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Today, we commemorate Juneteenth—the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth is a powerful reminder of delayed justice, hard-won liberation, and the sacred dignity of Black life and Black resistance.

And yet, in 2025, freedom still feels painfully deferred.

As a Black queer man, I know what it means to live at the intersection of struggle and survival. I carry layered identities in a world—and too often, a church—that was not built with people like me in mind. I move through primarily white and straight spaces holding both the joy of resilience and the weight of erasure.

This Juneteenth, we grieve and we resist. Just one day ago, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s cruel ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. Just one day ago, the federal government ended support for an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention hotline. And all around us, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are being dismantled, Pride and Juneteenth celebrations are losing funding, books are being banned, and the lives of queer and trans people—especially Black queer and trans people—are treated as disposable.

These are not separate struggles. We cannot talk about freedom while leaving people behind. The fight for Black liberation and the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation are bound together. Intersectionality—coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw—teaches us that those of us living at the crossroads of race, gender, and sexuality experience compounded harm, but also carry deep wisdom, strength, and sacred vision. Black queer people are not on the margins of our movements—we are the center.

As people of faith, we believe God calls us to the margins—not to observe, but to act. To stand where justice is threatened, to speak when truth is silenced, and to move with courage when power is abused. That includes the church.

The church must not be silent.
The church must be Open and Affirming.
Now more than ever.

This fall, the Open and Affirming Coalition will launch a campaign to support and encourage more Black churches in the United Church of Christ to become Open and Affirming congregations—spaces where Black LGBTQ+ people are not just welcomed, but affirmed, celebrated, protected, and uplifted. We cannot build a just church without confronting racism, transphobia, and the erasure of Black queer lives within our own communities.

This Juneteenth, we invite churches to take action. Here are a few ways to begin:

• Preach about intersectional justice and the sacred worth of Black LGBTQ+ lives.
• Partner with Black-led and LGBTQ-led organizations doing liberation work.
• Audit your church’s leadership, liturgy, and policies to ensure Black queer voices are centered and affirmed.
• Support mental health resources, mutual aid funds, and crisis response services that care for LGBTQ+ people of color.
• Celebrate Juneteenth and Pride together, lifting up the stories, gifts, and leadership of Black LGBTQ+ individuals in your congregation and community.

In honor of Black freedom, Black joy, and Black LGBTQ+ lives, I ask you to stand with us.

Give today to support our Pride Month fundraiser as we expand this life-saving work and launch our new initiative for Black churches:
https://www.giveoutday.org/organization/Ona

Because freedom delayed is still freedom worth fighting for.
And none of us are free until all of us are free.