When Joel Hunter, the former spiritual adviser to Barack Obama, sat down for a conversation with a stranger with differing political views at Central Florida Public Media studios, he didn’t hold back.
“What’s it been like for you with people like me?” Hunter asked. “Old, white conservative - how’s this gonna go?”
Hunter was speaking to 38-year-old Brandon Martin, who described his feelings in a word: Wary.
“I think being a Black gay man in America, there’s a lot to be wary of,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of hurt around it. So there’s a lot to fear, and be wary of.”
Hunter told Martin that he understands.
“There’s still so much tribalism when it comes to religion or even whiteness that we got a long way to go,” Hunter said. “But these conversations, that’s why we’re here.”
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Meet Joel Hunter
Joel Hunter is a 76-year-old pastor of Community Benefit at Action Church, which has multiple locations.
He said he’s led a “Forrest Gump” life, being a man of “below average ability, but getting ‘photoshopped’ into moments of history.”
Hunter rose to notoriety as the pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, which was one of the largest churches in Central Florida. He went on to become former Pres. Barack Obama’s spiritual adviser, and served on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
“I grew up in a small town where nobody moved,” Hunter said. “We lived all our lives together. I left for college, never went back. But that was the life I was used to.”
Meet Brandon Martin
Brandon Martin, 38, is a performer at a local theme park.
Martin was born in Brooklyn. His parents emigrated from Grenada, but they actually met in New York City.
He said he loved growing up in New York City because of how multicultural it was.
“Coming from a Caribbean background, I feel American, but then I don’t,” Martin said. ”I guess I sometimes feel like I’m seeing things from the outside-ish.”
Martin said he first came out to his parents in high school, and then fully after college.
“They accepted me, and I don’t take that for granted,” Martin said. “I feel very fortunate. Because that’s not everyone’s experience.”
The takeaway
Both Hunter and Martin said Pulse changed their views.
For Hunter, his views on gay marriage started to evolve when former Pres. Barack Obama came out in support of gay marriage. It continued after the Pulse nightclub shooting.
Hunter said he expected to get calls for counseling from people in his congregation. But no calls came in.
“Then it hit me: I have no relationships with gay people, per se,” Hunter said. “There were of course gay people in my congregation, but not so they would come and talk to me. Not that they felt safe to reveal that. And I just felt so convicted.”
Martin said the Pulse nightclub shooting also changed his views - particularly how he views Orlando.
“I feel like Orlando’s response to that said a lot about who we are,” Martin said. “I had just moved to the area a year or so before that, and I think that was the first time I felt like there’s a community, I’m a part of this community. And to feel accepted was a big deal.”
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