I�ve got some friends who claim to be �men of God.� I dare doubt them, but I listen and watch their belief and rhetoric in action�especially, the Christian ones. I�ve been having some heavy conversations with those peers about an issue that is and will be front-burner in the socio-political arena: gay rights. The majority of my peers are working-class and black folks. Most of them are totally against bestowing �civil rights� on gays and lesbians. I challenge them using an irrefutable tool: their faith.

We�ve conversed about what gays should be allowed to do in our society: fight in the military, get married to each other, adopt children or preach in the pulpit. There are a host of other activities that I broach after my peers holler �no� to each one. They usually stand firm in their positions until I remind them of the icon of their faith.

I bring to the table the acts of grace and redemption practiced by a man named Jesus. Some call him a �savior of the world,� others, a prophet. But whatever the case, he is arguably the most recalled human to ever walk the earth. More books referencing him have been written (same narrative too!) than any other manuscript, so that should give his words some degree of credibility.

I remind them that, as a holy man - or �man of God� - he sat down with the tax collectors and prostitutes. He commanded - as a condition of salvation - that men everywhere ought to forgive other men for their �failures.� That men are commanded - by God - to accept people right where they are�and as they are.

More relevant beyond the spiritual aspect is the social piece: that poor people, that black people don�t ever want to become the thing they hate. Acting as racists do is unacceptable. People afflicted by discrimination cannot make way to �do as the Romans.�

I�m straight, but that has nothing to do with what other people choose. I can�t choose it for them. I caution the men I mentor that �you can�t make anyone do anything.� If you spend your energy thinking about changing someone else, the best way to do that is to do what you do - if it�s allegedly right!

Opponents of gay marriage are challenging the principle of judicial neutrality in San Francisco. In a courtroom this week, they�re arguing that a federal judge who struck down California�s ban on same sex marriage last year was biased because he�s in a same-sex relationship. That�s got to be the most insane arguments one could make!

As the trial challenging California�s Proposition 8 got under way last year, media began reporting that the federal judge overseeing the case was gay. No one would �openly� say anything, but they threw it out there. It never came up during the proceedings, but a few months ago, as Judge Vaughn Walker was retiring from the bench, he spilled the beans. He told the press that he was in a long-term relationship with another man.

"Judge Walker�s 10-year same-sex relationship creates this unavoidable impression that he was just not the impartial judge that the law requires," says Andrew Pugno, one of the attorneys defending Proposition 8. The issue here isn�t Judge Walker�s sexual orientation - not exactly - but rather that his relationship left him in the same shoes as two same-sex couples who wanted to get married, said Pugno. Now, isn�t that special�

Let me get this straight�the logic is that if you�re gay and have to rule on a gay issue and you rule for the gays, then you�re biased? Okay, using that logic, let me replace the noun with another noun: if you�re straight and have to rule on a straight issue and you rule for the straight, then you�re not biased? Or better yet, if you�re a white male and have to rule on a white, male issue and you rule for the white, male, then you�re biased? Of course not, it doesn�t make sense to you either�

Black people can be as prejudice as they want. Everyone is. What they can�t be is discriminatory. Blacks are the most despised beings in this country. Whites will choose dogs over Negroes! Whites cut social services from municipal budgets and close homeless shelters, while they build dog parks in our city with taxpayer money. For all of those who think racism is dead and that discrimination is pass�, get real. Whites are unabashedly repealing all legislation that remotely evened the playing field. Out of the 535 members of congress, there are 42 Black people - and you think everything is fair? That�s 8% of the whole when we are 12% of the nation�s population.

I said all of that to say this: if you�re fighting for a voice; if you are fighting for your rights, then why would you deny someone else theirs? How �godly� is that? Just because you disagree with how someone else runs their life, don�t think for a minute that you want someone else running yours��cause you don�t! If you don�t want a gay marriage, then don�t get one. More important than that, don�t become the thing that you hate. You surely wouldn�t want anyone putting you in that bag.

BlackCommentator.com Columnist, Perry Redd, is the former Executive Director of the workers rights advocacy, Sincere Seven, and author of the on-line commentary, �The Other Side of the Tracks.� He is the host of the internet-based talk radio show, Socially Speaking in Washington, DC. Click here to contact Mr. Redd.