Students were exposed to the battle for same-sex marriage in Maryland amongst the LGBT black community in the critical justice lecture for the Brown Bag Lecture Series Nov. 9.

The speaker, Jennifer Jones, assistant professor in gender studies and American studies, led a discussion with students about their opinions after screening the documentary film, “The New Black.”

“This is a really important topic to talk about,” Jones said.

“The New Black” was shown to students first, followed by a discussion with Jones. The film focused a lot on black churches, and how even though the majority of blacks are Democratic, many of them have very traditional and conservative social views.

Robin Stewart, a senior majoring in human development, said she’s from Selma, a part of the Bible Belt, and understands first-hand how the black community can be prejudice towards the LGBT community.

“The movie reminded me of how things were back at home,” Stewart said. “For the longest time, blacks could be very traditional and when you break that tradition people get angry. A lot of people only think of same-sex relationships as the sexual act, but people just want acceptance. I know churches today who won’t allow women to be pastors and won’t let them wear pants. I have piercings and tattoos which is considered wrong. We can’t just pick one thing.”

The film gave different perspectives and story lines to follow, from people going door to door to ask people to vote for marriage equality, or people who were against marriage equality protesting and holding events.

Andrea Green, a senior majoring in human development, said she really enjoyed the film and could relate, as she had one of her own family members announce that they were gay. She said that though she felt nothing but love for them, she still worried that not everyone would be as accepting.

“A lot was dead on about the stereotypes against homosexuals,” Green said. “I’m torn sometimes because it’s always the seen as the biggest sin, but this movie showed that the church is a place where we find solace. With the transition of the LGBT community, it showed they feel torn too.”

The Brown Bag lecture series is given once a semester, each with a different topic.