“Love the sinner, hate the sin”: Examining black faith leaders' perceptions of homosexuality and HIV

Background: Emerging research posits that black churches are ideal community-based institutions for HIV prevention interventions. Althoughreligious involvement has been associated with improved mental and physical health, church-related anti-gay treatment and stigma may actually increase vulnerability to HIV/AIDS for LGBTQ individuals by increasing stress and isolation. This study examined black faith leaders’ perceptions of homosexuality and HIV within the black community to assess the feasibility of the black church as a site for the provision of HIV prevention for young black MSM.

Methods: Black male pastors of inner-city churches were directly recruited through existing faith-based networks and via snowball sampling for semi-structured interviews (n=20). We sampled for diversity of age, denomination, and congregation size. Audio files were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using MAXQDA.

Results: Despite relatively negative views of homosexuality and traditional HIV prevention approaches (e.g. condom use), pastors overwhelmingly expressed a ‘love the sinner, hate the sin’ mentality. They viewed their churches as welcoming to LGBTQ individuals, especially youth, yet many simultaneously expressed sentiments that could be detrimental  to LGBT congregants including beliefs that homosexuality is a ‘sinful’  or ‘deviant lifestyle’ that can be ‘cured.’ Importantly, however, pastors believed black churches could and should play a role in HIV prevention efforts, especially for young black men.

Conclusions: Despite pastors’ views on homosexuality, they were overwhelmingly interested in being involved in HIV prevention. Although it may be difficult to reconcile pastors’ beliefs on homosexuality with their desire to engage in HIV prevention, there appear to be opportunities for faith-based HIV interventions.