I was reading the response to a story last week about Mayor Anthony Foxx attending a gay event. I was both entertained and concerned about some of the city's responses.

The expectation of any elected official, especially in the office of mayor, is that they will represent all constituents. Charlotte finally has a mayor who speaks for marginalized communities. Mayor Foxx is taking a cue from President Obama and realizes that you must be inclusive in your dialog to effect change on a mainstream level.

I remember a few years back my partner and I attended the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) fund-raiser at the Charlotte Convention Center. It was the most attended event by gay people that did not involve Melissa Etheridge or Cher in concert. Bank of America and Wachovia each sponsored very expensive tables for their employees, and although this was one of the largest events for the HRC, former Mayor Pat McCorey's office did not issue a simple conventioneers letter of welcome.

When I lived in Atlanta, the mayor attended every Gay Pride Parade. I have also never been to a gay pride event that did not have the obligatory overzealous "Christians" barking scriptures and hateful slogans. I mean, really; stay in your lane.

I grew up attending local and national Baptist conventions, and never once did I come across a bunch of gay folks with signs screaming random Village People or Sylvester lyrics like, "We want you as a new recruit" or "Do you want to funk with me?"
It amazes me that some people cannot make the distinction between a civil rights issue and a spiritual one.

Coretta Scott King, the matriarch of the Civil Rights Movement, days before the 30th Anniversary of her husband's assassination, said: "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people."(Reuters, March 31, 1998)

We should all be outraged when one group is being oppressed.

I am also surprised that people cannot step back and see how religion has historically held other groups in similar subjugation. If you take out gay and replace it with women and minorities, the same rhetoric has been used to restrict military service, keep women as second-class citizens and treat African-Americans as less than human.

Some will seek to use the Bible to justify their ideology, which only works if you share the same interpretation. I will not attempt to do "scripture battles" with anyone because, although I grew up in the church, I have often said that if they issued grades in vacation Bible school I would be a "C" student at best.

And what is up with the "Hate the Sin" stuff? I grew up listening to a "Hate the sin not the sinner" ideology. What is the difference when the end emotion is hate? What if various groups adopted similar sayings and practices? Would we feel better about white supremacist groups if their slogan was "Hate the skin not the men?" What about male chauvinists who adopted a slogan of "Down with Women, Up with Push-Up Bras."

I work with a diverse student body, and some of those students are gay. I have way more respect for the most effeminate gay man who is walking in his own truth as opposed to the "DL" man posturing for society's expectations of manhood.

The reality, good people, is that there have been gay folks among us – even in the church -- for as long as there has been a community. Maybe, instead of a National Coming Out Day, gay folks need to have a “National We Not Sharing Our Gifts Day.”

If gay folks suddenly were not here, you would see a significant impact immediately, even in Sunday services. Just try and replace someone who can work kitchen ministry, direct the choir, and simultaneously play the organ, piano and tambourine while hitting high note falsettos.

The bottom line is this: We need to practice a little more inclusion, acceptance and love. I personally believe that the God we serve is a loving God. Eternity is a long time, and my personal belief is that Heaven would be less fabulous and festive if we could not share it with our gay brothers and sisters. Besides, if God created the heavens and the earth, he can certainly make some of those angel wings in pink...smile.
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Professor Locs describes himself as an African American, gay, Southern male who has had an extensive career in higher education. His column appears each Wednesday. Click here to read his blog.

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