When the Church Welcomes All ( BUT Some Conditions Apply!)

When the Church is Just not Into You

The latest episode of Bubble and Squeak podcast features a silly satire about those churches that try to make everyone feel welcome, so they offer a welcome pack. The caller, from First Baptist Church, speaks with Marvin, from the Shekinah Glory Christian Books and Church Supplies Store. She has an odd request thought.

Do you have a welcome pack for a group of people who are NOT welcome?

Janet, from First Baptist Church

To Marvin’s surprise his company offers an array of goody bags based on the demographic of the person or family who shows up for church. In addition they have “Unwelcome Packs!”

Here is an excerpt from the call

I

Silly and Sad

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It is funny and tragically cruel at the same time. Many of us know the trauma of being welcomed, “Just as you are!” but not really. Something disqualified some of us because of who we are, our sexual or gender identity, a physical disability, mental illness, our marital status, or our class and at times a combination of these. That hurt runs deep. Healing is essential, and sometime healing can be hilarious. That is the power of satire.

Sex, Marriage, and the Bible

You can hear the entire episode plus my conversation with Dr. Jennifer G. Bird. She talks about how the Bible has been misused to abuse others. She is an expert on sex, marriage, and the Bible. She is also prolific on YouTube with excellent content.

Peterson:I have a feeling you have a lot of queer people who follow you.
Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Peterson: And not just in the store to say like, “Where’d she get those shoes?” But follow you like online and your work and stuff.
Jennifer: [Laughs–she has the best laugh!] Well, Peterson, what I think you’re talking about is this issue of traditional interpretations over the centuries that have ended up in fairly conservative circles, or not just conservative, but kind of some of the mainline traditions.

What is taught as normative in those traditions just isn’t really well informed, so that when someone like me comes along and says, actually, this is what’s actually going on, it is queer. It’s queer to what the tradition has said, but I’m actually being much more true to the historical realities.”

Dr. Jennifer G Bird and Peterson Toscano in Conversation

Hear it for yourself on Spotify, YouTube, or Wherever

Bubble & Squeak podcast is available widely wherever you get podcasts.

Part one: A conversation with public Bible scholar and trouble maker, Dr. Jennifer Bird
Part two: Marvin gets a job at a born-again online store
Part three: A sound slice from Norway

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Witches, Barbie, and Quakers!

If you are looking for a short form podcast that I packed with unexpected and thoughtful conversation, I humbly recommend Quakers Today, a show I host and produce. The guests stimulate and enlighten. Here are two recent episodes.

Actress and eco-activist Daryl Hannah speaks with host Peterson Toscano about her announcement that “Mattel intends to go 100 percent plastic-free by 2030 in all their toys. They hope to support a global ban on plastics.”

Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived. Hours after People Magazine’s story celebrated Mattel’s eco-conscious move, the toy company contacted The New York Times to clarify the situation.

This elaborate hoax was perpetrated by Daryl Hannah and the Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO) against the Mattel Corporation and the media. Yet, behind this public trickery was a broader, poignant message: the need to address the environmental crisis wrought by plastic waste.

One of the tricksters behind the hoax graduated from Greenwood Friends School, a Quaker elementary and middle school. As a boy, he attended Millville Friends Meeting. Operating under the pseudonym Jeff Walburn, this member of the artist-activist group the Yes Men describes the methodology behind their “mischief performances.”

Sara Walcott and Andy Stanton-Henry discuss their unique spiritual influences—charismatic worship and paganism—and how they find common ground in their differing beliefs. Can we listen without prejudice and let the Spirit move us in surprising ways?

We navigate the realms of Charismatic Christianity, embodied spirituality, and even witchy traditions, exploring how Quakerism might be embracing an animistic world view and listening to fresh winds of the Spirit from unexpected places.

You will find more episodes, show notes, and a full transcript at Friends Journal.

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Anxiety Blues

Our Bubble&Squeak show today comes in three parts

Listen on SoundCloud or wherever you get podcasts

Part one: Singer Songwriter Linda Jay Reed shares her creation process. 
Part two: Linda Reed sings the song Anxiety Blues
Part three: a SoundSlice from an island in the Philippines

Part One: Linda Jay Reed wrote her first song on guitar when she was 17 years old. She has continued the practice for decades and has gained a faithful fanbase. After hearing her song, Fallin’ Free, I fell hard for both the warmth and the weariness that she exudes through her voice. Every inch of her personal journey is etched the sound she creates. She is honest without being bitter. The music and the moods she creates draw me in. Right before she moved from New York City to California, in the midst of a mountain of moving boxes, Linda took some time out to tell me about her music. 

Or listen on YouTube

Part Two: Anxiety Blues by Linda Jay Reed

Part Three: Sound Slice.

Let me set the scene for you. I am on the shore of Pandan Island in the Philippines. It is a short boat ride from the city of Sablayan. This was the beginning of a 5 week trip to see some of the islands and some of my Aunt Rolla’s family. But first this stop on an island surrounded by a coral reef and teaming with sea turtles. A small shark swam near the shore, and looked so playful, I had to go snorkeling around the island again.

CLOSING
Bubble&Squeak is written and produced by me, Peterson Toscano. I mostly make the show for me and fellow artists like Linda Jay Reed.

You can find her music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and Amazon Music, which actually pays independent artists better than the other services. Just search for Linda Jay Reed.

“The Bubble&Squeak theme song is Worthless. by The jellyrox from the album Bang and a whimper. You can find it on iTunes, Spotify, of wherever you listen to music.”
You also heard maskros by BOMULL

To find more great music and new podcasts visit www.rockcandyrecordings.com

Feel free to say hi on to me X. @p2son the letter p the number two son @p2son
Oh, and thanks for listening.

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Rebooted! Ex-Gay Watch is back

David Robert avatar

Since the early 2000’s Mike Airhart, David Roberts, and volunteer authors at Ex-Gay Watch kept their eyes on the workings of the Conversion Therapy world and its leaders. They broke many stories and informed both the public and press about the many ways conversion therapists (most who never had any actual training in counseling, therapy, or theology) inserted themselves into the public discourse and insisted that “Change is Possible!”

What the proponents and practicers of these made-up therapies failed to mention was that “Change” did not mean changing one’s desires. Their clever marketing to susceptible Christians leveraged the fear and shame anti-LGBTQ+ church leaders piled on congregations.

Only after going through the doors of conversion therapy programs and ministries, I realized that they really just meant a change in “behavior” and “lifestyle.” Whenever possible they trotted out straight spouses and children to support the myth that So and So had CHANGED! They never mentioned the possibility that some people are bisexual or the reality that most of these “mixed orientation” marriages end in divorce. Once the kids leave home, daddy or mommy comes out!

Worse yet, they never revealed the harm that people who submitted to their treatments suffered. That took conversion therapy survivors to step up and tell their stories. Some conversion therapy leaders were so moved by these stories, they relented and repented of their conversion therapy ministries. Some even issued public apologies.

After some of the harm and abuses came to light, some states outlawed conversion therapy on minors. The North American conversation therapy shops began to close down one after an other, and Exodus, the big umbrella organization finally announced its closure in 2015.

But just like in the whack-a-mole game, some of the conversation therapy proponents are sticking their heads up from their underground lairs and causing trouble again. Their number one target this time? Transgender and gender non-binary youth.

Rebranded, they are attempting once again to interfere in the life, liberty, and happiness of queer youth and their families. To keep an eye on all this and to bring it to the light, David Roberts, senior editor of Ex-Gay Watch, has reopened the site and has begun posting new articles. They are also looking for writers who can report on the ins and outs of the conversion therapy world.

Check out Ex-Gay Watch, and let me know if you want to write for them.

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I’m Back!

Since 2018 I blogged directly on my website, but I recently revamped the entire site to reflect the new direction my work has been going. (See the old site on Internet Archive Wayback Machine.) Since before the start of the Pandemic in 2020, I was slowly transitioning my work from stages to on-line platforms. My preferred platform is podcasting, and now I produce over five of them with more in the works.

In the studio

Earlier this year I opened Peterson Toscano Studios, and I have begun meeting with prospective clients who want to start a long-term or a limited series podcasts. I especially like working with nonprofits, artists, writers, and change makers. Below you will see some of my current projects.

For the past 10 years I have focused much of my attention on climate change. Later I have felt the grief and rage that many LGBTQ+ people in the USA experience as we see law after law proposed and passed, all designed to dehumanize and disenfranchise lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonbinary, and queer people. Our opponents most ruthlessly target and attack Transgender people. I will not be silent; I will increase my efforts to speak out, raise money, support activists, and counter the cruel and dangerous attacks on fellow LGBTQ+ people.

Today I announce that all of the proceeds I earn from the sales and rentals of Transfigurations–Transgressing Gender in the Bible will all go to organizations promoting and fighting for transgender equality. The DVD is available through MeetingHouse.xyz. It had been available on Amazon Prime for streaming, and they recently stopped offering it. The distributor is now working on bringing it back to that platform so people in the US, Uk, and beyond can view it. I will spread the word once it is available again.

Perhaps my favorite organization to support and promote is the Transgender Justice Funding Project. Check them out and send them a donation if you can.

These days I am working on these podcasts, and perhaps one day soon I will collaborate with you!

Check out my project page for audio samples.

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What is our Lenten Ethic?

Power and moving post really deepens a spiritual practice into a thoughtful engagement with the world.

REFLECTIONS

I am reminded of the famous song by Bob Dylan “Blowin’ in the Wind” whose words are poignant and poetic yet defiant and political. Though his answer is ambiguous, as it should be, the questions he asks are pretty weighty:

How many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned?

How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?

How many times can a man turn his head pretending that he just doesn’t see?

How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?

How many deaths will it take ‘til he knows that too many people have died?[i]

Most of us, if not all, often understand the Lenten season as a season of purposeful “disengagement” – disengagement from sin that pollutes our bodies, minds, and hearts. We commend and applaud the effort of those who voluntarily, yet temporarily, forfeit certain…

View original post 674 more words

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We Have Moved–New PetersonToscano.com Blog

The time has come to say goodbye to all our company…

Peterson & weird green plant

No! Wait! Not Goodbye at all. I have just moved my blog address to my new and improved website.

From now on you will find my cheeky and serious blog posts about queer, transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay issues, gender, climate change, faith, and whatever weird stuff happens to catch my fancy over at the Peterson Toscano blog. (yo, yo, update that delicious blog roll of yours)

Also, feel free to feast on the buffet of social media I serve up on a daily basis. I got something for everyone!
Tumblr
Pinterest (check out my board If Jesus had Pinterest, WWJP??)
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube

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Eunuch-Inclusive Esther–Queer Theology 101

My contribution to the 2013 Queer Theology Synchroblog looks at the creation of queer theology, and how one of the best starting points is to see and name who is clearly queer in the text.

If you go to almighty Google and type in a search List of Men in the Bible, you will find loads of sites that give you an exhaustive outline of all the biblical men. Similarly a search for Women in the Bible will cough up hefty results. But try googling List of Eunuchs in the Bible. You will get web results, no doubt, but no simple listing of the names of the many biblical eunuchs and where they appear in the text. For that list you will have to do more digging and likely compile your own.

Consider virtually every sermon you have heard about the Book of Esther or any Purim celebration you attended, even in super queer-friendly churches and synagogues. Off the top of your head name the characters speakers highlight related to this story. Esther/Hadassah. Mordecai. Haman. These are the big three people can name from memory. Then there is some king, a deposed queen, oh, and a eunuch.

The king, (known as Xerxes, Ahashuerus, or Khshayarshan depending on the Greek, Hebrew, or Persian form of the name) plays a key role in the story as the easily offended ruler waiting for things to happen. Vashti, the queen, who refuses to parade around in front of the king’s male guests, sometimes gets a shoutout for being a strong woman in a man’s world. Then there is the eunuch in charge of the royal harem.

Actually there are a dozen eunuchs in the Book of Esther each with a delicious name that fills the mouth. I like to read their names out loud.

Mehuman
Biztha
Harbona
Bigtha
Abagtha
Zethar
Carcas
Hegai
Shassshagaz
Teresh
Bigthana
Hathach

Eunuchs appear in every chapter of the Book of Esther and take on many different roles. Sure Hegai oversees the women’s quarters and puts Hadassah/Esther through a rigorous beauty and diet regime. Hegai even tells Esther what to bring into the bedroom chamber when it is time for her to perform for the king as part of the Persia’s Next Top Queen competition. But the eunuchs have much more latitude, roles, and responsibilities in the text than most retellings of the story reveal.

Eunuchs serve as messengers, advisors, guards, assassins, and soldiers. In fact, on the chess board of the Persian court, all non-eunuchs are mostly stuck in place. The king stays in his section of the palace, Esther in hers, and her kinsman, Mordecai, has to sit outside until escorted in. The only people who get to move freely from place to place, in and out of the palace and into every palatial space are the eunuchs.

In the ancient world a eunuch was a non-procreative male, usually castrated, and often castrated before puberty. This means they typically did not experience puberty with the rush of testosterone bringing about the lowering of the voice, the development of body hair, facial hair, muscles, and over time, a prominent brow. They looked and sounded different from the men and women around them. They would have stood out in Persia. In some places of the ancient world others considered them, and perhaps they considered themselves, another sex or a third gender. In the olden times there were men, women, and eunuchs, not a simple binary. In scripture eunuchs pop up throughout the Hebrew Bible and make brief but important appearances in the Christian Bible.

Most people in the ancient world likely did not willingly choose to become a eunuch, even if being one meant service in a royal court with access to powerful people and information. This is likely true for many of the eunuchs in Bible stories. Perhaps because of painful experiences in life, they empathize with “the other” alongside them in the text; they relate to the vulnerable. Jeremiah is rescued by Ebed Melech, an Ethiopian eunuch (Jeremiah 38.) Daniel, like Esther is parented and trained by a royal eunuch, Ashpenaz. Some scholars say there is evidence that Daniel and his friends serve as eunuchs in the Babylonian court. These are a handful of the dozens of eunuchs in the Bible.

But back to Esther. I recently heard a sermon at an LGBTQ religious gathering where the minister spoke about Esther, who “for such a time as this” is made queen of Persia so that she can save her people against the evil plot of the very evil Haman. It is a good story, and we can make lots of modern applications for how we too can take a stand today and put our lives on the line for justice. It is also a story about a woman with power (even if it is limited power that comes with great risks) within ancient texts where women typically do not have much power. BUT (yes I have a big BUT) once again, in a queer-friendly sermon, the gender variant, sexual minorities in the text were completely overlooked, much like they are in our modern society and our LGBTQ-friendly religious spaces.

Yes, Esther saves the people by appearing before the king pleading her case, but without the eunuchs she would have been far from the court, an unknown orphaned Jewish young woman. Even in the palace she cannot speak directly with her kinsman, Mordecai, who urges her to act. She needs eunuchs to ferry messages back and forth, to set up the lunches for the king, to help her save her people.

In queering a text, one of the first steps may simply be to acknowledge those individuals already in that text who are presented as sexual minorities. It is not terribly radical actually, but it can go a long way to open up a discussion about otherness in the Bible and the essential roles that non-gender normative people play in it and in the world today. If you see yourself as an LGBTQ ally, the next time you talk give a sermon or perform a skit about the Book of Esther, go out of your way to include the eunuchs. Do not overlook the gender-variant, sexual minorities all over the page.

Special thanks to Janet Everhart and her excellent dissertation, The Hidden Eunuchs of the Hebrew Bible–Uncovering an Alternative Gender
and to Jane Brazell for her editorial help, inspiration, and feedback.

Check out the other synchroblog entries:
Queering Our Reading of the Bible by Chris Henrichsen

Queer Creation in art: Who says God didn’t create Adam and Steve? by Kittrdge Cherry

Of The Creation of Identity (Also the Creation of Religion) by Colin & Terri

God, the Garden, & Gays: Homosexuality in Genesis by Brian G. Murphy, for Queer Theology

Created Queerly–Living My Truth by Casey O’Leary

Creating Theology by Fr. Shannon Kearns

Initiation by Blessed Harlot

B’reishit: The Divine Act of Self-Creation by Emily

Queer Creation: Queering the Image of God by Alan Hooker

Queer Creation by Ric Stott

Eunuch-Inclusive Esther–Queer Theology 101 by Peterson Toscano

Valley of Dry Bones by Jane Brazelle

Queer Creation: Queer Angel by Tony Street

The Great Welcoming by Anna Spencer

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Exodus, Alan Chambers, and the Ex-Gay Movement–A Survivor Responds

It has been a week since Alan Chambers publicly apologized and announced the closing of Exodus. So much can happen in one week. As I stood in front of the Supreme Court yesterday in the sweltering DC sun, the news of DOMA and Prop 8 easily overshadowed last week’s news of an apology and closing from Exodus. So much to process.

Many have asked me for my opinion about Alan Chamber’s apology and the possible next moves he and his new organization will make. Many are rightly concerned and suspicious. What do we do with someone who has been our enemy when he suddenly says he no longer is? He’s not yet an ally, and he’s not an opponent. Or is he? As the Culture War around LGBTQ rights shifts, we need to figure out how to respond to our former oppressors, some of whom say they have changed their oppressive ways.

In this week’s Queer and Queerer podcast Zack Ford asks me to respond to all of the recent movement at Exodus. What might it mean? What should the new organization do and what should they not do? What are the risks? What roles have ex-gay survivors taken to bring about change? What roles still exist for us? What about celibacy and the “Side B” gay Christian debate. We talk about all this and much more in our 40 minute podcast. If you care about these issues and want to get beyond the headlines, have a listen.

Also, read about my own response to John Smid, the former ex-gay leader, when he offered me a personal apology, This is What an Apology Looks Like

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In the hands of an angry and frightened God

Some people feel a strong opposition about rights for LGBT people. They stand in the way of full inclusion and equality. Why? What do they fear?

Most of the conflicts that occur in our homes and in society happen when one person or a group of people believe that something they need is threatened. It could be something serious like food supplies or water, or simple, let the need for some time alone. They may feel the need for respect from others. Perhaps they are gripped with a fear–real or perceived–that their security or the security of their loved ones may be compromised. When we feel our needs are threatened, we can react often violently.

When I was an Evangelical, Conservative, Republican Christian, I feared “the gay agenda.” My reaction was personal. I knew I was gay, and I hated that part of me; I wanted to destroy it. Any pro-gay message or proposed legislation for LGBT rights threatened my resolve to annihilate that gay part of me. I found it easier to despise a part of myself when there was a social consensus of queer revulsion.

I felt spiritually threatened too. I lived with the belief that if the United States caved into the demands of the homosexuals, this would trigger a spiritual catastrophe. Our permissiveness would so offend God, that God would turn his back on us as a nation. God would remove his special protective covering over us resulting in natural disasters, financial ruin, and diseases unleashed by God as punishment for our wicked ways.

Perhaps, I reasoned God would send these disasters in hopes of correcting us. If God pummeled us enough, we might just repent of our sins. I wanted to believe that, but really I feared horrors would come upon us sent from God because we finally crossed the line, a point of no return. God would swoop down, the angel of death, in a blast of wrath and righteousness.

Perhaps reading this some may scoff at such thoughts. It would be easy to mock people who ascribe to such a terror-driven theology. Some may assume that since these beliefs are so irrational, no one in their right mind could ever truly profess them. But fear messes with our heads. It literally alters our brain chemistry so that we do not think clearly when under its influence. Fear breeds more fear which incubates irrationality.

Looking at it today I realize that I didn’t really fear the gay agenda or the liberation of LGBTQ people. Instead I feared a God that was easily offended, a merciless heavenly father. I feared a being that had become weakened because of his own righteousness–so pure that no impurity could ever come near him. Like a person with no immune system, the God I believed in required a sanitized space, a sin-free environment–the God in the holy plastic bubble. This God, suffering from a sin-intolerance disorder, then lashed out at anything or anyone that threatened his security.

During the days of my Evangelical Christian zeal, the biggest danger in life was not a wayward society, particularly one that acknowledged and welcomed LGBT people. The greatest danger was an unhinged, wild God, the ultimate abuser. Yet I retained a steadfast allegiance much like how an abused person may go out of the way to defend an abuser.

In the book of Genesis earthlings are fashioned after God’s own image. If God is a creator, I imagine I feel most divine when I create something, be it a performance piece or a particularly healthy and tasty meal. Since we are all little creators, some folks have created God in their own image–a being who reacts with violence to security threats, a panicked deity that is so overwhelmed with terror that it can hear or learn or consider the stories and lives of others. Seems we need to liberate God from our limited imagination.

(Photo from cliff dwellers’ ruins in Walnut Canyon)
National Monument near Flagstaff, AZ)

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Resuming the Missionary Position

Years ago when I attended Nyack College, a small liberal arts Christian school run by the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, I decided to go to Ecuador for a summer to serve as a short-term missionary. Since I had a license as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), I agreed I would work in the emergency room at a hospital in Quito. In addition, I learned I would also join hospital staff for the week-long “medical caravans” into remote jungle and mountain communities where we would set-up temporary medical clinics.

In preparation for the mission trip I decided to train my body and mind for the deprivations of the missionary life. The months before my trip to South America I denied myself sweets and ate a very simple diet. I limited the number and length of showers I took. Perhaps most radical of all, I forsook my bed and opted to sleep on the floor. My college roommate looked on amused, but I explained I grew up with many comforts that I assumed would be denied me as a missionary.

I arrived in Quito and met my host family, Americans who were career missionaries originally from the Midwest. They took me to their home, what seemed to me a massive two-story structure with gorgeous gardens. The grounds and the house were maintained by local Ecuadorians, a gardener and a housekeeper. Compared to my working-class, tiny home in the New York State Catskills, in Quito I lived in opulence.

That summer there were about 20 of us summer missionaries, site-seeing, hanging out at the fancy malls, going out to eat at posh restaurants which because of the exchange rate cost us little. We served the Lord too, but not too much.

I was the only one who actually got to leave Quito to do mission work in rural places. It took up to 12 hours on single-lane dirt roads to go deep into the bush. Once there we set up camp at the local school. Without glass or screens in the windows, just bars, we slept on the floor exposed to all of the flying and crawling insects. One night I felt a welcomed occasional breeze pass over my face during a particularly stuffy, sultry night. I opened my eyes to see the source of the wind, a huge bat swooping around our heads eating up all the mosquitos that gathered to attack us.

Mostly being a missionary that summer was a cushy job. I did get sick to my stomach once and lost five pounds in 15 minutes, but overall it was more of a vacation in an exotic location than any sort of intense missionary work filled with multiple deprivations.

I always wanted to be a missionary, to travel the world with Good News. I tried to suppress my gay desires so that I would at last be eligible for service in Conservative Christian missions. The more I suppressed these desires the stronger they became. I eventually came out gay and figured my life as a missionary was over forever.

Yet last week on an overnight train from Albuquerque, where I had just spoken about gender non-conforming characters in the Bible and the Koran at a Sufi worship Center, I remembered Ecuador and my self-imposed missionary training. Back on the train I felt excited about my upcoming presentations in California at Pomona College, the Claremont Friends Meeting, and the La Verne Church of the Brethren. Unable to sleep in the confining reclining chairs in Coach Class that Amtrak offered, I trudged over to the observation car with my blowup pillows and my travel blanket stuffed under my arm and foam earplugs jammed into my ears. There I found a quiet corner, and settled down on the floor for a long, mostly comfortable night of sleeping.

I awoke refreshed with a feeling of joy that surpassed my pre-coffee stupor. I realized that the dream I had so long ago abandoned had been happening in my life for some time without me even noticing. These days I travel the world sharing Good News. On this particular wild and wonderful cross-country train journey I stopped along the way to share my work at seminaries and an LGBTQ Center in Chicago and then in Albuquerque with a Muslim group.

On my return trip I stopped in Flagstaff, AZ, where I met with my dear friend Abby Jensen, who recently was honored through the prestigious Trans 100 List. I enjoyed her company without the pressure of a show that evening. Through a friend of Abby’s I learned of a local transgender support group. Some of the members felt strain and pain from family and friends who stirred up questions and opposition based on their faith and their reading of the Bible. Abby’s friend invited me to attend the meeting. I sat and listened and took part in the discussion topics. Then at the end, they asked if I would share some transgender Bible stories, and I did. People seemed to take them in as ammunition as well as bread for their own souls–words of comfort and encouragement from the Bible, a source that has meant so much in their lives. After another overnight train ride I am now in Kansas connecting with all sorts of Christians–straight and gay–who are grappling with a variety of issues.

After all these years I feel that I am in a missionary position of sorts (pun intended with a nod to my gay mormon performance art pal, Steven Fales and his newest show.) I do a different type of mission work I guess. Perhaps the message has shifted. I speak of a different type of liberation, even using the same texts that once oppressed me. I recognize I don’t have The Answer or all the answers. I have my story and a new take on old stories. I have faced homophobia in the world and in myself. I have seen transphobia among gay and lesbian peers. I have seen the pain of rejection and the joy and wholeness that comes from self-acceptance. Good News

Photos from the road: Display at La Brea Tar Pits Museum and views from the train in New Mexico.

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The Elegance of Cross-Country Train Travel–Oh the People You will Meet!

In my lifetime I must have crossed the USA at least 20 times, and always by air, that was of course until last week when I boarded the train in Harrisburg, PA and headed west to Southern California.

What is particularly elegant about this form of travel is that one can stop along the way. On my first day I had a four hour layover in Pittsburgh where I had dinner with a local queer environmental activist named Ellie. Then off to Chicago for two and half days. Next it was off to Albuquerque for exactly 24 hours. Finally I arrived at Los Angeles’ Union Station.

In the Windy City (which was really mostly rainy) I presented once again at Chicago Theological Seminary for an event sponsored by McCormick Seminary. I also explored John chapter 11 through theater and movement for McCormick’s weekly chapel service. I then performed Transfigurations at the LGBTQ Center on Halsted.

While in Chicago I met up with people I knew from previous trips and also got to meet new folks, including the team that works for the Marin Foundation. I met Andrew Marin almost two years ago at the Wild Goose Festival, where I grilled him about his work and his role as a straight Evangelical man taking on LGBT issues. It came at a time when I felt much frustration over straight male Evangelical leaders still stuck on the fence about justice for LGBTQ people. To me it seemed there was a whole tribe of Christian leaders who privately supported queer folk but publicly maintained an uncommitted stance as they travelled around the world, darlings of the Emergent Church set and traditional Evangelical space. They seem to directly benefit from their unwillingness to take a stand.

At the time Andrew Marin defended himself and his work adding, “You need to come to Chicago and meet the people there and see for yourself what we are doing.” So at last I did, and I am impressed. Andrew Marin has gathered around him a smart, diverse, and passionate group of people working with him to bring about dialogue with Evangelicals around LGBTQ issue. From what I can see they do good work and have ambition plans to do more. As I sat and listened to each of them talk, got to know Andrew’s wife, Brenda, saw how they worked together, how they listened to each other, and how they revealed their knowledge around the issues, I felt grateful that this work is being done. There is so much work to do in engaging the church in an effective dialogue around LGBTQ issues. We need more people stepping up and doing it.

From Chicago I took the train overnight to Albuquerque. Since each of my jaunts from place to place are over 12 hours, the train becomes a rolling community with people talking to each other, sharing their stories, exchanging travel tips, and sitting for meals together. I got to meet Susan and Owen, senior citizens from Michigan who attend a United Church of Christ congregation. I also bumped into Davey, someone I met when he was a student at Warren Wilson College. He especially remembered my Transfigurations play. In the Observation car with sweeping views of New Mexican landscape Davey taught me how to play Scrabble. What an awful game! (Sorry Scrabble fans; it’s just NOT how I work with words.) I met Bill, an American living and teaching in Korean,and I met Manuel, an Italian young man who just spent a year working on a farm in Australia.

The number one topic of conversation on the train was the weather, well really the many changes we are seeing on the planet with the climate. From Chicago we travelled west through floods until we rolled through Western Illinois and began to see the effects of the recent and growing drought eating up the Southwest and now large parts of the Midwest. While the country was gripped with the events in Boston, we crossed the country witnessing the unfolding tragedies on the land and in the lives around us all over the country and beyond.

In Albuquerque I performed at a Sufi worship center and spent time with Gwen and Jacob who showed me around town and stuffed me full of New Mexican Cuisine. I happened to be in town for the annual Founders’ Day Celebration, which took place in Old Town with lavish multicultural performances and more food.

Then on the overnight train to LA I met a man from Flagstaff, an Evangelical Christian with a open mind about LGBTQ issues. He was fascinated by my gender non-conforming Bible characters and my ex-gay past, since he has a friend who has struggled with coming out for years. Possibly I will meet up with him next week when I meet up with a dear friend, Abigail, who will drive up and spend the dayj.

While sitting up late one night with Brenda and Andrew Marin, I reflected that we live in the richest country in the world with so much access to social media and technology but so often we are totally impoverish with actual relationships. So many people are lonely and alone. I may have travelled cross-country alone, but I didn’t have the chance to be lonely. Even in the Starbucks as I waiting for my friend Worthie (aka Momma) to pick me up, I met Ken, a delightful man who is a potter and was so full of life at 7 in the morning when I was barely awake.

I’ll be in Claremont, CA area all this week. Next week I get back on the train and will see folks in Flagstaff, Wichita and Manhattan, KS, Kansas City, MO, and finally Akron and Cleveland, OH. Enjoy the pics from the trip.

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