GLBT saints: The Saints of Stonewall

“It was Beautiful” by Douglas Blanchard shows the Stonewall Rebellion

Oil on canvas, 24" x 36," 1999.

Queer people fought back against police harassment at New York City’s Stonewall Inn in June 1969, launching the modern LGBT liberation movement. The Stonewall uprising began 41 years ago today (June 28, 1969).

Their bold rebellion against government persecution of homosexuality is commemorated around the world during June as LGBT Pride Month. The Stonewall Uprising continues to inspire a variety of art that is featured here today.

The LGBT people who resisted police at the Stonewall Rebellion (also known as the Stonewall Riots) are not saints in the traditional sense. But they are honored here as “saints of Stonewall” because they dared to battle an unjust system. They do not represent religious faith -- they stand for faith in ourselves as LGBT people. They performed the miracle of transforming self-hatred into pride. These “saints” began a process in which self-hating individuals were galvanized into a cohesive community. Their saintly courage inspired a justice movement that is still growing stronger after four decades.

Before Stonewall, police regularly raided gay bars, where customers submitted willingly to arrest. A couple of dozen acts of resistance pre-dated and paved the way for Stonewall, such as the 1967 demonstration at the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles.

Despite the progress made, police raids of gay bars have continued in recent years, such as the notorious 2009 Rainbow Lounge raid in Forth Worth, Texas. June 28 is also the anniversary of the 2009 raid on the Rainbow Lounge, a newly opened gay bar in Fort Worth, Texas. Five customers were zip-tied and taken to jail, multiple others were arrested or detained, and one got a severe brain injury while in custody. The raid sparked an unprecedented public outcry that led to historic change.

The Stonewall Inn catered to the poorest and most marginalized queer people: drag queens, transgender folk, hustlers and homeless youth. Witnesses disagree about who was the first to defy the police raid in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. It was either a drag queen or a butch lesbian. Soon the crowd was pelting the officers with coins, bottles, bricks and the like. The police, caught by surprise, used nightsticks to beat some people before taking refuge in the bar itself. News of the uprising spread quickly. Hundreds gathered on the street and a riot-control police unit arrived. Violence continued as some chanted, “Gay power!”

Drag queens started spontaneous kick lines facing the police with clubs and helmets. That dramatic moment is captured in the painting “It was Beautiful” by Douglas Blanchard. The drag queens met violence with defiant humor by singing,

We are the Stonewall girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear no underwear
We show our pubic hair
We wear our dungarees
Above our nelly knees!

That night 13 people were arrested and some hospitalized. The streets were mostly cleared by 4 a.m., but a major confrontation with police happened again the next night, and protests continued on a smaller scale for a week.

A month later the Gay Liberation Front was formed, one of many LGBT rights organizations sparked by the saints of Stonewall. LGBT religious groups are indebted to the saints of Stonewall for our very existence.

“Gay Liberation” by George Segal commemorates the Stonewall rebellion (Photo by Wally Gobetz)

One of the most significant Stonewall artworks is also the world’s first piece of public art honoring the struggle for LGBTQ equality. “Gay Liberation” was created in 1979 by famed pop sculptor George Segal. It consists of four statues, a gay couple and a lesbian couple, cast in bronze and painted white in Segal’s typical style. The figures are arranged realistically in casual poses, evoking the power of love with their ghostly presence.

The idea for a public sculpture honoring the 10th anniversary of Stonewall came from LGBT activist Bruce Voeller. His vision inspired the Mildred Andrews Fund of Cleveland to commission Segal to create the sculpture. After much controversy, vandalism and alternate locations, the sculpture was installed permanently across the street from the Stonewall Inn at Christopher Park, which also holds two monuments to Civil War heroes.

Artists usually choose between two approaches when addressing the Stonewall Uprising. Some focus on the action in the past while others highlight the present-day Stonewall Inn, which is still in operation as a bar for the LGBT community.

Artists who recreate the past include Doug Blanchard, a gay New York artist who teaches art at City University of New York and is active in the Episcopal Church. “It was Beautiful” and other Stonewall paintings by Blanchard were shown at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center of New York in 1999. His series “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision” has been featured here at the Jesus in Love Blog and in a 2014 book with text by Kittredge Cherry.

“The Battle of Stonewall - 1969” by Sandow Birk

California artist Sandow Birk put Stonewall history into heroic context in a big way. The oil paintings in his Stonewall series measure up to 10 feet wide. The crown jewel of the series is “The Battle of Stonewall - 1969.” It updates the classic painting “The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle - 1304” by 19th-century French artist Charles Philippe Lariviere. In both cases, the physically superior side attacked those who were considered weaker, but the underdogs won and gained their freedom. Birk replaces swords with police batons and turns national flags into “Gay Power” banners. The knight in shining armor is replaced by a drag queen in mascara and high heels. For more about Birk’s Stonewall series, see my previous post: Sandow Birk: Stonewall's LGBT history painted.

The actual Stonewall riots weren’t as white as Birk's paintings make it appear: “On the first night of the Stonewall riots, African Americans and Latinos likely were the largest percentage of the protestors, because we heavily frequented the bar,” scholar-activist Irene Monroe writes in  Dis-membering Stonewall, her chapter in the book Love, Christopher Street. “For homeless black and Latino LGBTQ youth and young adults who slept in nearby Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn was their stable domicile.”

“Stonewall Inn” by Trudie Barreras (Collection of Kittredge Cherry)

The location where history happened is emphasized in the colorful painting of the Stonewall Inn by Trudie Barreras, a long-time member of Metropolitan Community Churches. Her art and writing on queer religious themes have appeared frequently here at the Jesus in Love Blog. She also does personalized pet portraits as “donation incentives” for Jesus in Love.

“Prostrations at the Holy Places and Veneration to Our Martyrs (Stonewall Pilgrimage)” by Tony O’Connell

British artist Tony O’Connell paid homage to the power of Stonewall by photographing his own personal pilgrimage to the historic bar in New York City in 2013. He prayed with incense at the Stonewall Inn as part of his series on LGBT pilgrimages, which he does as performances recorded in photos. He travels to places of importance in LGBT history, treating the trip as a pilgrimage to the shrine of a saint. For more about O’Connell’s pilgrimages and other art, see my previous post Tony O’Connell reclaims sainthood: Gay artist finds holiness in LGBT people and places.

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem and the Stonewall Riots happen in Station 8 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button

Tennessee artist Mary Button weaves together the LGBT uprising at Stonewall with Christ’s journey to Calvary in Station 8 of her LGBT Stations of the Cross. She shows that a chain of oppression that stretches from the crucifixion of Christ to police harassment of LGBT people today, offering hope for resurrection. For more about Button’s Stations, see my previous post LGBT Stations of the Cross shows struggle for equality.

The history of the Rainbow Lounge raid and reaction is told in the 2012 film “Raid of the Rainbow Lounge,” directed by Robert Camina. He says it has “haunting parallels” to Stonewall. Emmy-nominated actress Meredith Baxter narrates the documentary. A video trailer is posted online.



May the saints of Stonewall continue to inspire all who seek justice and equality!

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Related links:

2015 book for teens: “Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights” by Ann Bausum

Book: “Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution” by David Carter

Book: “Stonewall” by Martin Bauml Duberman

Video: “American Experience: Stonewall Uprising”

Stonewall (Qualia Encyclopedia of Gay Folklife)

Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park (Qualia Encyclopedia of Gay Folklife)

George Segal’s "Gay Liberation" (glbtq.com)

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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, heroes and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

LGBT Pride Prayer: We Recommit Ourselves to God

“GLBT Heritage” stained glass window at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. Designed by Ken Scott, 1993

The triangle made of fabric serves as a visual and tactile symbol of our brokenness and connectedness as a church. World War II concentration camp prisoners identified as homosexuals, the “third sex,” were forced to wear the triangle. Like the cross, the triangle once symbolized oppression and now symbolizes liberation. Today we recommit ourselves to liberating our church to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people everywhere.
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This prayer appears in “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations. It comes from “A Service of Worship and Empowerment,” a collaborative liturgy that was celebrated in more than 50 communities across the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1993 in solidarity with the commissioning as evangelist of lesbian minister Rev. Jane Spahr by Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY.
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June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. A new LGBT pride prayer will be posted here every Sunday in June. Click here for the whole series.
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About the image: A pink triangle with two incomplete overlapping circles represents a couple whose relationship is not restricted by gender in “GLBT Heritage,” one of 12 stained glass windows designed by Honolulu artist Ken Scott for MCC San Francisco. This window was donated by Lloyd Burton and Michael Berry in memory of our gay brothers and lesbian sisters who have gone before us.

The 12-window project is called “Heavenly Wind” and is an abstraction representing God's breath flowing through the sanctuary and congregation. Each pair of windows incorporates a color from the rainbow which is a symbol of pride, unity, and celebration in the LGBT Communities. A service of dedication was held in the MCC-SF sanctuary on Nov. 21, 1993. Click here for an online gallery of MCC-SF’s stained glass windows. Special thanks to Lynn Jordan of MCC-SF for background info on the windows.

Remembering Hands Around the God Box

Hundreds of LGBT Christians form a ring around New York’s Interchurch Center to protest religious exclusion in Hands Around the God Box. This photo was published in the Washington Post on June 25, 1994.  More photos below.

Hands Around the God Box was an interfaith prayer vigil to end religious homophobia. It was held at the Interchurch Center in New York City on June 24, 1994.

More than 500 people from 15 lesbian and gay religious groups joined hands and were linked by a rainbow ribbon that completely encircled the Interchurch Center at 475 Riverside Drive. The box-shaped building housed the headquarters of the National Council of Churches (NCC) and many other religious agencies. We are highlighting this historic event here as part of our celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.

I came up with the idea for Hands Around the God Box and organized it as national ecumenical officer for Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). I will never forget the solemn power of our combined prayers as LGBT Christians and our allies joined hands at the God Box. The building is huge, covering an entire city block, and our group of 500 barely managed to surround it -- with help from a super-long rainbow ribbon. The need for churches to accept LGBT people is just as true now as in 1994. Our prayers for full inclusion continue.

The peaceful demonstration began at noon Fri., June 24, with a short worship service. “Today 475 Riverside Drive is our Stonewall Inn. We need to turn the tables on the religious ‘police’ of our day, and fight back,” said Rev. Nancy Wilson, MCC's chief ecumenical officer.

Demonstrators then joined hands around the building in silent prayer for full inclusion of lesbians and gays in religious life. NCC General Secretary Joan Campbell and many NCC staff members joined the demonstration, even through the NCC refused to grant membership or even observer status to MCC, which ministers primarily in the LGBT community.

The event concluded with tying a rainbow ribbon around the God Box to symbolize continuing prayers for the church to honor the diversity God created.

Hands Around the God Box was coordinated by myself (Kittredge Cherry) as MCC national ecumenical officer and Kim Byham of Integrity. It was held on the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that launched the LGBT liberation movement.

The Washington Post covered Hands Around the God Box on June 25, 1994 with an article by Christopher Herlinger of the Religion News Service titled “Gays Returning to Religion, but Few Arms Open: Little Acceptance of Homosexuals 25 Years After Stonewall Uprising.” The article stated:

“A protest yesterday by a coalition of gay and lesbian Christians at the Interchurch Center here spotlighted what Wilson and other protesters called the ‘exclusion of lesbian and gay people from full participation in the life of the nation’s churches.’

The protest, a ‘human chain’ around the Interchurch Center, was called ‘Hands Around the God Box,’ -- a reference to the building’s popular nickname. The building, in upper Manhattan, is home to a number of denominational offices and the national headquarters of the National Council of Churches, the nation’s largest ecumenical organization.

The 32 member churches of the council are divided over the issue of homosexuality.”

Some said that Hands Around the God Box was the spiritual heart of the whole Stonewall 25 celebration in New York. Reaction to the God Box event was summed up later by Mary Hunt, cofounder of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and ritual, in her sermon the next day: “How about those Hands Around the God Box people? What a feat of religious athleticism: holding hands, singing, praying, protesting and talking to the press all at once ought to merit some sort of miraculous metal or actual grace!”

Demonstrators join hands around the God Box to pray for an end to religious homophobia. This photo by William Tom was published in the August 1994 issue of “Keeping in Touch: News and Notes from the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.”

Kittredge Cherry speaks at Hands Around the God-Box, a prayer demonstration to end homophobia in the church. MCC founder Troy Perry is clearly visible in the crowd. Standing next to him is Otis Charles, Episcopal bishop who came out as gay in 1993.

The Washington Post covered Hands Around the God Box in an article titled “Gays Returning to Religion, but Few Arms Open” on June 25, 1994.

Online references:
More Light Update, a publication of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns. March 1994.
http://www.mlp.org/news/update/03.94

Voice of Integrity: the quarterly publication of Integrity, Inc., the lesbian and gay justice ministry of the Episcopal Church. Summer 1994.
http://www.integrityusa.org/voice/1994/Summer1994.htm

Bloggers, let’s celebrate LGBT Pride!

Bloggers have a new way to join together and celebrate LGBT Pride this month through BloggersUnite.org.

Please click this link to participate:

http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-lgbt-pride-month

I recently “sponsored” LGBT Pride Month at BloggersUnite.org. They encourage people to blog about all kinds of causes -- but there was NOTHING about gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender issues. So I set up the LGBT Pride Month event.

So far four other bloggers have signed up. I hope that you will, too.

Here’s how it works
* I “created” the event LGBT Pride Month
* Bloggers write about it during June
* Bloggers share their posts thru BloggersUnite.org

I've been a member of BloggersUnite.com since last year for World AIDS Day. Their Bloggers Unite for the Gulf has helped me move from grief to action. I'm happy with the ease of using the website and the sincerity of the people involved. As an added bonus, your participation can help your blog reach more people.

I hope to set up more LGBT-related events at Bloggers Unite -- such as LGBT History Month, Harvey Milk Day, International Day Against Homophobia… maybe even some queer Christian holidays honoring our saints. It’s all part of being who God created us to be.

Great sermon: Never lose sight of goodness

Cleve Jones at Vancouver Pride 2009 by Pipistrula

Gay rights activist Cleve Jones spoke at one of the most powerful worship services that I ever experienced -- on Gay Freedom Day 1989 at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco.

“There’s a huge struggle ahead of us, but we must never, ever lose sight of the reservoir of goodness that exists out there, and most especially of our own power as individuals to reach people and find that goodness and DRAG it out of them,” Jones said.

I listened to the whole service again recently while duplicating MCC-SF worship tapes for a history project. Exactly 21 years later, it’s still inspiring -- perhaps even more so because the emotions of the AIDS epidemic seem so raw in retrospect. It was especially eerie to hear the prayers spoken by friends who died two decades ago. I am sharing highlights from that service here to celebrate this year’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.

A packed audience sang enthusiastic praise songs, even though most of the church faced many obstacles. Most of the congregation was HIV-positive, there was no effective treatment for AIDS, and many were dying. More than 500 MCC-SF members died of AIDS from 1982-97. Maybe those obstacles actually gave us a reason to sing our hearts out.

Jones spoke in detail about how he founded the Names Project and built the AIDS Memorial Quilt. He got the idea after being beaten in a gay bashing, diagnosed as HIV positive, and grief-striken by a friend’s death from AIDS. Inspired by a quilt that his grandmother made, he created the first panel in 1987. The quilt was an immediate sensation. It was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and has been seen by more than 14 million people worldwide.

The service sticks in my memory not only because of the sermon, but because it was probably the biggest and most enthusiastic crowd that I ever experienced in my years at MCC-SF. The sanctuary was packed with hundreds of LGBT people who were exhilarated from a day at the Gay Freedom march and festival.

I was on the clergy staff as program director at the time. I felt honored at the chance to meet Jones in the pastor’s office right before the service began. Pastor Jim Mitulski invited Jones to choose a reading to accompany his sermon. I was surprised by Jones’ Bible literacy as he immediately chose this scripture:

“Some of them have left behind a name and people recount their praiseworthy deeds; but of others there is no memory, for when they ceased, they ceased…Yet these also were godly people whose virtues have not been forgotten.”

The pastor knew right away that the quote came from Sirach 44. I had the privilege of reading this scripture aloud and introducing Jones at the service.

Music is another highlight of the tape. Music director Jack Hoggatt-St. John leads the congregation in rousing praise songs, including “Great Are You God,” “Bless Our God” and “We Are Standing on Holy Ground.” We used to sing these every week. Listening to them again 21 years later, I thought, “No wonder we loved these songs!”

There’s also a powerful version of “We Are the Church Alive,” a hymn that St. John wrote with David Pelletier. There’s nothing like hearing a church full of men with AIDS, back when there was no effective treatment, sing out,

We are the church alive, Our faith has set us free;
No more enslaved by guilt and shame, We live our liberty.

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This post is part of an occasional series on great sermons from Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. Click here for the whole MCC-SF history series.