In Mississippi, the Mysterious Murder of a Gay, Black Politician

It’s tempting to think Marco McMillian was killed because of his race, his sexuality, or because he was running for mayor. The truth is more elusive.

This article appeared in print as Crossroad Blues
By Ben Terris

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/in-mississippi-the-mysterious-murder-of-a-gay-black-politician-20130314

CLARKSDALE, Miss.—"The devil is running rampantly,” pastor Jimmy Glasper thunders. “Seeking who he may devour.”

Glasper is telling the New Jerusalem Baptist church that we live in devastating times. The congregants shout affirmations. They have recent proof.

Marco McMillian had belonged to the church, and this was the first Sunday service after police found his body in late February. The 33-year-old political consultant, who was both black and gay, had spent most of his adult life building a promising career in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn. Recently, he did what few people who leave here ever do by choice: He came back. And he decided to run for mayor.

“He moved away and had practically lived all over the world,” Glasper told me before the service. “He said God spoke to his spirit and said he should come back and be a help to his people. To go back home and help his own people climb out of poverty.”