The Gay-Straight Student Alliance presented the viewing of “For the Bible Tells Me So” in Dillard Auditorium on Jan. 28.
The 2007 documentary directed by Daniel G. Karslake first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film identifies with homosexuality and how the historical context of the Bible views same-sex relationships, with interviews from several religious families and their personal experience with having homosexual children.
The film follows the lives of five families as they journey through life trying to accept their children’s lifestyles while distinguishing their personal beliefs.
Among the families represented in the film were former House Majority leader Richard Gephardt and his lesbian daughter Chrissy Gephardt, the first gay Episcopal Bishop, Gene Robinson, the Rev. David Poteat, a panelist, and his daughter Tonia Poteat.
A panel discussion followed the viewing of the film.
The panel included the Rev. Carlton Eversley a professor at Winston-Salem State University and Wake Forest University; the Rev. Roger Hayes, the founding pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit Fellowship in Winston -Salem; and the Rev. Poteat, a gospel minister.
Panelist the Rev. Poteat’s family was featured in the film.
The film’s controversy involves homosexuality, the subtext of the Bible in the Old Testament Leviticus and how it applies to the modern 21st century.
Panelist the Rev. Eversley said, “More films like this should be portrayed more often especially in the church.”
The Rev. Melvin Langston said, “A sin is a sin, whether it’s lying or anything else.”
President of the Gay-Straight Student Alliance Brandon Hughes, said that he believes we should view the Bible in a objective way rather than literal especially the Old Testament.
An audience member, Eric Burcham, said he has seen the movie three times. Burcham said when he came out to his religious parents, “My mother cried in her room for days after, praying that this phase I was going though would soon be over, not knowing that every day she hurt me more.”
Sophomore Adrienne Reid, who just recently came out to her mother, said, “People stare at you [because she is Gay], but I am confident in myself.”
The audience included high school and WSSU students.