Inside the Rise of the Modern Black, LGBTQ Christian Justice Movement with Zachary Gillis

Your host, Kit Morgan, is a trans and queer licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and educator, specializing in the work with the queer population who had families and faith backgrounds where love was allowed only as long as you were cisgender heterosexual.Today's guest, Zach Gillis, is a Black, openly gay Christian clergyman who grew up in the Northwestern Indiana cities of Gary, Hammond, and Merrillville. Zach was a pastor’s kid in the Black Missionary Baptist Church, which sparked his love for church ministry. After coming out in his 20s, Zach came out of the closet and the Black Missionary Baptist Church to find his church home. Outside of re-imagining and reconstructing what the American church can be like in both affirming of Black American cultural identities and LGBTQ identities, Zach Gillis is widely involved in his local community of South Bend, Indiana with serving on the city’s LGBTQ Center’s Board of Directors from 2018 - 2022, delivering vocal performances, and caring for youth as the dean of students at a high school in South Bend, Indiana. When Zach isn’t serving his local community, you might find him singing, listening to R&B of the 90s and 00s, eating Chicago Mix Popcorn, and chilling with his Chihuahaus named Nemo and Topher.The conversation between Kit and Zach explores the experiences of growing up in the Black church, the significance of the Black church in the US in the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, and the journey of finding a church home after coming out of the closet as a Black gay Christian. Kit and Zach delve into the impact of regional culture upon Christian practices and expressions of LGBTQ affirmation. The conversation covers the topics of contemporary Christian music (CCM), Black Gospel music, growing up as a pastor's kid in the Black Missionary Baptist Church, LGBTQ inclusion and exclusion in Evangelical churches, and the emergence of Black LGBTQ Christian communities who are liberation-oriented.