Bringing Faith to the LGBTQ Community: Maurice "Bojangles" Blanchard, Defining Fairness

Maurice "Bojangles" Blanchard was born in Promised Land, South Carolina, the son of a Southern Baptist Minister, and says, "I grew up in church as much as I was in home." He was given his nickname at the age of three, when his grandfather noticed his ability to replicate any dance move he saw. When he came out as a gay man, he experienced rejection from the church. "I was angry at God," he says. After struggling to reconcile his faith with his sexual orientation, he says he came to the conclusion that, "I was created like this, so I can't believe in a God who would create me bound to hell, as they're telling me I am." Blanchard is now a co-chair of the Faith Leaders for Fairness—part of the Fairness Campaign—and leads the True Colors Ministry at Highland Baptist Church. He's earning his Masters of Divinity at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and will be ordained at the end of May, making him the first openly gay person to be ordained at Highland Baptist.Maurice Blanchard spoke with WFPL's Phillip M. Bailey and Laura Ellis, beginning with a story he says illustrates how far Louisville still has to go in making public spaces feel safe for LGBTQ citizens.