MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

kd lang Comes Out Spiritually

The March issue of Shambhala Sun Magazine features Melvin McLeod's interview with kd lang about her Nyingma Buddhist practice with teacher, Lama Chodak Gyatso Nubpa , and her new album, Watershed: 

"The idea of watershed has a great deal of pertinence to becoming a Buddhist and following the path.  It seems to me that the flow of dharma - or the flow of one's own innate buddhanature - is like water.  There are obstacles, but eventually the water will find its way around them. 

"A change of direction happens when you take refuge and become a practitioner.  For me, it's been about reassessing, reviewing and reprioritizing everything in my life.  It's been about revitalizing my morality and my relationship to cause and effect, meaning what I do as a person - with my body, speech and mind - and how it affects all other beings.  Each song is about my relationship to something, and it's also about the cause and effect of each of those relationships."

Subscribe to Shambhala Sun Magazine.

Buy kd lang's Buddhist-inspired album, Watershed.

Thought for the Day, MLK Day, 2008

"All you require is You, and your ability to think things into being.  Everything that has been invented and created throughout the history of humankind began with one thought.  From that one thought a way was made, and it manifested from the invisible into the visible."

"Take the first step in faith.  You don't have to see the whole staircase.  Just take the first step."   ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Top 5 queer-spirit arts stories for 2007 named

JesusInLove.org has announced its picks for 2007’s top five news stories on GLBT spirituality and the arts.

Leading the list is the National Festival of Progressive Spiritual Art.  JesusInLove.org, an online resource center for GLBT people with spiritual interests and their allies, chose the stories based on Web traffic and attendance in real life.

Here’s a round-up of the year’s top five queer spiritual art stories, based on Web traffic and attendance in real life.

1.  Gay Jesus art delights crowds at National Festival of Progressive Spiritual Art.  More than 350 people attend the opening in Taos in May.  It includes the image at left, "Jesus Returns to God" by F. Douglas Blanchard. Click here for more

2.  A mini-riot erupts in an evangelical Swedish city over gay Jesus photos by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin in August.  Click here for more

3.  “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ and More” by Kittredge Cherry is published to enthusiastic reviews. Click here for more

 4. A leather version of the Last Supper sparks controversy as the poster for the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco in September. Click here for more

5.  National Coming Out Day inspires dozens of videos in October, including the year’s most popular video at JesusInLove.org. Click here for more

2007 was a fantastic year for GLBT spirituality and the arts.  Thousands of people to visited galleries, read books and watched videos last year to see new images of God based on gay, lesbian, bi and trans experience.  The images inspired hope -- and sometimes fear and violence.

JesusInLove.org promotes queer spirituality and the arts, with an emphasis on books and images.  We believe that God loves all people, including sexual minorities, and that the creative process is sacred.  We hope that the new visions, especially the gay Jesus, will free people to experience the divine in new ways and lead to a more just world.

Show your support by signing up for our free e-newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts.

Bishop V. Gene Robinson to Address "Creating Change" Conference Feb 6-10 in Detroit

Thursday, Feb. 7, will feature a day-long institute:  Empowering and Working With People of Faith

"This day long Institute is for religious organizers who want to build a more powerful faith-based movement for LGBT equality and for secular activists who want to build stronger partnerships with communities and leaders of faith. As pro-LGBT activists, we face a critical task of organizing around spiritual questions and with allied religious institutions. If we are truly to transform our culture to win full support of the rights of LGBT persons and our families, we must engage and challenge religious-based heterosexism, homophobia and gender-phobia. But here is some good news: an incredible wealth of resources within our religious movements already exists to bring change within religious institutions and the broader society. We will take stock of the "state of the movement" within pro-LGBT religious organizing and examine the role of allies and youth and young adults. In the afternoon, we will teach concrete organizing skills for public advocacy and action."

Bishop V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, will offer a plenary session on Saturday, Feb 9, at 1:30p.m.

Visit CreatingChange.org for more details or to register for this important conference!

My "Revolutionary Faith"

I just hung up from a phone call with a dear friend of mine.  I haven't spoken to him in awhile and haven't seen him in six months or so.

He just told me that he had been using crystal meth constantly for several weeks, and was suffering from severe paranoia as a result, when he visited MyOutSpirit.com and saw the photo contest slogan, "Remember who you want to be." 

He says that was the trigger that helped him quit using and start getting his life back together.

I was so moved that this project made such a difference in his life that I almost started crying on the phone with him. 

You know, I have been working on MyOutSpirit.com for almost four years, now.  I spent my inheritance from my father on it and still lose money on it every month - it has been ridiculously challenging - but I still feel it is all so worthwhile.

When I wrote SHIRT OF FLAME, I took the name "Ko Imani," which means "revolutionary faith." 

My friend's call reminds me that my faith is justified.

Much love in the New Year to you all.  Thank you for your support.