LGBT religious history meets Independence Day: Clergy picketed for LGBT equality in 1965-69 Annual Reminder protests

Early LGBT rights protests happened every Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969 in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Among the protestors was Robert W. Wood, the first member of the clergy to picket for LGBT rights.

The events were called Annual Reminders because they aimed to remind the public that “homosexual Americans” were denied the rights to “"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as guaranteed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Robert W. Wood

Wood, an ordained Congregational minister, wore his clergy collar while picketing for LGBT equality. This gay-right pioneer also wrote America’s first book on homosexuality and Christianity.

“Christ and the Homosexual” was published in 1960 under Wood’s own name with his photo on the dust jacket, even though friends and colleagues warned him that this would damage his reputation. The book calls for the church to welcome homosexuals, recognize same-sex marriage and ordain homosexual clergy.

In 1962 Wood met his life partner Hugh M. Coulter, an abstract artist, cowboy and a fellow World War II veteran. They lived together as a couple while Wood served as pastor of three different parishes over the next 27 years until Coulter’s death. Now age 93, Wood is retired and living in New Hampshire.

American patriotism mixed with LGBT rights at the Annual Reminders, which preceded and paved the way for the Stonewall Uprising. The date and location were strategically planned to connect LGBT rights with other American freedoms.

Jack Nichols at the first Annual Reminder in 1965

The demonstrations happened on Independence Day at Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written. It was also the home of the Liberty Bell, the iconic symbol of American independence inscribed with the message, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Abolitionists and suffragettes also used the Liberty Bell as a logo.

The Annual Reminders were a collaboration of the East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO). The primary organizers were LGBT rights pioneers Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings.

Forty gay men and lesbians from Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York picketed at the first Annual Reminder in 1965. At the time it was the largest demonstration for LGBT rights in world history. From then on, the demonstrations grew bigger. The rest is history.

Wood’s LGBT Christian message is still powerful today. As he wrote in “The Church and the Homosexual” in 1960:

The Church has done much to keep the homosexual from Christ. Society, often under the influence of the Church, has also thrown roadblocks in the pathway of the homosexual who seeks a higher purpose in life beyond the sexual plane of pleasurable existence.

But the struggle is difficult, the motives misunderstood, the behavior pattern considered perverted. Yet Jesus Christ, whose struggle was also difficult, whose motives were also misunderstood, whose behavior pattern was revolutionary, awaits all men — even the overt homosexual.

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Related links:

Rev. Robert W. Wood: Gay Pioneer (lgbt50.org)

Annual Reminder (Wikipedia)


Books on LGBTQ American history:

“A Queer History of the United States” by Michael Bronski

“Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation” by Jim Downs

“Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A.” by Jonathan Katz

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Top image: Barbara Gittings at the Annual Reminder in 1966

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

____
This post is part of the LGBT Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and allies.

Silencing LGBTQ voices at Methodist conference inspires protest and art

Protests over silencing of LGBTQ voices at the United Methodist Church conference this week inspired a new artwork of a queer Christ.

Dozens of protestors at the UMC General Conference put rainbow duct tape over their mouths in a May 14 protest to symbolize how the church has silenced LGBTQ people and remained silent about them.

LGBTQ protest at Methodist conference (photos by Love Prevails)

Canadian artist David Hayward, also known as Naked Pastor, created a Christ figure with a halo, a crown of thorns -- and the same kind of rainbow duct tape over his mouth. He calls it “The Silencing of the LGBTQ Community.”

The Methodists are reviewing 100 pieces of legislation on the role of LGBT in the church, including allowing ordination of LGBTQ clergy, same-sex weddings and changing the current position that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” So far almost all the LGBT-related measures were voted down in subcommittee meetings, according to news reports. In addition to the duct-tape demonostration, other LGBTQ protests continued throughout the week.

Update: In the end, the Methodists voted to postpone justice by forming a commission (later) to discuss same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT clergy.

More than 100 Methodist pastors, deacons, elders and clergy candidates came out publicly as LGBTQI in a widely circulated letter released one day before the conference began.

The letter closes with these words of prayer:

Our prayer, as the church begins its time of discernment, is that you will remember that there are nameless ones around the world, hungry for a word of hope and healing. LGBTQI people and their families exist in every church in every continent of this denomination. They are seeking to remain in faithful relationship with you, even when you refuse, because they know God’s tender mercies and great faithfulness.

Dear church, our prayers are with you, with all of us, in the coming days. May we all be surprised by the Spirit who continues to breathe new life in unexpected ways. May we find the body of Christ stronger at the end of our time together, not weaker or more deeply harmed. May we provide a powerful witness of finding unity even in our differences to a world fractured by fear and mistrust.

The global 10-day conference ran through May 20 in Portland, Oregon.

“Homosexuals Who Practice” by David Hayward

The Methodist church has struggled with LGBTQ rights for decades. Hayward was prophetic in 2014 when he drew the cartoon “Homosexuals Who Practice” to highlighting the Methodist mistreatment of LGBTQ people. The image was used this year on Facebook to help organize LGBTQ protests at the Methodist conference.

It shows two crucified figures: Jesus and a person whose LGBTQ identity is revealed by a rainbow tunic. Red flames of the Methodist logo flare beside the cross where the rainbow figure hangs. A sign over the crucified queer explains,

A homosexual who practiced!
United Methodist Church
Book of Discipline
Paragraph 304.3

In his blog commentary, Hayward quotes the notorious paragraph, which remains in force at the end of the 2016 conference. It states:

“The PRACTICE of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The United Methodist Church does not condone the PRACTICE of homosexuality. Therefore self-avowed PRACTICING homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church.”

Hayward has a master's degree in theology and 30 years of pastoral experience. His books include “The Art of Coming Out: Cartoons for the LGBTQ Community” and his autobiography “Questions are the Answer.” Prints of “The Silencing of the LGBTQ Community” are available from Naked Pastor’s online shop.

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Top image credit: “The Silencing of the LGBTQ Community” by David Hayward
___
Related links:

Delegates, supporters stand with LGBTQ people (UMC.org)

Outpouring Of Methodist Clergy Pledge Support To LGBT Colleagues (Huffington Post)

Photos of the Methodist protest with rainbow duct tape (Love Prevails)

Methodists postpone debate of gay issues that could split denomination (Religion News Service)

LGBT protest photos and info (Love Prevails)

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This post is part of the Queer Christ series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series gathers together visions of the queer Christ as presented by artists, writers, theologians and others.
___
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

LGBT church history: Axios and MCC at National Council of Churches

LGBT protest at the National Council of Churches in 1992: John Taktikos, Nancy Wilson and Lorna Cramer (Photo by Kittredge Cherry)

Important events in LGBT church history came to mind this week when I got an announcement that Axios launched a new Facebook page.

I remembered how the fiery truth-telling of Axios President John Taktikos shook up the Orthodox leaders who were keeping pro-LGBT Metropolitan Community Churches out of the National Council of Churches.

Axios is an organization of Eastern and Near Eastern Orthodox, and Byzantine and Eastern-rite Catholic LGBT Christians.I met John Taktikos in 1992 through my work as MCC's international ecumenical director.

I arranged for John to advocate for LGBT rights with Orthodox church leaders at the 1992 National Council of Churches annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. He spoke passionately to the Orthodox leaders, who were the main opponents blocking MCC’s membership. LGBT representatives from many other NCC member churches joined us too.

We held protest signs and took over the microphones when the National Council of Churches denied observer status to MCC in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 12, 1992. Nancy Wilson, pictured in the middle, seized the podium and said, “It’s easier to get into heaven than into the National Council of Churches!” She banged her fist on the podium so hard that it cracked. Nancy is retiring this summer after 10 years as moderator of MCC.

On that dreadful day I took the photo at the top of this post. Pictured are, from left, John Taktikos of Axios, Nancy Wilson of MCC, and Lorna Cramer of Unitarian Universalists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns.

Protest signs in the photo say, “Stonewall Rises Again!!!” and “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual: We are Already in the Church. Let us be Open, Free.”

The AIDS crisis was raging and John died before he could attend the next NCC annual meeting. Axios vice president Alexi stepped in to fill his place.

Over the years I have kept and treasured the elegant envelope addressed to me at MCC headquarters in John’s own handwriting.  It is dated Oct. 17, 1992, when we were planning for the NCC meeting.

I scanned it this week when Axios launched a new Facebook page. This graceful calligraphy reflects a beautiful spirit who helped lay the foundation for LGBT people of faith today.

___
Related books:

“Homosexuality in the Orthodox Church” by Justin R. Cannon


__
See more of my LGBT church history photos at these links:

Happy 44th birthday, MCC! Photos show LGBT church history

Happy birthday, MCC and Desmond Tutu!  (2011)

See LGBT history in photos (2010)

Happy 40th birthday, MCC! (2008)

Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

A prayer by Jesus in Love founder Kittredge Cherry is one of the few religious voices supporting Day of Silence, a national student-led protest of anti-LGBT bullying. It happens tomorrow on Friday, April 17.

Christianity has been used to justify the harassment that Day of Silence seeks to prevent. The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family even organized an annual event in opposition to Day of Silence. Day of Dialogue, which is happening today (April 14) encourages students to speak up about “God's design for sexuality.”


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

Once again religious faith gets wrongly equated with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression. The Rainbow Day of Silence prayer gives voice to the deeper truth that LGBTQ people are part of God’s good creation.

Day of Silence Prayer (Twitter version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory
Remembering those
Driven to suicide by bullies

Silence is action
Calling attention to those who are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor

Silence is solidarity
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who stand with the queer and questioning

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride
Ignoring bullies,
Claiming our right to be
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer
When any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Listen in the silence
For God.

Day of Silence Prayer (long version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory....
Remembering those who died young,
Driven to suicide by bullying
Or killed
Because of who they loved
Because of the way God created them
Because they were called
Gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer, sodomite…
Remembering Tyler Clementi, Leelah Alcorn, Brandon Teena, Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, Haylee Fentress, Paige Moravetz, and many, many more.

Silence is action….
Calling attention to how people are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor,
When prejudice turns into threats
And even violence.

Silence is solidarity…
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who care enough
To share the stigma,
To stand with the queer and questioning
Stopping hate with compassion.

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride…
Not letting the bullies win.
Claiming our right to be.
With dignity
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer…
For Mary’s child.
Whenever any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Whenever any child is called names,
Christ is called names.
Mary’s child said,
“Whatever you do to the least of these,
you do to me.”
With sighs too deep for words,
Listening in the silence
For the still small voice of God.
Amen.

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The first Day of Silence was organized at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on non-violent protest. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the event, which is held every year in April.

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Related links:

Día del Silencio: Day of Silence Prayer in Spanish

Dia do Silêncio: Day of Silence Prayer in Portuguese (Temple de Antinoo Brasil)

Dayofsilence.org (official website)

Dayofdialogue.com (official website)

___
This post is part of the LGBTQ Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, events in LGBTQ history, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

A new prayer by Jesus in Love founder Kittredge Cherry is one of the few religious voices supporting Day of Silence, a national student-led protest of anti-LGBT bullying. It happens tomorrow on Friday, April 17.


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

Another LGBT-affirming spiritual resource is “For Mary’s Child,” a Facebook page calling on faith communities to support Day of Silence.

Christianity has been used to justify the harassment that Day of Silence seeks to prevent. The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family even organized an annual event in opposition to Day of Silence. Day of Dialogue, which is happening today (April 16) encourages students to speak up about “God's design for sexuality.”

Once again religious faith gets equated with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression. I wrote the Rainbow Day of Silence prayer to give voice to the deeper truth that LGBTQ people are part of God’s good creation.

Day of Silence Prayer (Twitter version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory
Remembering those
Driven to suicide by bullies

Silence is action
Calling attention to those who are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor

Silence is solidarity
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who stand with the queer and questioning

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride
Ignoring bullies,
Claiming our right to be
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer
When any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Listen in the silence
For God.

Day of Silence Prayer (long version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory....
Remembering those who died young,
Driven to suicide by bullying
Or killed
Because of who they loved
Because of the way God created them
Because they were called
Gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer, sodomite…
Remembering Tyler Clementi, Leelah Alcorn, Brandon Teena, Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, Haylee Fentress, Paige Moravetz, and many, many more.

Silence is action….
Calling attention to how people are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor,
When prejudice turns into threats
And even violence.

Silence is solidarity…
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who care enough
To share the stigma,
To stand with the queer and questioning
Stopping hate with compassion.

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride…
Not letting the bullies win.
Claiming our right to be.
With dignity
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer…
For Mary’s child.
Whenever any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Whenever any child is called names,
Christ is called names.
Mary’s child said,
“Whatever you do to the least of these,
you do to me.”
With sighs too deep for words,
Listening in the silence
For the still small voice of God.
Amen.

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The first Day of Silence was organized at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on non-violent protest. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the event, which is held every year in April.

(Credit: The image at the top of this post comes from For Mary's Child: A Way of Hope)
___
Related links:

Dayofsilence.org (official website)

Dayofdialogue.com (official website)

Day of Silence Prayer by Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer (ucc.org, 2007)
____
This post is part of the LGBT Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.

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

Olympics: Spiritual art supports Russia’s LGBT rights struggle

“De Profundis” by Tony O’Connell

Artists are using spiritual imagery to draw attention to LGBT rights in Russia as the Olympics begins in Sochi tomorrow (Feb. 7).

The holiness of the Russian struggle for LGBT equality is emphasized in two new artworks: “De Profundis” by queer British artist Tony O’Connell and “Postcard to Putin” by gay American artist Stephen Mead.

LGBT rights supporters are using the Sochi Olympics to call worldwide attention to anti-gay laws passed last year under President Vladimir Putin, especially one banning “gay propaganda.” Statements in favor of LGBT rights during the Olympics, including waving rainbow flags and other pride gear, would break the law against discussing LGBT issues in front of children. Homosexuality itself was decriminalized by Russia in 1993.

In “De Profundis” O’Connell bestows a halo upon a gay Russian who is being arrested for protesting laws that oppress LGBT people. Watching in the background are Christ and paired male saints Sergius and Bacchus, who were ancient Christian martyrs and lovers. “They seem appropriate protectors in this situation,” O’Connell said. Jesus and the saints witness the scene without condemning the police, but are present for them too.

The Latin title means “From the Depths.” It comes from Psalm 130, which is quoted in an inscription on O’Connell’s image:

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine;
Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

“The Latin is from the De Profundis which was a Catholic prayer I grew up with,” he explained. He translates it as:

Out from the depths I have cried to thee, Oh Lord;
Lord hear my voice!

“De Profundis” is also the title of an important epistle written by 19th-century gay Irish writer Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment for homosexuality.

O’Connell symbolizes the whole Russian LGBT-rights struggle with a news photo that documents the 2010 arrest of Nikolay Alexeyev, founder and chief organizer of Moscow Pride since 2005. He is considered Russia’s best known LGBT-rights activist.

For more about Tony O’Connell and his art, see my previous post Reclaiming sainthood: Gay artist Tony O’Connell finds holiness in LGBT people and places.

“Postcard to Putin” by Stephen Mead

New York gay artist Stephen Mead also uses his talent and spiritual vision to shed light on human rights abuses in Russia as the Olympics approach. He began his “Postcards to Putin” series by superimposing the text of his “Dear Vladimir” letter over a candle and a hand raised in blessing the Olympic torch on a computer screen.

Just days before the Olympic opening ceremony, he expanded the series with a new mixed-media collage that offers a simple prayer: “Olympics: please keep safe. Watch over, protect all, during and after…”

“Postcard to Sochi” by Stephen Mead

“I did this one a couple days before the Olympics are to begin, feeling that safety is the most important message right now, a sort of prayer or energy of hope and protection,” Mead said. “My sentiment is that if we can make art and at least post it online so it is out on the World Wide Web where anyone can see it, maybe that will bring some hope to the LGBT people of Russia (and elsewhere).”

For more about Mead and his art, see my previous post Gay artist links body and spirit.

A gallery with more than 50 images called “Illustrators in Support of Gay Rights in Russia” has been set up by Anna Goodson Illustration Agency.

“We believe that Art Speaks Louder Than Words and we wanted to make a statement and show the world that our agency and illustrators don’t support discrimination or violence of any kind, regardless of religion, race or sexual orientation,” Goodson wrote.

As the Olympics gets underway various LGBT groups are planning protests around the world to denounce the injustice and express support for LGBT Russians. For example, the Human Rights Campaign has organized a variety of actions on “Russia’s anti-LGBT agenda” and is using social media for an initiative called Love Conquers Hate.

While the Olympics rightly puts the spotlight on Russian injustice toward LGBT people, there is no reason  to be smug about LGBT rights under U.S. law. Nine American states limit what teachers can say about homosexuality in ways that are similar to Russian law, according to an article at thinkprogress.org.

After creating the “De Profundis” image last summer, O’Connell has had second thoughts about whether Alexeyev deserved a halo. “I felt strongly about how brave he been to stand up the rise of fascism in Russia and the level of violence and legal persecution he had received. Unfortunately he seems to gone off the rails a bit since then as this article suggests his own dangerous tendencies toward misogyny and anti-semetism. Of course that controversy only arose after I had made the image and partly I wonder if it is the Russian state publicity machine slinging mud at him to separate him from allies in the west,” O’Connell said.

___
Related links:

Boris and George: Russian saints united in love and death (Jesus in Love)

Tony O’Connell reclaims sainthood by finding holiness in LGBT people and places (Jesus in Love)
___This post is part of the Artists series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series profiles artists who use lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer spiritual and religious imagery.

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

My marriage-equality protest photo runs in national magazine Tikkun

Marriage equality protestor (photo by Kittredge Cherry)

My photo of a marriage-equality protestor appears in the current issue of Tikkun, a national magazine on politics, spirituality and culture.

Tikkun’s fall 2013 issue features my photo of an elderly woman in a wheelchair wearing a rainbow scarf and a shirt that proclaims, “Marriage is a human right, not a heterosexual privilege.” She was wheeled to the protest in a wheelchair by her daughter.

My photo illustrates the article “Our Issues Entwine: LGBTQ Aging and Economic Justice” in an issue devoted to “Identity Politics, Class Politics, and Spiritual Politics: How do we build world-transforming coalitions?”

The photo originally appeared in my article “Creative signs stop hate at protests” here on the Jesus in Love Blog. It presents photos from a 2008 “stop the hate” protest in Pasadena, California where people rallied against the state's newly passed Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage.

The photo was taken was almost exactly five years ago in November 2008. A lot has changed for the better since then. In 2013 the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality and eight US states legalized same-sex marriage, bringing the total to 16 states.

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Related link:
Queer spiritual art appears in national magazine Tikkun

"Jesus is not a homophobe" shirt speaks on Day of Silence for LGBT youth

Maverick Couch, second from left, with his mother, Tonya, and his friends Josh and Taylor at his April 3 press conference in Cincinnati (photo from Lambda Legal)

Photo from Lambda Legal

A gay teen in a T-shirt that says, “Jesus is not a homophobe” is among those taking a stand for LGBT youth today on the Day of Silence.

Today is the Day of Silence, a national student-led protest of anti-LGBT bullying in schools. On April 20 students from middle school through college take a vow of silence to emphasize the silencing effect of anti-LGBT harassment. During their silence, students explain their message with printed cards, buttons, stickers, T-shirts and such.

Today’s silent protestors include Maverick Couch, a 16-year-old gay Ohio student who won a legal fight this month for the right to wear a T-shirt that says: “Jesus was not a homophobe.”

Couch wore the shirt to his high school in Waynesville, Ohio, for the Day of Silence in 2011. The school principal ordered him to turn the shirt inside out because it “had to do with religion” and “religion and state have to be separate.” Later the school district defended the action by denouncing the shirt’s message as “sexual in nature and therefore indecent and inappropriate in a school setting.”

On April 3 Lambda Legal filed suit against the Wayne Local School District on Maverick’s behalf, arguing that they violated Couch’s First Amendment right to free speech. The very next day a federal judge ruled that Couch can wear his T-shirt while the case proceeds -- but only on the Day of Silence.

Couch’s experience shows the power of combining LGBT and Christian messages. I have done so many projects about the queer Christ that it almost seems tame to wear a T-shirt saying “Jesus is not a homophobe.” But it sure made an impact!

Jesus himself never said anything directly about homosexuality in the Bible, but he often encouraged love for all, including outcasts and enemies. Surely he would agree that he is “not a homophobe.”

The Day of Silence feels like great progress to me when I remember my own high school years in the 1970s.  Back then every day was a type of  “day of silence” in which we queer kids were afraid to identify ourselves.

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The first Day of Silence was organized at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on non-violent protest. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the event, which is held every year in April.
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Related links:

Dayofsilence.org (official website)

Student Can Wear Pro-Gay Jesus T-shirt (Advocate)

Couch v. Wayne Local School District (Lambda Legal)

Teen wins right to wear 'Jesus Is Not a Homophobe' T-shirt to school (MSNBC)

Maverick Couch, Gay High School Student, Sues School Over Ban Of His 'Jesus Is Not A Homophobe' T-Shirt (Huffington Post)

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This post is part of the LGBT Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.
__________________________________________________

Jesus is Not a Homophobe by wesdesd
Print your own t shirt on zazzle.

Conservatives protest “Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” for lesbian Virgin Mary

Ad for “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” from Queen City Theatre Company

Conservative Christian protestors couldn’t stop a North Carolina production of “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” a gleefully queer play based on the Bible. Despite protest letters and prayer vigils, the comedy is running through Feb. 18 in Charlotte, NC.

(Update: Another controversy arose in April 2017 when a Out Front Theatre Company in Atlanta prepared to stage the play.)

“The implication that the Blessed Virgin Mary is a lesbian is gravely offensive to Catholics and to all Christians,” bishop Peter J. Jugis wrote in a Jan. 31 letter asking the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center to cancel the show. Jugis heads Charlotte’s Roman Catholic diocese.

As a lesbian Christian, I must disagree with the bishop. The play uses witty LGBT-oriented humor to express love and the explore human connection to God. I find it appropriate and even inspiring for a play to suggest that the Virgin Mary was a lesbian.

A long-running off-Broadway hit, “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” was written by Paul Rudnick in 1998. It puts a flamboyantly gay twist on the creation story with two same-sex couples: Adam and Steve -- and Jane and Mabel! They share adventures together through the centuries, including a hilarious time on Noah’s Ark and slavery in Egypt under an effeminate Pharaoh who won’t let them go because of his crush on Moses.

The second act finds the foursome in contemporary New York City on Christmas Eve at a party thrown by Adam and Steve as Jane and Mabel wait for their child to be born. When Mabel gives birth, it echoes Mary’s virgin birth, leading to the accusations of blasphemy.

Rudnick is a gay Jewish American writer whose other credits include Jeffrey and Addams Family Values.

About 100 Charlotte Catholics held a peaceful protest in front of the theater on opening night (Feb. 2). The protest is covered in the news video below. Conservatives plan to continue “Holy Hour of Reparation” prayer vigils in homes and chapels during every performance.

Queen City Theatre Company, producer of the play, defended it in a statement quoted in news reports. They say it will “celebrate love, faith, belief, God, and the right to question why we exist and why are on this earth. This production will not be stopped out of fear or pressure.”

Thank you, Queen City Theatre Company! You are making God more accessible to LGBT people of faith and our allies. The protests only prove how important it is to present this vision of the story that is indeed the most fabulous every told.
___

Related links:

Play Featuring Gay Versions Of Bible Stories Causes Outrage: An Atlanta theater defended its staging of “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” (Huffington Post, April 18, 2017)

Catholics protest 'blasphemous' play (Charlotte Observer)

Book: “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” by Paul Rudnick

Lesbian couple portrays Madonna (art by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin)

Lesbian Madonna, lover and son affirm Christmas (art by Becki Jayne Harrelson)

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Our Lady and Queer Saints art attacked as blasphemy (art by Alma Lopez)

Queer artist's “I Love Lupe” video censored

Artist Alma Lopez documents the controversy about her queer “Our Lady” in the new video “I Love Lupe” -- but Facebook won’t let you see it.

A few minutes ago Facebook blocked me from posting a link to the Alma Lopez video. I got a message warning, “You are trying to post content on Facebook that has been marked as abusive.” (Update: Facebook allowed me to it!)

Originally I included the video in today’s post “Blasphemy update: Queer Our Lady artist thanks supporters,” but I separated out when it got blocked.

You can see the trailer above, on YouTube or at AlmaLopez.net -- but not on Facebook. I will ask Facebook to lift the block, and I'll let you know what happens.

I suspect this is part of the censorship campaign waged against Lopez by conservatives who use Christianity as a weapon against LGBT people.

The 46-minute video features a round-table conversation with Chicana artists Ester Hernandez and Yolanda M. Lopez. For the first time, all three artists discuss their controversial Guadalupes. The video is included with the new book, “Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's Irreverent Apparition,” co-edited by Lopez and Alicia Gaspar de Alba.

Blasphemy update: Queer Our Lady artist thanks supporters

Our Lady of Controversy
by Alma Lopez

After facing blasphemy charges for her queer “Our Lady” last month, artist Alma Lopez is back from Ireland and thanking her supporters. All the supportive emails, including five from friends of the Jesus in Love Blog, are now posted on her website.

Click here to see all the emails at almalopez.net. She has posted letters of support the following friends of this blog: Trudie Barreras, Yvonne Aburrow, J.C. Fisher, Douglas Blanchard and myself (Kittredge Cherry).

Lopez thanks those who supported her in the face of a censorship campaign by conservative Catholics who attacked Ireland’s University College Cork for hosting “Our Lady and Other Queer Santas” (Saints), an art show and speech by Lopez. According to news reports, they compromised the university’s email system by bombarding it with thousands of negative messages and petitions.

The exhibit was part of a Chicano/a culture conference, which proceeded as planned despite pickets by right-wing Christians and a counter-demonstration by atheists. There were about 50 attendees, including scholars from Arizona, Germany, Mexico, England, Ireland and Spain. There are unconfirmed reports that the university may face government investigation under Ireland’s new blasphemy law.

Lopez offered thanks and an update in the following recent email to me:
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Thank you for this email and all of your support during this event. We just returned from Ireland. We feel good about the exhibition, the conference, and the many Irish citizens who were very supportive. We also feel good about engaging in the Irish blasphemy laws. Hopefully, this incident will prompt them to act against those laws.

I will be posting your email as well as all the supportive emails sent via your site onto my site where I archive all the responses to this print.

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The opposition has made an impact on her art. In a new version of “Our Lady,” Lopez has the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing boxing gloves, ready to defend herself in a powerful painting titled “Our Lady of Controversy.”

For more info, see our previous post
Our Lady and Queer Saints art attacked as blasphemy - Show support now!

Speaking of censorship… This post originally included a trailer for an Alma Lopez video on the controversy, but Facebook blocked it with a message saying, “You are trying to post content on Facebook that has been marked as abusive.” I moved the video to a separate post, and you can click here to see it. Later Facebook let me share the video.

Our Lady & Queer Saints art attacked as blasphemy - Show support now!

“Our Lady” by Alma Lopez

Conservative Catholics are attacking “Our Lady and Other Queer Santas (Saints),” an art show and speech by Latina lesbian artist Alma Lopez at University College Cork in Ireland June 23-25.

Encuentro (Encounter)
by Alma Lopez

They launched a censorship campaign asking the university to cancel the events. (Update June 24: They are also picketing the exhibit! More info at end of this post.) Join me in supporting this brave artist whose art embodies God’s all-inclusive love and heals the split between sexuality and spirituality.

The art exhibit includes the controversial “Our Lady,” which shows the Virgin of Guadalupe in a bikini made of roses, held up by a bare-breasted butterfly. Lopez will be in Ireland to talk about “Our Lady and Other Queer Santas” (Spanish for “saints”) and sign copies of her new book “Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's 'Irreverent' Apparition” at the university’s conference on Chicano/a culture.

Death threats, censorship efforts, and violent protests brought international attention to “Our Lady” when it was first shown in 2001 -- and the right wing is at it again now.

Lupe and Sirena in Love
by Alma Lopez

They have organized a “Please Stop This blasphemy!” campaign, urging people to send the university a message that concludes: “In my opinion, these are blasphemous events that offend Our Lady’s spotless purity, insult Catholics and undermine God’s natural order. To avoid such grave blasphemy, offense and scandal, I respectfully urge you to cancel these events.”

This censorship campaign is all over the Internet. I say it’s time to show support for this brave artist who is re-envisioning the saints for us!

I urge you to join me in sending messages of support. Here is my open letter to University College Cork:
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Dear University College Cork,

I am delighted and deeply grateful that your university is hosting “Our Lady and Other Queer Santas” by Latina lesbian artist Alma Lopez.

I am the founder of JesusInLove.org, which supports LGBT spirituality and the arts. I speak for many when I say thank you for showing the work of this brave artist who is re-envisioning the saints in life-giving new ways. Queer Christian images are needed now because conservatives are using religious rhetoric to justify discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Some denounce her art as blasphemy because it differs from traditional images. Others, myself included, experience it as a blessing that enhances Christian faith by embodying God’s wildly inclusive love for all. Lopez is healing the divide between sexuality and spirituality.

It’s important to imagine Our Lady and other Christian figures in new and different ways because it empowers people to grow in their relationship with each other and with God.

“Our Lady and Other Queer Santas” is a holy event that upholds Our Lady’s message of sacred empowerment, affirms LGBT Christians and embodies God’s love for all. In the name of religious and artistic freedom, please do not give in to critics who want you to cancel these events.

Thank you for your courage and vision.

Sincerely,

Kittredge Cherry
Founder, JesusInLove.org
Author, Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More
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You can email the university at: hispanicstudies@ucc.ie. Or use the forms set up by the conservatives and CHANGE their messages at:

American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP)

America Needs Fatima

Please leave copies of your messages here as comments, or email them to me.  Let our voices be heard!

The conservatives also picketed an exhibit of Lopez’ “Our Lady” last month in the “Contemporary Coda” show at the Oakland Museum of California.

The Irish show includes other prints and new paintings by Lopez, who was born in Mexico and raised in Los Angeles. She co-edited her new book with UCLA professor Alicia Gaspar de Alba. The two women were married in 2008, during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in California.

For more info about Lopez and the “Our Lady” protests, please check these links:

Artist’s website: almalopez.net

Our previous post: Queer Lady of Guadalupe: Artists re-imagine an icon

Special thanks to Alma Lopez for permission to share her art, and to Xochitl Alvizo for alerting me to the latest protests.

UPDATE 5 on July 5, 2011:
Thousands of negative emails compromised the university’s email system, but the conference went on as scheduled with 50 attendees. Alma Lopez is back from Ireland. All the supportive emails, including 5 from friends of the Jesus in Love Blog, are posted now on her website, almalopez.net. For a detailed update, see our new post: “Blasphemy update: Queer Our Lady artist thanks supporters.”

UPDATE 4 on June 27, 2011:
A long and eloquent statement by artist Alma Lopez was published in the Irish Examiner. She addressed many issues, including one that has been mostly ignored here -- the image as a symbol of Chicana/o pride and resistance to conquest. Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a Mexican in 1531 (a decade after the Spanish conquistadors.)  Here are a few highlights:

"I’ve taken away the heavy robes that the traditional image wears because I wanted to show the miracle of the roses that were the proof of the Virgin’s apparition to Juan Diego... More than a religious icon, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a revolutionary image of indigenous resistance to colonisation and genocide.”

You can read her whole statement in this article:

Never intended to offend, says ‘Our Lady’ artist (Irish Examiner)

UPDATE 3 on June 24, 2011:
Counter-demonstrations are being planned by the atheists now. Once again a complex debate has been oversimplified into religion versus LGBT people. All people of faith get demonized, and the reality of LGBT Christians is ignored. I’m so glad that friends of this blog are voicing support from a spiritual and religious viewpoint. You can read the news report here.

Atheist Society to hold counter-demonstration against exhibition protesters (Cork Student News)

UPDATE 2 on June 23, 2011:
Protesters picket UCC as artist defends image (Irish Examiner)
The Irish Examiner reports that religious protestors picketed, the university said the art show will go on, the artist defended her work, saying “I love women, just as I love the Virgin of Guadalupe. Our Lady was my way of communicating my love and respect for all women, including the Holy Mother.”

You can see a photo of protesters picketing on this conservative blog:
http://thoughtactioneire.blogspot.com/2011/06/catholics-at-ucc.html

UPDATE 1 on June 23, 2011: Today’s news reports say that an Irish bishop denounced the Alma Lopez exhibit by saying, “Respect for Mary, the mother of God, is bred in the bones of Irish people and entwined in their lives. It is regrettable and unacceptable that this exhibition seeks to portray the mother of God in such an offensive way.” For more info, click these news links:

Bishop's anger as portrait of Mary in a bikini goes on show at university (Herald)

Cork bishop criticises ‘offensive’ Mary image (Irish Examiner)

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Related links:

Were some Catholic saints transgender? Berkeley show raises eyebrows (Religion News Service)

Christ’s torment and queer suffering: More on Wojnarowicz censorship

Christ with Ants from the David Wojnarowicz video
“A Fire in My Belly”

Insightful essays continue to be written about the Smithsonian’s censorship of gay artist David Wojnarowicz’ video “Fire in the Belly” because of its controversial ant-covered crucifix.

I have come to believe that conservative Christians condemned the Wojnarowicz video precisely because it equates Christ’s torment with queer / LGBT suffering. They do NOT want Christ to be identified with lesbian, gay, bi and trans people at all.

Here are highlights from some of the best new essays on the controversy and its LGBT Christian meanings. Click the titles to see the whole essay:

X-Ray of Civilization: David Wojnarowicz and the Politics of Representation
“What seems to be truly unconscionable for critics of Wojnarowicz’s art is its forceful imputation of the analogy between the Biblical torment of Christ and the contemporary suffering of queer bodies and subjects.”
by Leon Hilton of bullybloggers: the queer bully pulpit

Sacrilege Or Censorship? Christians Enraged by Art with Gay, Religious Images by Stuart Wilber of thenewcivilrightsmovement.com
“This was not the first time that an exhibition that included LGBT or religious imagery had been censored and undoubtedly not the last.”

Art, Censorship, and the Scandal of the Cross
“God doesn’t need Christians to act as intellectual property watchdogs.”
by Patrick S Cheng, gay Asian American theologian and author of Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology

Wojnarowicz’s Ant-Covered Jesus: Blasphemy or Religious Art?
“That Christ on the cross is actually dead, and the body so dead that ants might eat it, is both the most orthodox Christian statement, and the most scandalous.”
by S. Brent Plate, religion professor and author of Blasphemy: Art that Offends

For more info, see our previous posts: “Smithsonian censors gay artist when conservatives attack”.

Christ’s torment and queer suffering: More on Wojnarowicz censorship (Jesus in Love)

Inclusive Christmas tree: Anti-gay DVDs become ornaments

DVDs against same-sex marriage are being recycled now as decorations for the inclusive Christmas tree of Minnesota artist Lucinda Naylor. New photos tell recent developments with her amazing “DVD to Art” project.

“DVD to Art” protests the 400,000 sent to Minnesota Catholics by Archbishop John Nienstedt to urge them to seek a constitutional amendment against marriage equality. Naylor responded by asking people to give her their DVDs for recycling into art with an inclusive theme of hope. She was promptly fired as artist in residence at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Unless otherwise noted, photos come from Lucinda Naylor.

I love the rainbow reflections in this close-up of “The Wave,” a sculpture that Naylor built from the 2,000 anti-gay DVDs that she collected. Look closely and you’ll also see a reflection of the entwined hands of two men: Michael Bayly and his boyfriend Doug. Bayly is a gay Catholic who blogs at the Wild Reed Blog. Before Naylor dyed them blue, the DVDs clearly showed the entwined hands of a man and a woman. Photo by Doug Abbott.

Inspired by the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Naylor arranged the DVD sleeves on a wall so people could tuck their prayers inside on pieces of paper. “Remembering my grandmother's quilting bees, I invited women and girls to sew the sleeves together,” Naylor says.

“May all love be recognized as HOLY!” and “May the Wave and our prayers turn the tide” were among the prayers left at the Wailing Wall near Lucinda Naylor’s “Wave.”

This prayer at the Wave’s Wailing wall shows the smiling faces of mothers Margaret and Cathy with their child Louie -- “a family committed to social justice in all its forms.”

“I am praying for the oppressed people who have been horribly hurt by the Archbishop’s message. I pray for his conversion to Christianity.” -- a prayer left at the DVD to Art Wailing Wall.

After the Wave exhibition, some of the DVDs were sold as mini-sculptures. Most were returned to the Archbishop by a group called Return the DVD. The Archbishop wouldn’t meet with them, but the following video shows their confrontation with his representatives. Naylor saved the last few DVDs for her Christmas tree.



For more info, see our previous posts “Artist turns anti-gay DVD into inclusive art” and “Artist makes waves with protest art for marriage equality” and visit:

DVD to Art Facebook Group

DVD to Art Blog