In a recent HuffPost Live interview,
Bishop T.D. Jakes said that he had evolved and was evolving on LGBT
rights.
Jakes, who helms the Potter's House
mega-church in Dallas, Texas, appeared on the program to promote his
latest book, Destiny:
Step Into Your Purpose.
“Do you think the LGBT community and
the Black church can co-exist?” a viewer online asked.
“Absolutely!” Jakes answered. “I
think it's going to be diverse from church to church. Every church
has a different opinion on the issue and every gay person is
different… LGBTs of types and sorts have to find a household of
worship that reflects what your views are and what you believe, like
anybody else. And the church should have the right to have its own
convictions and values. If you don't like those convictions and
values, you totally disagree with it, don't try to change my house,
move into your own!”
“Has your thinking evolved on this?”
host Marc Lamont Hill asked.
“Evolved and evolving,” he
answered. “Where I am is to better understand. We [the
church] bought … into the myth that this is a Christian nation. …
We no longer look to public policy to reflect Biblical ethics.”
Jakes has previously called being gay
“brokenness” and has admitted that he would discriminate against
a sexually active gay person. In 2008, his son, Jermaine Jakes, made
headlines when he was netted in a police gay sex sting operation in a
Dallas park.
(Related: T.D.
Jakes tells Oprah Winfrey that he's not anti-gay.)