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Rev. Dyan Abena McCray, pastor at Unity Fellowship Church of Washington, D.C., said that when she went out to walk her dog last Sunday morning she found that a brick had been thrown through the window of her car.
McCray said she is concerned that she is being targeted because of her criticism of Rev. Willie Wilson, who is the pastor of Union Temple Church in D.C. and executive director of the Millions More Movement — an event in October slated to build unity within the black community and commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March.
Activists say Wilson has refused to work with black gay men and lesbians who wanted to be part of planning the march.
Tensions over Wilson’s relationship with gays grew after news spread of a July 3 sermon he gave in which he made anti-gay remarks and claimed lesbianism was an epidemic threatening the black family.
McCray, a gay rights advocate and leader of a gay-friendly church, wrote an opinion column criticizing Wilson that was published in the July 29 issue of the Blade.
McCray wrote that she was troubled by the remarks made by Wilson, which she said were inconsistent with some of the pastor’s past efforts to promote inclusion of gays.
“The reality is that Wilson has shown that his leadership skills and hatred for some people would never make him a suitable politician for our city and make him a questionable member of the clergy,” McCray wrote.
Since the article was published, McCray said, she has received numerous threatening phone calls and e-mails.
“One of the calls said, ‘One who ministers to lesbians and punks should watch their backs,’” McCray said. “Someone else said, ‘Your voice needs to be shut up.’
“A couple days before the window was smashed, I got a call saying I needed to watch my back, and then the phone slammed down.”
McCray said that she is convinced that the smashing of her car window is related to the threatening phone calls and e-mails. She was asked by the Blade to provide copies of the threatening e-mails, but said she thought she had deleted most of them. She had hoped to retrieve some, but did not forward any to the Blade by deadline.
McCray said that she has filed a police report about the vandalism to her car and has put in place some new security measures but is otherwise defiant.
“Nothing will change in my life,” she said. “I will always be a voice for those who don’t get heard. People need to be aware that when they stand on the front line there are going to be some bullets, you need to protect yourself, but nothing is going to silence my voice.”
Activist Phillip Pannell said that he has also received harassing, anonymous phone calls by people who tell him to, “lay off Rev. Wilson.”
Rev. Wilson did not return calls for comment and has refused in the past to talk to the Blade since news of the July 3 sermon became public.
“The threat of violence shows that we are touching a nerve in the black community,” said Meredith Moise, of Equality Maryland’s Marylanders Of Color Collective. “It shows people are paying attention. People are afraid of the truth. But there is no place for fear in this movement.
“Violence is unacceptable,” Moise said. “And Rev. Wilson needs to send out a call to say cease and desist. He could tell people to stop, and they probably would.”
Neither McCray nor Pannell claims Wilson is directly responsible for the harassment they say they have experienced.
But Sterling Washington, co-chair of the black gay group the D.C. Coalition, said Wilson’s comments about gays were so extreme that, “someone who was not of sound mind would take Wilson’s statements as a battle cry to attack gay and lesbian people.”
As for the Millions More Movement, Moise said, black gays are an integral part of the black family, “and we are organizing for our inclusion.”
“We need to come together on peaceful terms and talk about how this can be a loving celebration of unity in our community,” said Moise. “We will only be up to the challenge to solve our issues if we work together.”
According to a report in the Washington Post, both Mayor Anthony Williams and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond have called for Wilson and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to include gay men and lesbians in the planning of the Millions More Movement.
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