Uncategorized
On this upcoming Valentine’s Day, I am reminded of no greater challenge to marriage equality than same-sex marriage that many LGBTQ activists are still struggling for in their states. However, the precedent for same-sex marriage was set by an African American woman named Mildred Loving (1942-2008) who I am honoring as one of my sheroes for Black History…
Read More
If Bayard Rustin were alive today he certainly would have been proud as Boston’s LGBTQ communities held discussions on the film Selma. Flashback Sunday, a social group for LGBTQ Elders of Color and their friends, and the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition (HBGC) convened “an honest and open dialogue” between intergenerational LGBTQ activists. Folks who were…
Read More
Pastor Chavez, I’m sure you have received your fair share of letters over the past week or so. Some of them “hate mail,” others, letters staunchly supporting your decision. This letter falls under neither category. Going to any kind of extreme would only alienate you from its simple message. Vanessa Collier was a human being,…
Read More
The intersection of faith and sexuality is one that is often traveled with misconceptions and anxiety because the Church has mostly failed to offer thoughtful, helpful information and education. The Church has been more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to the affirmation of our creation as God’s children of flesh and…
Read More
Dear religious leaders: When you tell people that God doesn’t love them as they are, they believe you. And then they act accordingly. Namely, leaving your faith community. In an interview with The Telegraph, pop superstar Ariana Grande shared that she left the Roman Catholic Church after her gay brother shared with her that God didn’t love…
Read More
Reading Walter Brueggemann’s contrasting of Psalms 73 and 139 in an essay entitled, “The Cunning Little Secret of Certitude,” in his book The Covenanted Self (see a previous post), I remembered how Psalm 73 saved me from my own “dark night of the soul” that followed the ending of what I thought would be a lifelong relationship within…
Read More
Sometimes the personal truly is political. Today, I read a letter sent by three Catholic bishops to U.S. lawmakers. The letter endorses a bill that would allow publicly funded child welfare agencies to refuse to place children for foster care and adoption with same-sex couples due to “their religious beliefs or moral convictions.” The letter…
Read More
Whenever I think about my experiences over the years at the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Conference for People of African Descent, Our Allies and Friends (PAD), I can’t help but think of the Tree of Life. Perhaps you’ve encountered this tree (pictured above) before and just didn’t know it. Remember Rafiki, the old and wise mandrill from The Lion King,…
Read More
Playing a “gay Jesus” figure in Terrence McNally’s passion play “Corpus Christi” for the past eight years has given me a deeply intimate and awesomely sublime connection to the teachings of Jesus. This play brought me back to a faith I unofficially, and internally, denounced after being baptized, raised, and confirmed Catholic. I couldn’t give…
Read More
Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby (pictured middle above), laid the mass murders of Christians at the feet of same-gender married couples and Americans: I have stood by gravesides in Africa of a group of Christians who had been attacked because of something that had happened in America….[If the Church of England accepted same-gender marriage,] the…
Read More