ong has called for a national ban on same-sex marriage and his church counsels gay members to become straight. In 2004, he led a march with Bernice King to her father's Atlanta grave to support a national constitutional amendment to protect marriage "between one man and one woman." He also has released several gospel albums, authored books on relationships and spirituality, and hosts a weekly television program.
Three men have filed a lawsuit accusing Bishop Eddie Long, the outspoken pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, an Atlanta-area megachurch, of exploiting his role as pastor to coerce them into sexual relationships when they were 17 and 18-years-old and enrolled in New Birth's ministry for teen boys.
