestant tradition, basing their protset and departure from the accepted norm on questions of theology and church polity. They believe that Salvation is for everyone, regardless of their sexuality. Controversy!

But it's one that began sometime in 1970.

And, true to the Protestant lifestyle, one is able to look at MCC detractors and say, Don't like that particular church? Well, get thee somewhere else.

Protestantism in one easy step.