Hello to those of you who are still occasionally checking this blog site. Seminary definitely has taken the ginger out of me having the mental bandwidth, energy, or actual time to keep up with posting on here. Pity! And that's why God gave me a summer break. That's right: a break. No tests. No papers. No CPE. I will have to do all of that in good time. But for now, I can do things in my own way, and at my own pace.
It also means I've been free to participate in the Mickee Faust Club's "Queer As Faust XII" cabaret. Originally, I was only cast in one piece, in which I was acting behind a screen. Not much to do there. I was also directing two other pieces. Fortunately, our artistic director made the artistic decision to put me in the cast of our opening musical number, one of the pieces that I read and had wanted to direct. But to be in it was much sweeter. It was a chance to dress in drag, Drag King in my case, leather jacket and blue jean cut off shorts. And it was the opportunity to tell the story...in song...of our liberation as same-gender loving people.
The struggle which, in truth, began even before those hot summer nights in 1969 in New York City remains a modern day movement of continuously working for our right to be treated with respect and dignity. Transwomen of color are at tremendous risk of being murdered. The attacks on lesbian and gay people are on the rise worldwide. And we are living under a presidential administration in this country where the second in command pushes for policies to encode homophobia in the name of "religious freedom." All of these things seem to me to be contributing factors as to why the youth
of this country are showing signs that they aren't as "tolerant" of the LGBTQ+ community as in previous years.
It is a curious argument to make that Christians, who should be living in the liberating love of God, lack some sort of earthly freedom that keeps them so shackled that they need a law to protect them. Of course, they aren't actually under any kind of duress; they just want ban queer people from jobs, housing, or public accommodations. In other parts of the world, it is permissible to kill someone if they are discover they are gay.
This is why it is so important, now more than ever, for Christians who are queer and have known the loving, lifegiving, and liberating God make themselves known and seen. This isn't the time for us to be tame and toothless. We know we are part of the Gospel story. We have experienced God's truth as a loving, loyal, leader for Love. Therefore, if there is a group that must be ready to take to the streets on behalf of our community and show our young men and older women that when Jesus talks of "other sheep" who he must gather into the fold, he is searching for all those who have been hurt by the church corporate. And we must also be ready to shine the light of Christ into the dim places of our society where racism and anti-immigrant feelings still prevail. We are called to be bold and brave...just like those drag queens, butch lesbians, and street hustlers were at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. As this Pride Month ends, let's not forget the struggle our predecessors endured gives us the strength to keep fighting on. Or in the words of our Faust opening anthem:
We're here! We're queer! We'll never give up the fight.
